Menhirs in Portugal
The menhirs in Portugal and on the rest of the Iberian Peninsula are relatively unknown compared to those in other megalithic regions. In Portugal , especially in the Algarve and the Alentejo , the highest concentration of menhirs is on the peninsula. Among the menhirs are individual statue menhirs such as that of Ermida . Iberian menhirs can be found in five regions:
- the Algarve (especially the Western Algarve),
- the Alentejo (with a concentration in the Alentejo Central),
- the northwest of the peninsula (central and northern Portugal and Galicia),
- the central north coast and the western Pyrenees (Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country)
- Catalonia.
The most important menhir locations in Portugal are:
- Almendres , Barrocal , Bulhoa , Caeira , Casbarra , Menhirs of Lavajo , Menhir of Luzim , Meada , Oliveirinha , Outeiro , Patalou , Tojal , São Bartolomeu do Mar , São Palo de Antas , the Sintra Menhir, Vale Maria do Meio and Vale de Maria Pais . As Cromlechs or stone row the sites come Cromlech from Monte das Figueiras , Cromlech of Fontainhas and Alinhamento as Tera added.
Algarve
The menhirs of the Algarve are characterized primarily by their morphology and decoration, but also by the archaeological context. They are clearly concentrated in the far west of the province, which instead has fewer megalithic structures. The menhirs usually have cylindrical, phallic or sub-conical shapes (menhirs from Aspradantes ). Their mostly geometric decoration is very uniform. Their raw material consists of limestone and sandstone, the sedimentary rock of the geological subsurface.
One of the most original aspects of the menhirs in the Algarve is that many menhir locations seem to be associated with Neolithic settlements and several times also with Mesolithic places.
The 259 menhirs of the Algarve are of medium or small size, none of them reaching four meters in length. As with the other Iberian menhirs, the majority had fallen over in the Algarve (only five were found upright). The piles are so battered that it is impossible to reconstruct their initial plan. The question of the function and the time of the menhirs also remains unresolved.
Alentejo
The Alentejo is the region on the peninsula that has the largest number of menhir locations. This not only affects the largest ensembles, but also the size of the individual menhirs. In the Alentejo Central alone there are 87 sites with a total of 374 menhirs, while there are 259 menhirs in 80 sites in the Algarve. Alentejo standing stones are made almost entirely of granite and similar rocks, although many isolated standing stones and most houses are made from other geological substrates ( gneiss or tertiary sediments).
The monoliths come from countless outcrops . Most of them didn't need any additional shaping. Egg-shaped shapes predominate, often with a flattened side, which is almost always the result of geological processes that influenced the granite cliffs of the region. Most of the menhirs were erected in the upper part of the east-facing slopes. This orientation appears, at least in some cases, to be associated with basic astronomical phenomena such as the rising of the sun and moon. The location of the dolmens repeats this regional character without exception.
The Alentejo menhir clusters appear to conform to a model that has been used throughout the region, albeit with variations. The dimensions vary, although the logic of the choice of location, the shapes and the proportions have been retained. Those whose plan has been preserved at least to some extent have the shape of a horseshoe open to the east, only in Almendres, the largest ensemble, the original shape was subsequently changed. A characteristic of the Alentejo menhirs are the engravings, which are almost always made in bas-relief. They show, in decreasing order, crosses, moons, crescents, rectangular and trapezoidal figures, circles and wavy lines. The majority of the monoliths, however, are devoid of images.
The menhirs are concentrated in the central Alentejo ( Évora district ). In the Lower Alentejo there are only a few examples that are all related to the few places of igneous rocks in the region. In the north there is a group of menhirs, including the menhir of Meada, almost 7 meters long, the largest on the Iberian Peninsula.
Although there is little historical data, several indicators suggest a chronology that begins in the early Neolithic. However, an investigation has confirmed that there are also menhirs from the Iron Age in the Alentejo Central. Recent excavations have helped identify another interesting phenomenon through the presence of certain ceramic containers: the re-use of menhirs (from Portela de Mogos and San Sebastião) on burial grounds from the Early Bronze Age .
Northern Portugal and Spain
Menhirs are relatively rare in Spain compared to dolmens, but are more common in the northern half of the country, where at least 500 menhirs have been reported. They are particularly common in the Basque Country , in Navarra , in the north of Burgos and Palencia , in Cantabria and in the Pyrenees , where they can be found alone or in small groups (cromlech) in elevated areas. Central and northern Portugal and Galicia have a low density of menhirs (less than 30), almost all of which are isolated. In the south are the two menhirs of São Cristóvão. They seem to belong to an Iron Age necropolis and have analogies to Monte da Tera in the catchment area of the Tagus. The monument was referred to by Couto da Espanhola, originally with reservations, as a megalithic complex. The menhirs in this area are made of granite or granitoids. In general, the menhirs in the northwest of the peninsula are of modest dimensions, with the greatest length of about three meters.
literature
- Manuel Calado: Menhirs of Portugal: all Quiet on the Western Front? In: G. Rodriguez, H. Marchesi et al .: Statues-menhirs et pierres levées du Néolithique à aujourd'hui. Pp. 243-253