Category: Civil Architecture > Museum
District: Castelo Branco > Sertã > Perna do Galego
The Lajeira Rock Art Station is located in the village of Perna do Galego, within the municipality of Sertã. Situated at an altitude of approximately 830 meters, this station occupies a dominant position halfway up the slope, offering a broad perspective over the surrounding landscape.
The presence of the rock, with its engravings, naturally integrates into this mountain setting, testifying to human occupation and interaction with the territory over thousands of years.
This archaeological site, essentially dated to the Bronze Age and Iron Age, represents an important link to the human communities that inhabited the region millennia ago. Its existence confirms the profound symbolic significance attributed to this place and its cultural relevance for ancient populations.
Lajeira stands out as one of the few known examples of rock engravings in the region, making it a unique testimony to recent prehistoric art in Portugal and a valuable resource for understanding the cultures that preceded us.
The station consists of a schist rock, where a vertical panel of approximately twelve square meters was carefully worked. The engravings were created using a percussion technique, known as pecking, which involves hammering the rock surface to create lines and fill in shapes.
The collection of representations at Lajeira is remarkably diverse. Geometric motifs such as circles and spirals can be observed, as well as meandriform and serpentine shapes. There are also aligned dots and, more rarely, possible anthropomorphic figures, which enriches the complexity and eclecticism of this ancestral artistic record.
The importance of the Lajeira Station is officially recognized, having been classified as a Site of Public Interest since 2014. Its particularity lies not only in the homogeneity of its figurative language but also in the fact that it fits into a type of rock art with parallels in the Iberian Peninsula, pointing to cultural connections and influences between distant communities.
The strategic location of the rock, combined with the richness of its motifs, suggests a probable territorial demarcation or a place of symbolic gathering. Visiting the Lajeira Station is, therefore, a way to directly connect with a distant past and appreciate the art of civilizations that shaped the landscape and history of the region.
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.pt
Coordinates DD: 39.8429957,-7.9466494
Coordinates DMS: 39°50'34.8"N 07°56'47.9"W
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