Vidigueira Dolmen

Category: Archaeology > Dolmen

District: Évora > Redondo > Redondo > Quinta da Vidigueira

Location:

The Anta da Vidigueira is located in the Quinta da Vidigueira area, on the outskirts of the village of Redondo, set within the Alentejo landscape.

Its location, although close to an urbanized area, maintains an environment that invites tranquil observation of this ancestral monument, framed by the characteristic surroundings of the municipality of Redondo.

Its Ancient Roots:

This imposing megalithic monument dates back to a very distant period in human history, having been erected approximately four to five thousand years ago, somewhere between the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods.

Its primary function would have been that of a collective burial chamber, a sacred place where the region's prehistoric communities buried their dead and performed associated rituals.

Details of the Millennia-Old Construction:

The anta's main structure consists of a polygonal chamber, built with large local granite blocks, known as orthostats.

Originally, these vertical orthostats, reaching about 2.5 meters in height, supported a voluminous capstone, which enclosed the burial chamber. Traces of a corridor providing access to this main chamber can still be observed today, as well as remnants of the artificial mound of earth and stones, or tumulus, which would have covered the entire monument.

Remains and Importance:

The Anta da Vidigueira is an important testament to the region's prehistory, officially recognized as a National Monument since 1910.

Archaeological investigations at the site have allowed for the discovery of various artifacts, such as ceramics and stone tools, offering clues about the life, beliefs, and practices of the populations who built and used it.

A particularly interesting find reveals that the site was reoccupied and used in much later periods, with evidence of an 11th-century burial, underscoring the continuous importance of this site throughout the millennia.

License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.pt