272 18— The islamic pottery from Senhora do Barrocal (Sátão, Central-Northern Portugal) Gabriel DE SOUZA João Luís VELOSO Catarina TENTE (IEM | NOVA FCSH) abstRact Located at the top of a hill of granite tors, the archaeological site of Senhora do Barrocal is probably one of the most attractive and exceptional sites for the study of the Early Middle Ages in the Beira Alta region (centre-north of Portugal). This village was occupied in two distinct phases throughout the 10th and 11th centuries. The rich collection (composed not only of ceramic materials, but also a signifcant botanic assemblage, lithics and metals) from these excavations has been studied in recent years, and already resulted in a number of publications. The present text presents the Islamic production vessels, which, being exogenous to the region and of high quality, are assumed to be exceptional pieces in this context. These pieces can be regarded as social markers of local elites and may express their capacity to establish connections beyond the region where the settlement is located. Thus the pottery presented in this paper, as well as other markers of social diferentiation found at Senhora do Barrocal, contribute towards an understanding of social complexity in a territory that was a frontier land between the 9th and 11th centuries. KeywoRds Islamic pottery productions, local pottery productions, Early Medieval, Rural Communities, local elites. 1� The archaeological site of Senhora do Barrocal Located in the Portuguese municipality of Sátão, Viseu, the archaeological site of Senhora do Barrocal is situated on top of a great granite tor (Figure 1), near the fertile vale of the Corja Stream, an afuent of the Dão River. This location strategy seems to have been determined by the need for visual control over the territory and, at the same time, of going unnoticed in this hilly granitic landscape. Between 2014 and 2016, the site was subject to three archaeological seasons of excavations in two sectors, under the direction of Catarina Tente and Hugo Baptista. In the frst it was possible to identify two distinct occupation phases attested by the existence of a large layer of ash and charcoal separating them. The fre attested by this layer must have been a dramatic incident for the population since it must have destroyed most standing structures. This, however, does not seem to have spelled the defnitive end of the settlement’s occupation. In fact, in the last archaeological season, it was made clear that the stone wall was built—or, at least, rebuilt—immediately after the fre had occurred. This was justifed by the partial disassembling of the wall, which demonstrated that this structure settled on top of the fre layer. Besides that, broken ceramic vessels, undoubtedly ruined by the fre, were found inside the wall, serving as flling along with other fre debris containing seeds and charcoal.