Anta Grande do Zambujeiro

Anta/Dolmen - Neolithic, Chalcolithic (Copper Age) e Bronze Age (62)
The big dolmen of Zambujeiro is located in a flattened area on the right bank of the Peramanca brook, close to the village of Valverde, about 12km southeast of the city of Évora. This megalithic monument, the largest in Portugal and one of the largest in the Iberian Peninsula, is composed by a chamber of polygonal blueprint, made up of seven large granite orthostates (5,70m long, 5,50m wide and 5m tall) tilted towards the inside, covered by a large slab, which is currently located on the west side of the structure and a long, rectangular shaped low corridor (8,8m long and 2,8m wide), composed of 16 orthostates and covered by transversely laid slabs. The access to the monument would be preceded by an atrium, in which a large granite stele is identified. This dolmen was surrounded by a circular shaped tumulus, about 50m in diameter and 9m tall. In the south eastern area of the tomb hill, a sub-rectangular outline stele was identified, with its face decorated with around 70 cups, which may have been raised in a subsequent stage after the dolmen construction. Inside the monument and in some exterior areas, a vast and diversified artefact collection was identified, composed of chipped stone artefacts (cores, lamellae, blades, daggers, halberds and arrowheads) produced of different raw materials such as flint, quartz and siliceous shale, polished stone axes, ceramic containers of different shapes and decorative characteristics (dishes, bowls, carinated bowls, spherical shaped, cylindrical vases with incised decorations, dotted and with plastic elements), usually with small dimensions, idol-shaped elements in marble and pottery, a significant set of engraved shale plates, crosier fragments, copper artefacts, a wrist-guard, shale necklace elements, green and jet stone and two gold platted fragments. The big dolmen of Zambujeiro would have been raised in a previously occupied area for housing purposes (Neolithic). The construction and use of this monument can be chronologically framed in Neolithic or Chalcolithic (3500 - 2000 BC), although evidence of usage and episodes of resettlement of the monument during the Bronze Age were identified. Nowadays, despite its magnificence, the big dolmen of Zambujeiro remains fragile due to the erosion of its constituent elements and the intensity of some excavation works, maintaining a provisional protection structure. The access to its interior is forbidden.

Overview

The dolmen is protected by a metal structure, but can be visited through the outdoor. This is site is associated with the Almendres Interpretive Center - "Archaeology and Nature", located in the village of Guadalupe. Monument integrated in the routes: "Évora, capital of Iberian megalithism"; "Évora Must See"; "Évora Megalithic and "Évora Rural Tour".

Visit conditions

Free entrance associated with a museological structure

Timetables

Opening hours - Interpretive Centre: From May 1st to October 30th 10.00 - 19.00 November 1st to April 31st 10.00 - 17.00
How to get there? Best practices

Best practices

Good practices when visiting archaeological sites

To visit an archaeological site is to connect with our origins, to understand our path and evolution as a species integrated in the environment, and to respect and safeguard our heritage so that future generations can also visit and enjoy it.

Walking the paths and enjoying the structures and archaeological pieces that survived over time, fosters the understanding of what is different, but also of what is common among different populations: basically, what identifies us as Homo Sapiens.

More than just vestiges and ruins of the past, archaeological sites showcase our capacity for creative thought, adaptation, interconnection, comprehension and resilience. Without these traits we would not have been successful as cultural beings participating in an ongoing evolutionary process. These sites also allow to consider choices made in the past thus contributing for decisions in the present to be made with greater awareness and knowledge.

Archaeological sites are unique and irreplaceable. These sites are fragile resources vulnerable to changes driven by human development. The information they keep, if destroyed, can never be recovered again.

As such, the Directorate-General for Cultural Heritage (DGPC) invites all visitors to enjoy the beauty and authenticity of these sites, while helping to preserve them for future generations by adopting the following set of good practices:

  • Respect all signs; 
  • Do not try to access fenced areas; 
  • Do not climb, sit or walk on archaeological structures and remains; 
  • Respect areas where archaeological excavations are being carried out, not disturbing them; 
  • Do not collect materials or sediments;
  • Do not write or make graffiti on archaeological structures; 
  • Put the garbage in appropriate containers. If none exist, take the garbage with you until you find a suitable container; 
  • Leave the archaeological site as you found it; 
  • Do not drive bicycles or motor vehicles over archaeological sites; 
  • Respect and protect the plants and animals that live in the areas surrounding archaeological sites;
  • Report signs of vandalism or destruction to DGPC or Regional Directorates of Culture (DRC);
  • Share the visiting experience and the archaeological sites, as a way of raising awareness to their preservation and making them better known;
  • Do not buy archaeological materials and report to public security authorities, DGPC or DRC, if you suspect that archaeological materials may be for sale.

Further information:

AIA / ATTA (2013) – Guide to best practices for archaeological tourism. 

Raposo, J. (2016) – Código de conduta para uma visita responsável a sítios arqueológicos. In Sítios arqueológicos portugueses revisitados: 500 arqueossítios ou conjuntos em condições de fruição pública responsável. Al-madan, 2ª série, p. 20 – 77. 

DGPC contacts

Phone: +351213614200 | Email: informacaoarqueologica@dgpc.pt

 


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