Anta do Tapadão
The Anta do Tapadão (also called Anta Grande do Tapadão or Anta da Aldeia da Mata) is a megalithic complex in Portugal . It is located on a hill west of Portalegre about one kilometer from the hamlet of Aldeia da Mata, in the northern Alentejo . Anta or dolmen is the Portuguese name for around 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 .
With 16 m length of chamber and passage, it is one of the largest and best preserved Antas in the Alentejo . It dates from around 3000 BC. BC and lies in a hill with a diameter of 30 m. The chamber height is about 3.75 m from today's floor. The seven granite bearing stones are complete except for one. The frontal stone of the so-called wide chamber, the longest side of which lies across the passage, is about three meters wide. A special feature is that in addition to the capstone, the chamber's locking stone has also been preserved. The access is directed to the east. The double trapezoidal corridor, open at the top, of which 11 stones have survived, is over 10 m long. It narrows six meters in front of the chamber from 1.8 to 1.4 m. Outwardly, it expands again.
During investigations in the early 1990s, the much smaller Anta 2 do Tapadão was discovered nearby, which is why the other is also known as Anta 1.
literature
- Thomas G. Schattner (Ed.): Archaeological guide through Portugal (= cultural history of the ancient world . Vol. 74). Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1998, ISBN 3-8053-2313-1 , p. 125, no. 161.
- Georg Leisner and Vera Leisner : The megalithic tombs of the Iberian Peninsula . Der Westen, 2nd delivery 1959, pp. 30f, ISBN 978-3-11-003257-4
Web links
Coordinates: 39 ° 18 ′ 3.7 ″ N , 7 ° 42 ′ 39.3 ″ W.