Sintra is a town and municipality in the Greater Lisbon region of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 377,835, in an area of 319.23 square kilometres (123.26 sq mi). Sintra is one of the most urbanized and densely populated municipalities of Portugal and hosts several cities albeit the seat of the municipality is the town of Sintra proper. A major tourist destination famed for its picturesqueness, the municipality has several historic palaces, castles, scenic beaches, parks and gardens.
Great Dolmen of Zambujeiro is a megalithic monument located in Nossa Senhora da Tourega, near Valverde, in the municipality of Évora, considered one of the biggest such structures in the Iberian Peninsula.
The Cromlech of the Almendres is a megalithic complex, located 4.5 road km WSW of the village of Nossa Senhora de Guadalupe, in the civil parish of Nossa Senhora da Tourega e Nossa Senhora de Guadalupe, municipality of Évora, in the Portuguese Alentejo. The largest existing group of structured menhirs in the Iberian Peninsula, this archaeological site consists of several megalithic structures: cromlechs and menhir stones, that belong to the so-called "megalithic universe of Évora", with clear parallels to other cromlechs in Évora District, such as Portela Mogos and the Vale Maria do Meio Cromlech.
Nossa Senhora do Bispo is a former civil parish in the municipality of Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish Nossa Senhora da Vila, Nossa Senhora do Bispo e Silveiras. It has an area of 121.83 km², and a population of approximately 5411 inhabitants in 2001. It contains the localities Fazendas do Cortiço, Ferro da Agulha and São Geraldo.
The Great Dolmen of Comenda da Igreja is a megalithic funerary site in the civil parish of Nossa Senhora do Bispo, in the municipality of Montemor-o-Novo, in the central Alentejo region of continental Portugal.
Dolmen of Carapito I is a megalithic monument located in the civil parish of Carapito, in the municipality of Aguiar da Beira in the Guarda District of Portugal.
The Anta de Adrenunes, located on top of a hill at 426 metres above sea level, in the municipality of Sintra, within Sintra-Cascais Natural Park, Lisbon District, Portugal, is believed to be a Stone Age burial chamber or megalithic monument. It is a structure consisting of a cluster of granite stones, between which there is a gallery about 5 metres high that is surmounted by monoliths that rest horizontally on vertical stones. The passage is thought to have served as a collective necropolis or dolmen during the megalithic period although no artifacts or burial chambers have been found to prove this. The site contains a geodesic landmark that has been inserted into one of the upper stones.
Anta is the Portuguese name for about 5,000 megaliths built during the Neolithic period in the area of Portugal. The Anta das Pedras Grandes is a late-Neolithic site located in Casal Nova in the parish of Caneças, in the Odivelas municipality, in the Lisbon District of Portugal. It was classified as a National Monument in 1944. Excavations in the early 21st century suggest that it was originally built as a dolmen or single-chamber megalithic tomb, consisting of a polygonal long chamber with eight supporting stones about 3 metres tall, and a short access corridor. There are traces of a tumulus, and human bones have been discovered. Excavations in the surrounding area also identified many flint chippings, suggesting that the area was used for the production of flint items.
The Anta do Monte Abraão was a megalithic dolmen located in the parish of Monte Abraão, in Queluz, Sintra Municipality, Lisbon District, Portugal. The dolmen was first identified in 1876, by Carlos Ribeiro, who carried out excavations until 1878 and published his results in 1880. Excavations suggest that it served as a tomb for about 80 individuals and that it dates back to the middle to end of the Neolithic period. The Anta do Monte Abraão and the nearby Anta da Pedra dos Mouros and Anta da Estria are collectively known as the Antas de Belas.
The Anta da Estria is a megalithic dolmen situated between Belas and Queluz in the Lisbon District of Portugal. Based on datings of human remains, it is believed to date back to the late-Neolithic and early-Chalcolithic eras. The Anta da Estria, the Anta do Monte Abraão and the Anta da Pedra dos Mouros are collectively known as the Antas de Belas, and were first identified in the 1870s by Carlos Ribeiro (1813-1882), who is regarded as the "father" of Portuguese prehistoric archaeology.
The Anta de Agualva, also known as the Anta do Carrascal, is a megalithic dolmen situated in an urban area of Agualva-Cacém in the municipality of Sintra, in the Lisbon District of Portugal. First identified by Carlos Ribeiro in 1875, the dolmen has recently been restored and can be easily visited.
The Anta de Carcavelos, located close to the village of Carcavelos near the town of Lousa in the municipality of Loures in the Lisbon District of Portugal, is a stone age dolmen or megalithic monument from the Chalcolithic period. It is one of many such tombs that have been identified in Portugal.
The Anta do Alto da Toupeira, also called the Anta da Toupeira or the Anta de Salemas, is a Neolithic dolmen, or megalithic tomb, situated in the parish of Lousa in the municipality of Loures, in the Lisbon District of Portugal. It dates back to the Chalcolithic.
The four Artificial caves of Casal do Pardo, also known as the Caves of Quinta do Anjo, were neolithic tombs. They are situated in Palmela municipality in the Setúbal District, of Portugal, about 25 km (16 mi) south of the capital of Lisbon. These caves were classified as a National Monument of Portugal in 1934.
Carlos Ribeiro was a pioneering geologist and archaeologist who inaugurated the concept of fieldwork in Portugal, and was responsible for the discovery and excavation of many Neolithic and other sites in Portugal. Director of the first Geological Commission of Portugal (1857), he led production of the first edition of the Geological Chart of Portugal to the scale of 1/500,000, work which was awarded a silver medal at the Universal Exhibition of Paris (1878). He also served as an officer of the Portuguese army and as a Member of Parliament.
The Vale Maria do Meio Cromlech is a megalithic stone circle situated in Évora district in the Alentejo region of Portugal. It is believed to date back to the fifth millennium BCE or earlier, and is classified as a National Monument.
The Antas do Olival da Pêga are located near the village of Telheiro, in the municipality of Reguengos de Monsaraz, in the Évora district of the Alentejo region of Portugal. Anta is the Portuguese name for a dolmen, a single-chamber megalithic tomb. These two neolithic dolmens were used over a long period, from the late neolithic to the chalcolithic. The tombs were originally identified by the German archaeologists, Georg and Vera Leisner, who excavated Anta 1, with Anta 2 being subsequently excavated from the 1990s by Victor Gonçalves and Ana Catarina Sousa of the Centre of Archaeology of the University of Lisbon (UNIARQ). In addition to the visible stones at the two sites, which are about 300 meters apart, many items have been found as a result of excavations. Over one hundred people were buried in each tomb. The proximity of the two tombs gives rise to the conclusion that both were part of the same megalithic complex.
The Anta da Vidigueira is a megalithic dolmen or burial chamber located southwest of the village of Freixo, in Redondo municipality in the Évora district of the Alentejo region of Portugal. The dolmen was probably constructed between the Neolithic and the Chalcolithic. It has been classified as a National Monument since 1910.
Georg and Vera Leisner were married German prehistorians and archaeologists who, after becoming a Lt Colonel and a nurse, spent many years studying fourth and third millennia BCE megalithic sites in Iberia. The work of the Leisners is widely acknowledged as one of the most important contributions to the study of the megalithic phenomenon in Iberia. They produced numerous publications on this topic, almost all published jointly, which remain the classic reference works on the Portuguese and Spanish megalithic. They developed a systematic method of research based on direct observation, drawings and photographs, coupled with the discussion of available sources. Over several decades, they visited, studied and described hundreds of megalithic monuments throughout Spain and Portugal. Vera Leisner was born in New York on 4 February 1885 and died in Hamburg on 31 May 1972. Her husband, who was fifteen years older, was born in Kiel on 2 September 1870 and died in Stuttgart on 20 September 1957.
