Great Dolmen of Zambujeiro, Neolithic burial monument in Nossa Senhora da Tourega, Portugal.
The Great Dolmen of Zambujeiro is a Neolithic burial monument with a polygonal chamber built from seven massive stone pillars about 8 meters tall. A long passageway leads into this central chamber, creating a path that connects the exterior to the burial space within.
The monument dates back to the Neolithic period, roughly between 4000 and 3000 BC, when communities began constructing permanent stone structures for their dead. Archaeological work in the 1960s uncovered numerous objects made of slate, copper, and ceramics that shed light on the lives of these ancient people.
The site served as a gathering place for burial rituals within the community, revealing how people marked their dead with permanent stone structures. This kind of shared responsibility for building and maintaining such monuments shows the importance of collective memory in their society.
A metal fence surrounds the site to protect the ancient stones from damage and preserve its structure. The location sits about one kilometer north of the Convent of Bom Jesus of Valverde, making it relatively easy to find if you know where to look.
At the entrance sits a decorated stone slab that once stood upright but now lies flat, having marked the passage into the burial chamber. Above the chamber rests a large granite capstone, partially fractured over time, which has sheltered the interior space for thousands of years.
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