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Human–animal relations have been a fruitful research topic worldwide. The importance of deer in hunter–gatherer societies is undeniable, with cervids being commonly found in archaeological and past artistic records, with a notable amount of information recovered in the Iberian Peninsula. This relevance continues during Late Prehistory, but the attempt to discuss cervids under broader perspectives and based on different types of data is not as common. We intend to approach human–deer relations in Central and Southern Portuguese Late Prehistory by considering the zooarchaeological records, both deer abundance in faunal spectra and their presence in “meaningful” assemblages and structured depositions, as well as the use of deer and deer body parts in other socio–cultural and ideological practices. The synthesis of available data shows that human–deer relations changed through time and space, with different abundances related to hunting depending on chronology and geography. The use of deer or their body parts as a resource of symbolic nature also varied, being included in food-sharing events, offerings, structured depositions, and graphic representations. Changeability is part of the different relationships, ontologies, and cosmogonies that humans and deer developed in the Late Prehistoric relational world.

The Chalcolithic time is a period widely debated in Southwestern Iberia Late Prehistory. During the last few decades, the number of contexts known has grown, especially with the discovery and publication of several ditched enclosures from Southern Portugal. To contribute to ongoing discussions, three Chalcolithic pits –13, 16, 54– from the Complex of ditched enclosures of Monte das Monte das Cabeceiras 2, in Beja, were analysed from a zooarchaeological and taphonomical perspective. The results are combined with information from the material culture, human remains and stratigraphy in order to discuss infilling sequences. Hypothesis on the possible meaning of social practices related to the management of animals are addressed. Bovine, caprine, swine, cervids, leporids and canids were identified with different abundances. A possible feasting or offerings of bovine –including auroch– and to a lesser extent red deer, wild boar and domestic species is suggested for pit 13, where a burial was also identified. Pottery and animal depositions were recorded in this pit, and the contiguous pit 54 that also had human remains. Pit 16 had a possible selection of horns and antlers from bovine, caprine and cervids, as well as a deposition of canid limb bones inside a large pot. The pits analysed can be framed in the wider Southwestern Iberian Peninsula phenomena of ditched enclosures where structured deposits including animal remains are recurrent.

This paper presents the results of the excavations carried out in the Chalcolithic contexts from the walled enclosure of Ota (Alenquer, Portugal). Six new absolute dates allow the discussion of the stratigraphical evidence and chronologically frame the zooarchaeological and taphonomical analysis of the faunal assemblage. Domesticated swine, caprine and bovine are prevalent, while wild species, most notably leporids, but also red deer, auroch and wild boar, among others, are less common. Exploitation and management of animals for the acquisition of primary and secondary products are inferred. Existing data suggests that the economic intensification that started during the previous phases was ongoing.

The potential impact of climatic deterioration on societal breakdowns in prehistory is often based on the mere coincidence of archaeological and palaeoclimatological proxies. For a more profound discussion, climate-sensitive archaeological parameters need to be identified. As agriculture and livestock are significantly affected by the recent climate crisis, the analysis of archaeobotanical and archaeozoological remains can deepen our understanding of this topic. Here, we analyze regional trajectories in subsistence and seasonal precipitation variability across southern Iberia focusing on well-known prehistoric breakdowns around 2200 and 1600 BCE. Results suggest that the ratios of the importance of sheep/goat versus swine and sheep/goat versus cattle, respectively, may serve as a proxy for prehistoric mobility. The importance of hunting deer represents a proxy for societal turnover. While no direct link is evident between climate deterioration and the archaeozoological data, archaeobotanical data reveals a potential relation to precipitation variability. In particular, a close connection to reductions in cold-season precipitation in south-east Iberia appears likely for the ratio between barley and naked wheat. The increased importance of drought-tolerant barley correlates with a trend to reduced cold-season precipitation levels after ca. 2700 BCE. We hypothesize that prehistoric people in south-east Iberia cultivated more barley in order to adapt to periods of drier cold-season climate.