Funerary activity in the Escoural Cave, Portugal. Did it all start in the Early Neolithic?

We investigate the hypothesis of an Early Neolithic activity in the Escoural Cave and review the evidence for this period on a regional scale, c. 5400-4500 BCE. Escoural is located in southern Portugal, Montemor-o-Novo, Alentejo. After the end of its long use during the Palaeolithic, the cave was abandoned, regaining its symbolic importance only several thousand years later with the placement of the dead in its underground space by Neolithic farmers. Interestingly, while caves were largely ignored by Late Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in south-western Iberia, these spaces seem to have been occupied by the first farmers as soon as they arrive in the region. The existence of impressed pottery, predominantly with cardial decoration, is the main argument supporting an Early Neolithic occupation of the cave, but the nature of this activity and its absolute chronology is unknown. Fragments of cardial were identified in room 1 where most human remains were found, however its exact provenance and association with funerary deposits is unclear. Also, the chronology of the Neolithic activity in Escoural is an open question, as current radiometric chronology on human bone remains dates the use of the cave for funerary activity between 3300-3000 cal BCE, i.e Late Neolithic. We re-examined the assemblages of impressed pottery and lithic artefacts published as Early Neolithic and started a systematic radiocarbon dating programme of the human remains recovered near the cardial pottery, to understand the character of this occupation. Testing the hypothesis of the use of the cave by early farmers as a place for the dead is particularly relevant because while Early Neolithic settlements are well known in the region, the places for the dead remained unidentified.