Anta de Pedras Altas
DatedEst. 4000–3000 BCE
Photo Wilrooij · CC BY-SA 4.0Source file on Wikimedia Commons
Overview
About this site
Overview
The Anta de Pedras Altas, also known as the Anta de Mealha, is a megalithic tomb in the municipality of Tavira, in the Algarve region of Portugal. It stands close to the settlement of Mealha, in the parish of Cachopo, and is dated by typological estimate to 4000–3000 BCE.
From its configuration the tomb is thought to have been built in the late Neolithic or the Chalcolithic. Excavation in the late 1970s recovered a rich assemblage of finds.
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Where it sits in time
The site's dated range, placed against world reference points.
The scale is logarithmic: each step to the left is about ten times older than the last.
Article
Anta de Pedras Altas
The monument occupies the top of a hill, a position with good visual control over the surrounding area.
DescriptionSources for this section
- Wikipedia (Portuguese): Anta das Pedras AltasCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (Portuguese): Anta das Pedras AltasCC BY-SA 4.0
The monument occupies the top of a hill, a position with good visual control over the surrounding area. It consisted of a chamber of elongated trapezoidal plan formed by twelve orthostats, a corridor and an entrance facing east. Another funerary monument, the Anta da Masmorra, lies in the same parish.
ExcavationsSources for this section
- Wikipedia (Portuguese): Anta das Pedras AltasCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (Portuguese): Anta das Pedras AltasCC BY-SA 4.0
Archaeological work was carried out at the tomb in the late 1970s, coordinated by Victor S. Gonçalves.
FindsSources for this section
- Wikipedia (Portuguese): Anta das Pedras AltasCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (Portuguese): Anta das Pedras AltasCC BY-SA 4.0
The excavation yielded a rich assemblage that includes objects of chipped, shaped and polished stone. Among the polished pieces an adze (enxó) is notable. Necklace beads of schist and of green stones were also found; these are thought to have been decorative elements.
ContextSources for this section
- Wikipedia (Portuguese): Anta das Pedras AltasCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (Portuguese): Anta das Pedras AltasCC BY-SA 4.0
Megalithic tombs in southern Portugal are called antas. Excavated examples in the Alentejo around Évora have produced slate tablets, personal ornaments and copper objects, which shows that such tombs were used over generations and that the evidence in a single anta can reach into the Chalcolithic.
Tradition and region
About this kind of monument
Portuguese antas of the Alentejo
Around Évora, in the Alentejo, megalithic tombs are called antas, and some of the largest in Iberia stand here. The Great Dolmen of Zambujeiro, near Valverde in the municipality of Évora, is considered one of the biggest such structures in Iberia. Research has dated it to between 4000 and 3000 BCE, concurrent with the megalithic building of the Évora region, and it is linked to the Great Dolmen of Comenda da Igreja at Montemor-o-Novo. Henrique Leonor Pina excavated it in 1965, and although his methods caused some controversy, the work recovered slate tablets, necklaces, crosiers, copper objects, ceramics and carinated bowls. The Portuguese government declared it a national monument in 1971.
The finds show that the tombs were used for generations: slate tablets, personal ornaments and copper objects in the chambers reach into the Chalcolithic, so one anta can carry evidence for several centuries of burial custom. Excavated anta chambers are the main source for dating, since the stones themselves cannot be dated.
Nearby, the Almendres Cromlech is a large group of standing stones, a reminder that the Alentejo's megalithic landscape also includes open-air stone enclosures and single menhirs, not only tombs.
The Atlas's records here include small antas, some reduced to a few standing slabs, and many lack a secure excavation date. They are labelled with a typological range.
When visiting, look for the chamber and the passage that leads to it, and for the way the monument sits in its field. Check access in advance.
Paraphrased from Wikipedia: Great Dolmen of Zambujeiro, Wikipedia: Great Dolmen of Comenda da Igreja, Wikipedia: Almendres Cromlech, Wikipedia: Dolmen · CC BY-SA 4.0
From the article
Dated moments in the story
- 1970
Foi alvo de trabalhos arqueológicos nos finais da década de 1970, coordenados por Victor S.
Source
See it in 3D
An interpretive reconstruction of the monument, standing on the real ground at its exact point, under the sun for that place and season. Drag to look around it.
The reconstruction is ours, not a survey: it shows what a monument of this type looks like, at the size the record gives for this one.
Photographs
4 photographs, each with its author and licence
More photographs
Lore
Evidence & Lore
What the sources actually support — and, kept apart, what has been claimed.
What the evidence supports
Dates
Est. 4000–3000 BCEHow this date was established: Type comparisonTypical range for dolmens in Portugal; this site has not been dated itself. Most dolmens date from the Late Neolithic period (4000-3000 BCE); megalithic tombs at Algarve in Portugal date to c. 2500 BC.Source for this date
Where it stands
Portugal
The pin marks the monument itself — its exact point.
- Coordinates
- 37°21′14″ N, 7°52′34″ WFor a GPS or map app: 37.35397, -7.87606
Access is as our sources describe it; we have not visited the site to check.
Nearby
The closest sites in the Atlas, by straight line.
Anta da Masmorra4000–3000 BCE
Túmulo Megalítico de Santa Rita
Mehirs of Lavajo3500–2800 BCE- Menhir (standing stone)Menir de Aldeia dos Fernandes2800–1800 BCE
- Menhir (standing stone)Menir dos Abrutiais2800–1800 BCE
- Megalithic complexMonumento megalítico do Cerro da Fonte Santa
- Megalithic complexLa Torre-La Janera megalithic site3750–3500 BCE
- DolmenAnta da Pedreirinha4000–3000 BCE
Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
2 sources behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q16490871wikidata.org
- 02Source for this dateen.wikipedia.org
Image files
Report a correctionWrong date, name, photograph or source? Tell us and it will be put right.
Around this place
The ten nearest sites, by compass
- Anta da Masmorra2.8 km NE
- Túmulo Megalítico de Santa Rita34 km SE
- Mehirs of Lavajo34 km NE
- Menir de Aldeia dos Fernandes35 km NW
- Menir dos Abrutiais39 km W
- Monumento megalítico do Cerro da Fonte Santa40 km N
- La Torre-La Janera megalithic site42 km E
- Anta da Pedreirinha42 km W
- Menir da Vilarinha 142 km W
- Menir da Vilarinha 243 km W
Credit
Text, licence and sources
Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Anta das Pedras Altas" (Portuguese), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; authors are listed in the page history. Reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikipedia · Edit history and authors