Anta da Tapada dos Matos
 
| ||||
Location of the Anta da Tapada dos Matos in Portugal. |
The Anta da Tapada dos Matos , also known as Anta dos Mosteiros , is a megalithic complex about 1.2 km west of Póvoa e Meadas , in the municipality ( Portuguese Freguesia ) Nossa Senhora da Graça de Póvoa e Meadas in the district ( Portuguese Concelho ) Castelo de Vide , Portalegre District in the northeast Alentejo .
Anta , Mámoa , Dolmen , Orca and Lapa are the common names in Portugal for the approximately 5000 megalithic structures that were built during the Neolithic in the west of the Iberian Peninsula by the successors of the Cardial or Imprint culture .
Monument preservation
The complex was first described by Georg and Vera Leisner in 1959 and archaeologically examined in 1994 and 1995 as part of restoration and conservation measures .
In 2012, the Anta was registered and protected as Imóvel de Interest Público . At the same time, the area within 50 m of the site was classified as Zona especial de proteção .
Finding
The irregular polygonal burial chamber with a diameter of about 5 m was formed by eight support stones ( orthostats ) made of granite . Seven of the bearing stones are still in situ , three of them are inclined into the interior of the burial chamber. The capstone of the approximately 3.65 m high burial chamber has not been preserved, but some of the granite fragments found inside the chamber may have belonged to the former cover.
Of the at least 8.7 meter long corridor , six lateral bearing stones have been preserved in situ. The width of the corridor is 1.7 m with a height of about 1.46 m. So far there have been no indications of the corridor being covered; the former overhang ( mámoa ) of the burial chamber is clearly detectable in the area.
It is one of the largest megalithic tombs known in the northeastern Alentejo.
In the course of the excavations, a silo was observed in the rock, which was overlaid by the grave and suggests an older settlement at the same place. It remains to be seen whether the grave was deliberately created on the site of the previous settlement or whether the continuity of the space is more or less coincidental.
Finds
No information is yet available about any finds from the excavations in 1994 and 1995. The dating of the complex can therefore only generally be in the period from the 4th to the 3rd millennium BC. Take place.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Domingos Bucho: Anta da Tapada de Matos / Anta dos Mosteiros . Direção – Geral do Património Cultural - Sistema de Informação para o Património Arquitectónico, 1997, accessed on July 21, 2018 (Portuguese).
- ↑ Georg Leisner and Vera Leisner : The megalithic tombs of the Iberian Peninsula. The west . In: Madrid Research . tape 1 , no. 2 . Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin 1959.
- ↑ a b c Anta da Tapada dos Matos / Anta dos Mosteiros . Direção – Geral do Património Cultural - Portal do Arqueólogo, accessed on July 21, 2018 (Portuguese).
- ↑ Portaria n.º 740-AI / 2012 (= Ministério da Cultura [ed.]: Diário da República, 2nd series . Volume I , n ° 248). December 24, 2012, p. 40536- (Jan. f.) (Portuguese, dre.pt [PDF; accessed on July 21, 2018]).
- ↑ a b A. Martins: Anta da Tapada dos Matos, ou Anta dos Mosteiros . Direção – Geral do Património Cultural, accessed on July 21, 2018 (Portuguese).
literature
- A. Martins: Anta da Tapada dos Matos, ou Anta dos Mosteiros . Direção-Geral do Património Cultural, accessed on July 21, 2018 (Portuguese, with extensive literature sv Bibliografia).
Coordinates: 39 ° 30 ′ 47.2 " N , 7 ° 31 ′ 59.6" W.