Investigating beads from Chalcolithic funerary cremation contexts of Perdigões, Portugal

A set of beads was studied to investigate their nature. They come from a funerary feature used for the secondary deposition of cremated remains of more than a hundred individuals. The pit is located in the centre of Perdigões (Évora, Portugal) ditched enclosures (Valera et al., 2014a) and is dated from the third quarter of the 3rd millennium BC. The beads were also burned and were part of the funerary votive assemblages, also composed by arrowheads ivory figurines, marble idols and pots, phalanx idols, copper awls, Pecten shells and pottery sherds. These beads have a diameter between 5 and 10.5 mm, with a central perforation up to 5 mm and maximum thickness of 3 mm, they are dark grey or black and were of unknown nature.