The Mesolithic – Neolithic transition on the South-Western Portuguese Coast: Preliminary Data on the Shellmidden of Paço Velho 2

The Portuguese south-western coast was a pivotal point of social interactions between hunter-gatherers and Neolithic communities (~6 500-4 000 BC). Despite being located between two central areas on the debate of the neolithisation process in Portugal, the south-western coast and the Mira valley have occupied a peripheral place on the investigation. The present investigation research was developed under a master thesis study which aim was to analyse the territory of those communities, as well as searching for their settlement patterns. The identification of a new Mesolithic site on this region, Paço Velho 2, reveals some characteristic details of the lives of the last hunter-gathers communities of the southern Portugal