A uilla romana da Quinta das Longas (Elvas, Portugal): a lixeira baixo-imperial

The paper presents the results of a dig on a garbage dump identified within the course of an archeological intervention at the Roman uilla of the Quinta das Longas (S. Vicente e Ventosa, Elvas, Portugal) with a view to establishing the paleo-economic characterisation of the lower imperial occupation 4th/5th centuries. It is a perfectly individualized stratigraphic environment, sealed by the toppling of the covering of the final phase occupation structures of the uilla. In order to place this garbage dump within the chronostratigraphic reading of the location, a set of exhumed archeological materials are presented and analyzed from the functional perspective. The garbage dump artifacts are thus grouped into functional categories: transport/storage, preparation/cooking, serving/eating, light-ing and other uses of residual expression. Issues regarding chronological interpretation of this context are presented on the basis of the artifacts gathered with special focus on amphoric productions, terra sigillata recipients and coins. The aim is thus to trace a representative image of the day to day of the lower imperial pars urbana of the uilla of the Quinta das Longas from the details analyzed within the garbage dump context, namely as regards the characterization of the eating habits and associated gestures. Through this study we also aim to placethe archeological site within its economic, local and regional context, this being one of the major objectives of the research project of which this archeological intervention is a part.