Dyce Stones

Date Added: 29th Oct 2019
Site Type: Standing Stones Country: Scotland (Aberdeenshire)
Visited: Yes on 11th Feb 2019

Log Text: None

Museu Nacional de Arqueologia

Date Added: 29th Oct 2019
Site Type: Museum Country: Portugal (Lisboa)
Visited: Yes on 11th Oct 2019. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: The Portugese National Museum of Archaeology is in the building adjacent to the wonderful Mosteiro dos Jerónimos. It is is the largest Archaeological museum in Portugal and one of the most important museums in the world devoted to ancient art found in the Iberian Peninsula.

We didn't have long here at the end of a busy day, but had a quick look around the fabulous display of ancient gold and other objects from prehistorical times, the Egyptian gallery and the large Lusitanian (Portugal in the times of the Romans) displays. This is somewhere which would justify many small visits or perhaps a whole day.

Nearby to the bag lockers are a couple of ancient standing stones, one with a large square spiral carving, and the other worked into a very phallic shape.

Nucleo Regional do Megalitismo

Date Added: 25th Oct 2019
Site Type: Museum Country: Portugal (Évora)
Visited: Yes on 12th Oct 2019. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: A fairly new and interesting megalithic interpretation centre in the old railway station in the small town of Mora. The main room has a large wooden interpretation of the local landscape, with various chambers and areas within it containing various finds and information of neolithic life and the the local megaliths. I was particularly taken by the displays of the decorated neolithic plaques, many of which have been found with the local burials. The girl working at the centre was very friendly and helpful when we visited, helping me with suggestions of which local megalithic sites I should be visiting.

Cromeleque do Monte das Fontaínhas Velhas

Date Added: 25th Oct 2019
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: Portugal (Évora)
Visited: Yes on 12th Oct 2019. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Hadn't planned on visiting or knowing of this site before visiting the Mora centre, where we were told of it by the girl there. As it was on the way to Pavia, just off the main road a couple of kilometers outside town, we stopped for a look. Re-erected in recent years, there is a video of this in the Mora centre. There is a single large stone almost 4 metres tall standing in a part circle of half a dozen smoothed and rounded smaller stones. Just nearby across the track is a further smaller stone, and approx a hundred metres distant to the northeast is a further outlier.

Menir do Monte das Fontaínhas Velhas

Date Added: 25th Oct 2019
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: Portugal (Évora)
Visited: Yes on 12th Oct 2019. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Outlying menhir to the Cromeleque do Monte das Fontaínhas Velhas, standing in open grownd surrounded by cork bark oaks.

Anta de Pavia

Date Added: 25th Oct 2019
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: Portugal (Évora)
Visited: Yes on 12th Oct 2019. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Chapel built into a huge Anta (dolmen) now in a square in the sleepy village of Pavia. The chapel is locked shut, but has a gate of iron railings allowing us to view inside. The nearby Café du Dolmen is also closed, and a few old chaps sit nattering in the shade of a small shelter on the square. Difficult to photograph in the bright sun, as it is mostly in shadow.

Centro Interpretativo dos Almendres

Date Added: 25th Oct 2019
Site Type: Museum Country: Portugal (Évora)
Visited: Yes. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Newly built (opened 2019) visitor centre, shop and interpretive trail, at the edge of the village of Guadalupe on the Rue do Cromeleque, before the road turns to a dirt track leading out to the Almendres sites. As well as the Almendres megaliths, the shop and building is heavily influenced by the local cork bark tradition, and features many cork products.

I could have spent much more time here, but we had to get to Evora to check in to the guesthouse.

Anta de Folgos I

Date Added: 26th Oct 2019
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: Portugal (Évora)
Visited: Saw from a distance on 13th Oct 2019. My rating: Access 4

Log Text: Saw this from the car while driving south east. Nowhere obvious to park to go back and have a look, so didn't.

Anta do Barrocal 2

Date Added: 28th Oct 2019
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: Portugal (Évora)
Visited: Saw from a distance on 13th Oct 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: From the dolmen 1, I see a gate with signpost into the field, so use that to get out, and start to look for the dolmen number 2, which is on the other sde of the trackway. I see it up on the hillside a hundred yards or so away, and with no obvious way in, and cattle in the field.

Compared to the number 1, its a bit of a wreck anyway, so I make do with a couple of pictures from the trackway. At this point, while going back to the car, I see somebody on a quadbike haring up the lane towards me, so I nod and wave at him as he approaches. He slows down and looks like he's heading into the nearby field, but just looks at me, turns round and heads back from whence he came. I guess he had seen me from the farm and was just checking me out, but as I was obviously leaving anyway said nothing.

Cromeleque dos Almendres

Date Added: 29th Oct 2019
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: Portugal (Évora)
Visited: Yes on 12th Oct 2019. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: From the menhir parking, travel a couple more kilometres along the dirt road, and there is a large parking place for the cromlech, a short walk further along. What a fabulous place, especially in the late afternoon golden sun.

Once a double circle of stones, it now appears to be rather unclear, but the approximately one hundred stones are fabulously shaped, several with carvings, but mostly very difficult to make out.

It's a busy place with lots of visitors, and rather like the Pied Piper, I gain a following of people (including several American's over here from Nashville), who want to know my knowledge of the place and for all my thoughts as to why it is here. They struggle with comprehending that it is over 6000 years old, as old to them is a hundred years!

As I later find with the other two cromlechs I visit, it is positioned on a hilltop position on the gently east facing slopes. Could this be something to do with watching the sunrise at these places? This is a place I could come back to again and again if it was local to me!

Gruta do Escoural

Date Added: 29th Oct 2019
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: Portugal (Évora)
Visited: Saw from a distance on 13th Oct 2019

Log Text: Next I go for a quick look at the Escoural caves, which are all fenced off and locked up, with a sign telling how to book a visit with at least 24 hours notice. Hey Ho.

Menir dos Almendres

Date Added: 29th Oct 2019
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: Portugal (Évora)
Visited: Yes on 12th Oct 2019. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Driving towards Evora from Pavia, and after the town of Arraiolos, we see a large brown sign stating something like Recinto do megalithica, which I think is directions to a local megalithic cromlech. However, we see no further signs in the locality, and realise that perhaps the sign is for a megalithic tour drive. We find no other megalithic sites in the vicinity (this was before I figured out how this all works), and it ends up taking us out of the way to Almendres. However, the late afternoon light is fantastic, we still have an hour or so to spare, the others are fairly keen that we should go see it, and it would help me with my tomorrows megalithic tour route if we did visit this now.

After the village of Guadelupe there is an interpretation centre and shop, then it is several miles of dirt road, before a parking place and fenced footpath up to the beautifully shaped menhir, which is about 4 metres tall. It has a carving of a "crook" near to the top, and is apparently a marker for summer solstice sunrise from the cromlech. Pity about the grain silos.

Anta Herdade do Barrocal 1

Date Added: 29th Oct 2019
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: Portugal (Évora)
Visited: Yes on 13th Oct 2019. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: From Evora it was time for my day hunting stones. Thankfully I had done much previous research, otherwise I would have found it extremely difficult. I struggled to get out of the walled city of Evora, round all the one way systems etc, but eventually after finding a place to stop, where I figured out how to use the satnav, and there was no looking back!

The next problem was how to locate the sites, as nothing is on any maps, and very little is signposted. However, with use of my previously prepared Google map of sites, and better phone coverage out here than most places at home, I was able to locate the road to these dolmens, where I realised that many of the roads are actually dirt and gravel tracks, and many seem to start from the main roads through gated entrances.

About threequarters of a km along the dirt track to Barrocal, and I see the old windmill and a place I can park, and then I see the dolmen just in the field to the right. There is a path to it, and it is well sited on the top of a hillock, a nicely complete dolmen with remains of its entrance passageway. It is not very picturesque today, grey skies threatening to rain, and the ground covered in scrub.

Anta Grande do Zambujeiro

Date Added: 4th Nov 2019
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: Portugal (Évora)
Visited: Yes on 13th Oct 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 2 Access 4

Log Text: With claims to being the largest burial chamber in the Iberian Peninsula, and hence one of the biggest in the world, the Anta Grande do Zambujeiro is relatively easy to find, as it is on all the megalithic circuits and leaflets, and signposted from all around. However, it is again about a kilometer along a dirt track, this one not very smooth and with some huge potholes in, so be careful. There is a nice shady place to park, with several cars in it, from where it is a couple of hundred metres walk across a footbridge and field to the fenced in site.

It is huge, but all a bit of a mess, with a big iron shed built over most of it. The entrance corridor is all falling down, and any sort of entrance to the main chamber is well blocked off. It was all obviously once buried under an enormous mound, most of which remains, but the main structure has been dug out, which is what is causing it to collapse. The main chamber, still partially enclosed, is massive and must be almost 8 metres tall, made from huge slabs. For somebody more nimble than me, it would be possible to get in through a gap in some of the side slabs, but good luck getting out again as it's 2 metres down to the floor! The capstone has been removed and lies on the ground on the slope of the mound behind the chamber. There are several other large slabs, with cupmarks and other engravings laying down outside the entrance.

Despite its massive size, and obvious importance, for me it all lacked something, perhaps because of the shed and fencing. I hope that something can be done to stabilise and repair it, and make it a much more pleasant place to visit, as obviously a lot of people do come here.

Alto de São Bento

Date Added: 11th Nov 2019
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: Portugal (Évora)
Visited: Yes on 13th Oct 2019. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 5 Access 5

Log Text: Little remains to be seen of the prehistoric settlement which existed on this fine granite hilltop from 7000 years ago, which was the very origins of the fabulous and historic city of Évora. Today this hilltop is topped with the remains of several windmills, and provides fantastic views over the city of Évora and all around the Alentejo region. The views over Evora, particularly in this clear late afternoon light are fabulous, the low sun lighting up the large Evora buildings, town walls, the aquaduct and the nearby convent. While back in the other direction, the hilltop castle of Arraiolos can be seen.

Anta-Capela de Nossa Senhora do Livramento

Date Added: 29th Oct 2019
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: Portugal (Évora)
Visited: Yes on 13th Oct 2019. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Several miles along a very narrow and twisty road, and I eventually arrived at the Anta-Capela de Nossa Senhora do Livramento, or Anta-Capela de São Brissos, which was one I really wanted to visit, the white painted dolmen now built into a chapel, complete with blue stripe around the bottom to keep the devil at bay.

Despite the satnav trying to take me somewhere else, I found it easy enough, and it has a small car park which had another three cars in it. Before I had even got out of my car, a bloke (French I think) from one of the other cars was over asking if I had the key to the chapel, and was most insistent that I should have it, not taking the fact that I am just an English tourist as an answer!

So as I gathered, the chapel was locked up, so could not get to see inside. It's a wierd and beautiful little place, and unlike that at Pavia, this has an extension built onto the back of the dolmen. There is one large stone laying beside the chapel, and traces of its entrance passageway.

Anta Da Comenda Grande

Date Added: 3rd Nov 2019
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: Portugal (Évora)
Visited: Yes on 13th Oct 2019. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Leave the Anta Grande da Comenda da Igreja and drive towards São Geraldo, then east towards Sabugueiro for about half a kilometre until the road goes over a small hill through a little cutting then down onto the open plains. The dolmen is just off to the north side of the road at the position of the little cutting, and can be seen from the road.

I parked and walked back to get a better look, the cork oak wodded pasture within which the dolmen stands had a large herd of magnificent horned cattle, which after inquisitively looking at me, decided to leave the area. I was able to get decent views of the dolmen from a few vantage points, but be careful, as at one point I slipped and fell down onto the road as the ground beneath me gave way and avalanched me down onto the road, luckily with nothing passing at the time.

Anta Grande da Comenda da Igreja

Date Added: 3rd Nov 2019
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: Portugal (Évora)
Visited: Yes on 13th Oct 2019. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: I drove north through Montemor-o-Novo, and using a combination of the Satnav and my Google map, found the right place to visit the Anta Grande da Comenda da Igreja. However, it is not simple to find and takes a read of my notes and open the portal page to get full directions.

I park at the relevant position, at the place where there is a metal gate at the west side of the road just north of a river crossing, but there are no signs and nothing obvious. However, having now experienced a few of these, I am able to open the gate and walk through and along the trackway, until I find an even more complex gate arrangement, which I can also pass through following my Google satellite position. There is still nothing obvious to see, but further along descending towards the river bed, and a small wooded area becomes obvious after about 2/3 kilometre, to which I procede, and find a sign for the historical monument. Through another little gate into this wooded area which is fenced off from the main pastures and all of a sudden the monument becomes obvious.

What I find is basically a large round mound perhaps 40 metres diameter, with what appear to be remains of a couple of encircling stone kerbs. At the top of the mound can be seen what appears to be a large dolmen with a broken capstone. Walking around the mound, and there appears what is another smaller dolmen chamber towards the edge, but this turns out to be an entrance corridor to the main chamber.

The construction is huge, the entrance corridor would have been big enough to allow easy entrance and must be at least 10 metres in length stretching to the main chamber. However it is all full of dirt, rubble and nasty looking beasties, so I leave it all well alone. Looking at the main chamber from the top of the mound, it must be nearly 5m long by 4m wide, and although the floor has a lot of rubble and infill on it, must be about 6 metres in height. So this is what Zambujeiro would have been like before it was all dug out and became broken, but not quite as big. It is fabulous.

There is lots of wildlife here, all sorts of birds, butterflies and ants as big as mice! Well worth a visit.

Cromeleque de Vale Maria do Meio

Date Added: 8th Nov 2019
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: Portugal (Évora)
Visited: Yes on 13th Oct 2019. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Despite the satnav taking me to the wrong place, using my phone I was able to determine how to get there, and it was then easily found and driven to along a dirt and gravel road, which interestingly had a little bridge seemingly built in the middle of nowhere which turned out to be a sort of tunnel for a huge herd of goats.

There were quite a few people at the cromlech, including half a dozen including girl in Blondie tee shirt who were taking many posed photographs of themselves, made me wonder whether they were a band doing a publicity shoot!

The site itself struck me as being rather like a smaller version of Almendres, a sort of open horseshoe shape of about 40 stones with the open end facing to the east down a gentle slope, while the biggest stones are at the upper western side, many of which had been nicely shaped.

Another beautiful place, and I learned afterwards that some of the stones have carvings.

While I was here, the local farmer drove out to the bridge thing and made noise, whereupon hundreds or even thousands of goats appeared, which he penned in before opening the gate under the bridge. The goats all then charged off towards where the farmer had come from in a mad rush, no doubt this was going to be their feeding time or such like.

Cromeleque da Portela de Mogos

Date Added: 13th Nov 2019
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: Portugal (Évora)
Visited: Yes on 13th Oct 2019. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: I have time to look for one or two more sites, the Cromeleque da Portela de Mogos is not far off, and I now remember spending quite some time looking how to find this before the trip. Back to the road from Cromeleque de Vale Maria do Meio, and half a kilometre to the west it goes up over a wooded hill, and I find a place to park beside the road in a layby. The cromlech should be just away from the road on the south side up the hill. Indeed, there is a footpath which can be seen going off into the woodland from a sort of gap in the fence, which can be opened.

A hundred yards or so up into the woods and a large standing stone can be seen, and then the other stones can also be seen, forming a circular shape around the large one with arms going down the slope. Again it is very like Almendres and Vale Maria do Meio, in that it seems to make an open horseshoe facing down the slope towards the east, although with a circle at the top. There are about 40 stones, and again many are beautifully shaped and have motifs carved onto them.

I am alone here in this lovely wooded place, and think that this is perhaps my favourite place of all my visits, so just linger for a fair while before leaving. After this, it feels wrong to search out any other lesser places, so decide to head back to Evora via the Alto de São Bento viewpoint and the aquaduct.