<< Text Pages >> Laje da Churra - Rock Art in Portugal in Viana do Castelo
Submitted by coldrum on Monday, 24 October 2011 Page Views: 2854
Rock ArtSite Name: Laje da ChurraCountry: Portugal Distrito: Viana do Castelo Type: Rock Art
Nearest Town: Viana do Castelo Nearest Village: Viana do Castelo
Latitude: 41.700000N Longitude: 8.833333W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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Rock Art in North Portugal
Archaeologists uncover prehistoric mysteries in Northern Portugal
Recent archaeological investigations have uncovered a number of prehistoric sites and artefacts, including rock art and engravings at Laje da Churra in the Serra de Santa Luzia near Viana do Castelo in northern Portugal.
An archaeologist working for ENARDAS, which is coordinating the project, told Lusa News Agency that the flat stone discovered around 40 years ago in Carreço parish, is today one of the most important artefacts with engravings.
“We are talking about a flat stone, from which our investigation has identified 1,200 engraving motifs, when initially only around 10 were identified. And the stone is broken, which gives us an idea of the size it could have been in pre-history,” said Ana Bettencourt.
She estimates that the site where the stone was discovered could have been used as a sacred place from as early as 3,000 or 4,000 B.C.
“We don’t know exactly when the place became sacred or symbolic, for people. But it was used by various communities until the Iron Age,” she said.
Aside from the flat stone and engravings of horses, weapons and boats have also been unearthed at the site.
Laje da Churra is one of 10 sites of interest that have been identified since May by archaeologists working in the Serra de Santa Luzia on a project promoted by specialists from Minho University due to last until 2013.
The aim of this project is to study pre-historic remains from between 5,000 and 1,000 BC “making an inventory and studying” places with burial rock art and metal deposits.
http://www.theportugalnews.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?id=1130-18
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