Monte da Ponte
Coordinates: 38 ° 26 '9.9 " N , 8 ° 3' 9.9" W.
The Monte da Ponte is an approximately six hectare Copper Age complex in the Vale de Rodrigo , Portugal . The approximately 240 km² large valley also has 50 megalithic systems , 10 menhirs and a cromlech . Monte da Ponte was discovered from the air in 1989 during a flight by Otto Braasch in the Évora district .
The topographical measurements revealed several wall rings. The superficially visible walls could be supplemented by means of various measurements to form an extensive overall picture comprising at least six rings. Geophysical investigations completed the picture and were able to show semicircular bastions on one of the six wall rings , as they are typical for Copper Age installations on the Iberian Peninsula .
In an excavation cut made in 1996, the temporal approach was confirmed by finds. At the latest in the Copper Age , a walled system was built at the confluence of the Ribeira de Valverde and Ribeira de Peramanca, five kilometers south of the Vale de Rodrigo and three kilometers south of the local malachite deposits . According to the finds, the Antas in the Vale de Rodrigo were still in use at that time.
In the bottom layer of the mound of one of the complexes, pottery was found which, according to current ideas, was about 1000 years older than the construction of the chamber. Structures or pits of an older settlement could not be found. On Monte da Ponte, the natural ground has not yet been reached at a depth of 1.50 m.
The surrounding
The excavations in the megalithic systems have shown complex processes during the occupation time both in the chambers and in the hills. The entrance area of the Vale de Rodrigo 2 complex has been redesigned several times. A fragmented stone adorned with bowls and other motifs was exposed in the chamber filling. The Vale de Rodrigo 3 installation must be free in the first phase, i. H. without the hill that stood there. Older traces of settlement could be found under the hills, which at Vale de Rodrigo 2 a calibrated 14C date of 3700 BC. Chr. Resulted. Under the hill of Vale de Rodrigo 3, a layer cut off for the foundation pit of the chamber contains ample characteristic pottery, which in Portugal is dated to the end of the Early Neolithic and the beginning of the Middle Neolithic . A calibrated C14 date of the shift was 3800-3700 BC. According to the latest research, the oldest megalithic tombs are in Brittany and Portugal.
Web links
- Copper knife from the Monte da Ponte settlement (last accessed on December 14, 2012)
- Vale de Rodrigo (last accessed December 14, 2012)
literature
- Philine Kalb & Martin Hock: II Congreso de Arqueología Peninsular, Zamora, del 24 al 27 de septiembre de 1996 . Volume 2: Neolítico, Calcolítico y Bronce . Fundación Rei Afonso Henriques, Zamora 1997, ISBN 84-89981-01-9 , pp. 417-424 ( actas series ).