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Anta do Tapadão (Aldeia da Mata)

Dolmen

Anta do Tapadão (Aldeia da Mata)

Also known asAldeia da Mata Dolmen · Anta da Aldeia da Mata · Anta do Tapadão

Portugal

DatedEst. 4000–3000 BCE

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Photo · Public domainSource file on Wikimedia Commons

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About this site

Overview

The Anta da Aldeia da Mata, also called the Anta do Tapadão, is a megalithic chamber tomb in the Alentejo, Portugal. It stands two kilometres from the settlement of Aldeia da Mata, in the parish of the same name, in the municipality of Crato, Portalegre district. It is a monument more than five thousand years old, with a catalogue dating of 4000 to 3000 BCE based on typology.

It is notable for its size, perhaps the largest of its kind in Portugal, and for its very good state of preservation. It has been classified as a National Monument since 1910.

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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.

  1. Göbekli Tepe9600 BCE
  2. First farming9500 BCE
  3. Avebury2600 BCE
  4. Great Pyramid of Giza2560 BCE
  5. Stonehenge2500 BCE
  6. Bronze Age collapse1200 BCE
  7. Rome founded753 BCE
  8. Parthenon447 BCE
  9. Hadrian's Wall122 CE
  10. Machu Picchu built1450 CE
12,000 BCE8,000 BCE4,000 BCE1 CE1,500 CE
This site

Est. 4000–3000 BCEHow this date was established: Type comparisonTypical for this type

The published range for this kind of monument in this region. It is not a date for this site.
Source for this date

Article

Anta do Tapadão (Aldeia da Mata)

2 min read309 wordsRead on Wikipedia

The sixth is reduced to less than its lower half, the missing upper part having fallen outside.

Anta da Aldeia da Mata

Description

Sources for this section

The chamber is formed by seven large granite orthostats. Their dimensions (height by width) are 2.62 m by 2.20 m, 2.33 m by 1.50 m, 2.38 m by 0.84 m, 2.10 m by 2.80 m, 1.70 m by 1.16 m, 0.45 m by 1.14 m and 2.24 m by 2.45 m. The slab that closes the mouth of the chamber measures 3.06 m by 2.78 m, and the capstone, or table, measures 4.27 m by 3.35 m and is 30 cm thick.

The second orthostat is broken across its middle. The sixth is reduced to less than its lower half, the missing upper part having fallen outside. The entrance faces east and is extended by a corridor ten metres long, flanked by granite blocks. The mouth of the chamber was closed by an enormous block about three metres wide, which remains in place.

Finds

Sources for this section

When the monument was excavated, a very rich assemblage was recovered: pottery vessels, arrowheads, knives, axes, female ornaments, human and animal bones, a crook and plaque idols, described as unique in the Iberian Peninsula.