<< Our Photo Pages >> Cromeleque de Vale Maria do Meio - Stone Circle in Portugal in Évora
Submitted by davidmorgan on Wednesday, 05 March 2014 Page Views: 6509
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Cromeleque de Vale Maria do MeioCountry: Portugal Distrito: Évora Type: Stone Circle
Nearest Town: Évora
Latitude: 38.622512N Longitude: 8.008358W
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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I have visited· I would like to visit
DrewParsons would like to visit
TheCaptain visited on 13th Oct 2019 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 5 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.
43559959 visited on 3rd Apr 2019 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 5
rrmoser visited on 7th Jun 2018 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 5 Access: 5 Tremendous place.
Catrinm visited on 13th Sep 2017 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4 A very worthwhile site to visit, impressively sized stones, much fewer visitors than Alamandres . Sad that campers had left campfire evidence, toilet paper and water bottles...
Ana visited on 16th Aug 2014 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 5
Bak_teria visited on 16th Aug 2014 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 4 Access: 5
Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 4.33 Ambience: 4.17 Access: 4.83
From Bak_teria:
"Vale Maria do Meio cromlech is located in Nossa Senhora da Graça do Divor in Évora and was identified in 1993, composed of 34 standing stones. Most of the menhir components are well preserved, although some are fractured. In 1995 there was the excavation and possible redeployment of all menhirs in their original positions. To put them back in place were used techniques similar to the ones used by the ancestors, using ropes, wood trunks and the good effort of a lot of people of the region. The excavated areas were covered with geotextile. Some imprints of staffs and lunar crescents were detected in at least two monoliths with the use of oblique light. This monument is classified as MN – Monumento Nacional (National Monument)."
From Davidmorgan:
"What is noteworthy is the fact that a large part of the menhirs conserved their respective structures of implantation, which permitted us to rely on secure data in order to develop hypotheses on the morphological reconstruction of the sanctuary. A number of interpretations are suggested for the archaeological evidence, employing functional and chronological factors.
The data point to a possible astronomical orientation of the group, and place the monument within the chronological-cultural context of the early neolithization of the interior of the Alentejo (6-5th millennium B.C.), stimulated by populations with a subsistence economy based principally on herding." - O recinto megalítico de Vale Maria do Meio.
From Bak_teria:
About the architecture and chronology
The enclosure was set up with an elongated plant, with about 37m long and 25m wide, from West, in which the larger monoliths are concentrated, to East, in the direction of its bigger axis.
This monument takes part of the chrono-cultural context corresponding to the Neolithic of the interior of Alentejo (5th and 4th millennia BC) and the materials collected allow to propose the existence of two construction phases within the Middle Neolithic. The latest phase can be related to a lunar orientation.
About the findings
Some artifacts were collected during the archaeological intervention: dormant fragments of millstone, uncharacteristic ceramics, scrapers, chisels, chips, plates, splinters and whittle scraps and copper coin of D. José. All of these findings were deposited in UNIARQ - Unidade de Arqueologia da Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa (Unit of Archaeology of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Lisbon).
About the location
Near by is possible to visit another megalithic gem, the Portela de Mogos cromlech. These two megalithic enclosures that are only distant from each other just over a kilometer, have plants and similar deployments to the Almendres cromlech, although with more modest dimensions.
About the access
There are signs indicating the location of the cromlech by the roadside.
The access is possible through a long dirt road. If you don't have an off-road vehicle it's advisable to go on by foot, but still it's a long walk.
Webpages where the official classification and asset of this monument is referenced (all texts written in Portuguese):
- IGESPAR
- Portal do Arqueólogo
Site and info originally submitted by Davidmorgan. Aditional info by Bak_teria.
Note: Site originally posted by davidmorgan.
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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
1.6km WNW 286° Cromeleque da Portela de Mogos* Stone Circle
1.6km ENE 59° Menir 4 da Herdade do Casbarro* Standing Stone (Menhir)
1.6km NNE 16° Anta Da Valeira 2* Burial Chamber or Dolmen
1.7km NNE 15° Anta Da Valeira 1* Burial Chamber or Dolmen
1.8km E 85° Menires da Herdade da Casbarra* Standing Stones
3.1km WSW 249° Anta Da Moita Do Gato* Burial Chamber or Dolmen
4.0km NNE 34° Antas do Chainha* Burial Chamber or Dolmen
4.7km WSW 253° Anta Do Patalim 2* Burial Chamber or Dolmen
5.2km NW 326° Anta I da Herdade do Silval Burial Chamber or Dolmen
5.2km NNW 329° Anta de Paredes Burial Chamber or Dolmen
5.3km W 273° Anta Da Alcava De Cima 2 Burial Chamber or Dolmen
5.3km NNW 327° Anta II da Herdade do Silval Burial Chamber or Dolmen
5.3km W 274° Anta Da Alcava De Cima 1 Burial Chamber or Dolmen
5.6km W 270° Anta Da Malhada Do Outeiro Burial Chamber or Dolmen
6.3km SSW 195° Centro Interpretativo dos Almendres* Museum
6.3km NW 326° Anta Da Cegonheira 1 Burial Chamber or Dolmen
6.4km NW 326° Anta Da Cegonheira 2 Burial Chamber or Dolmen
6.4km WSW 251° Anta Das Valadas De Baixo Burial Chamber or Dolmen
6.6km NNW 329° Anta Da Cegonheira 3 Burial Chamber or Dolmen
6.7km ENE 68° Menir da Oliveirinha* Standing Stones
6.8km NW 314° Anta Da Azinheira Galega Burial Chamber or Dolmen
7.0km WSW 246° Anta do Pinheiro 2* Burial Chamber or Dolmen
7.0km WSW 253° Pinheiro Do Campo 1* Burial Chamber or Dolmen
7.1km NNW 327° Anta Da Serranheira 2 Burial Chamber or Dolmen
7.4km SSW 208° Menir dos Almendres* Standing Stone (Menhir)
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Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
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