Alcalar Megalithic Necropolis — Portimão
Monumentos Megalíticos de Alcalar · Alcalar settlement
Chalcolithic (c.3000–2500 BCE)·Algarve Chalcolithic (Los Millares–Vila Nova de São Pedro group)·🇵🇹 Algarve, Faro, Portimão, Mexilhoeira Grande, Penina–Alcalar ridge, Portugal
About
About Alcalar Megalithic Necropolis — Portimão
Alcalar (Chalcolithic 3000–2500 BCE) is a fortified hilltop settlement and 18-mound necropolis crowning the Alcalar ridge between Portimão and Lagos, Algarve, with the massive Monument 7 tholos: a 10-m cruciform chamber with schist slabs, schist-stack tholos dome 6 m high, 12-m passage and surrounding cairn 27 m diameter, excavated by Formosinho 1930s and re-studied 1990s. The settlement on the hilltop is defended by ditch and wall with rectangular towers. Associated with early copper metallurgy and imported ivory, it links the Algarve to Los Millares and the Atlantic megalithic world.
Why it mattersLargest Chalcolithic tholos complex in Portugal; copper emergence key site.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Ivory source — African vs fossil?
Theories
- 01Algarve copper elite emulating Los Millares tholos for status
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.3000–2800 BCE settlement; tombs c.2800–2500 BCE
- Period
- Chalcolithic (c.3000–2500 BCE)
- Culture
- Algarve Chalcolithic (Los Millares–Vila Nova de São Pedro group)
- Builders
- Algarve Chalcolithic
- Purpose
- Fortified hill settlement with tholos necropolis and copper workshop
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.3000 BCE
Hilltop settlement with ditch/towers and copper working founded
c.2800–2500 BCE
Necropolis of 18 tholoi built on ridge below
1880s; 1930s
Estácio da Veiga notes; J. Formosinho excavates M7
1993–present
E. Morán and Portuguese IPA conservation; centre 2000
On the ground
Structures & features
37.1976° N · 8.5893° W · 100 m · 2 mapped features
Alcalar Tholos Monument 7 — Great Cairn
tholos27-m cairn enclosing 10-m cruciform schist chamber with 6-m corbelled tholos dome and 12-m passage
37.1978° N · 8.5895° WAlcalar Hilltop Settlement — Walled Town
settlement2-ha Chalcolithic fortified settlement with ditch, wall and rectangular bastions above necropolis
37.1965° N · 8.5885° W
Gallery