Fontainhas — Alentejo Dolmen with Painted Orthostat
Neolithic (3500 BCE) Alentejo dolmen Fontainhas with painted serpent Hunt Panel·Ourique Alentejo dolmen art·🇵🇹 Beja, Ourique, Fontainhas dolmen, Alentejo west frontier, Portugal
About
About Fontainhas — Alentejo Dolmen with Painted Orthostat
Fontainhas painted 3500 hunt scene oldest Alentejo dolmen painting. Recorded context — Period: Neolithic (3500 BCE) Alentejo dolmen Fontainhas with painted serpent Hunt Panel; Culture: Ourique Alentejo dolmen art; Field status: excavated; Materials: painted orthostat (red iron ochre hunt), granite; Condition: preserved — paint sealed.
Why it mattersKey Ourique Alentejo dolmen art megalithic with stratified sequence and regional typology.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Chronology and phasing
- 02Trade network extent
Theories
- 01Observatory
- 02Elite residence
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. 3500 BCE
- Period
- Neolithic (3500 BCE) Alentejo dolmen Fontainhas with painted serpent Hunt Panel
- Culture
- Ourique Alentejo dolmen art
- Purpose
- Dolmen with painted orthostat — painted red serpent hunt panel 1.2 m with bow hunters chasing deer in ochre/red inside chamber orthostat
- Rediscovered
- Modern excavation 1877
- Excavation
- Excavated
c. 3500 BCE
Initial construction / first occupation at Fontainhas — Alentejo Dolmen with Painted Orthostat
c. 1200 BCE major extension
Major expansion / refurbishment at Fontainhas — Alentejo Dolmen with Painted Orthostat
On the ground
Structures & features
37.6400° N · 8.2230° W · 200 m · 3 mapped features
- Fontainhas — Alentejo Dolmen with Painted Orthostat — Principal Standing Stonestanding stonestanding stone at Fontainhas — Alentejo Dolmen with Painted Orthostat — subsidiary complex37.6389° N · 8.2227° W
- Fontainhas — Alentejo Dolmen with Painted Orthostat — Northern Chamberchamberchamber at Fontainhas — Alentejo Dolmen with Painted Orthostat — hydraulic feature37.6418° N · 8.2223° W
- Fontainhas — Alentejo Dolmen with Painted Orthostat — Cairn Annex 3cairncairn at Fontainhas — Alentejo Dolmen with Painted Orthostat — outlier feature37.6409° N · 8.2241° W