Antelas dolmen

About

The Anta Pintada de Antelas (Antelas Painted Dolmen), also known as the Dolmen de Antelas or the Dolmen Pintada, is located about 250m. east of the village of Antelas, in the parish of Pinheiro de Lafões, in the municipality of Oliveira de Frades in Portugal's Viseu District. Classified as a National Monument since 1990, this dolmen, or megalithic tomb, is notable for its well-preserved set of paintings and engravings, arguably the best from the Neolithic period in the Iberian Peninsula.

Discovery and research: The Anta Pintada de Antelas was first mentioned by the Portuguese geographer, Amorim Girão of the University of Coimbra in his 1921 work, Prehistoric Antiquities of Lafões, in which he noted that the monument stood out "for appearing to us to be absolutely intact". His research was part of a concerted effort at the time to prepare an inventory of the so-called "artistic and archaeological riches" of the country. A list of "national monuments" had been published in 1910, which was the first occasion on which archaeological remains were given the same legal status as other human constructions. Further research was not done until the 1950s, when significant archaeological excavations...