Nécropole mégalithique de Bustelo
DatedEst. 4000–3000 BCE
Photo Xicodaponte · CC BY-SA 4.0Source file on Wikimedia Commons
Overview
About this site
Overview
Nécropole mégalithique de Bustelo is a dolmen in Vila Verde, Portugal. A typological estimate: 4000 BCE to 3000 BCE.
Read on Wikipedia1 min readCC BY-SA 4.0
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
Nécropole mégalithique de Bustelo
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
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
1 photograph, each with its author and licence
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
- 41°41′45″ N, 8°27′33″ WFor a GPS or map app: 41.69581, -8.45915
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.
- SteleVia romana de Braga a Tui - 14 marcos miliários (série capela)
- SteleMarco miliário
Mamoa de Lamas- SteleMarco miliário Covide e Campo
- SteleCruzeiro de São João do Campo
Antas da Serra de Soajo4000–3000 BCEPhoto: Vitor Oliveira from Torres Vedras, PORTUGAL · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Mamoa do Chão da Pica
Via Nova
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Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
2 sources behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q106546933wikidata.org
- 02Source for this dateen.wikipedia.org
Image files
- Mamoa6.jpgXicodaponteCC BY-SA 4.0
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
- Via romana de Braga a Tui - 14 marcos miliários (série capela)15 km NW
- Marco miliário21 km E
- Mamoa de Lamas22 km S
- Marco miliário Covide e Campo23 km E
- Cruzeiro de São João do Campo23 km E
- Antas da Serra de Soajo24 km NE
- Mamoa do Chão da Pica25 km W
- Via Nova27 km E
- Menir de São Paio de Antas28 km W
- Rapído dolmen28 km SW
Credit
Text, licence and sources
Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Necrópole Megalítica do Bustelo" (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