Archaeology in the Western
Algarve
Field trip on Saturday, March 23rd 2002
A trip looking at the Dinosaur footprints in Salema, visiting the chapel of St.
Anthony in Vila do Bispo, the menhirs at Padrão.
Part 2
Back into Vila do Bispo, and taking the EN125 to Raposeira, the file of cars headed South to Zaviel and Ingina. Taking the fork to Ingrina, our destination was the standing Menhir "near Ingrina"
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| The re-set menhir | Area of Roman Burials excavated |
When excavations were carried out here, the
toppled Menhir was set upright onto its original base from which it had broken,
and is now concreted into place. This menhir has similar phallic engravings as
were found on stone 6 of the Menhir tour.
Looking across towards just South of East, a menhir that has broken into three
pieces is easily seen on the hillside.
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| Menhir broken into three pieces |
To the South of this are some Bronze Age Cist graves |
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Valley of Bronze Age Settlement |
In the valley lying North of the broken Menhir is believed to lie a Bronze Age Settlement, based on many pottery finds down there. Note the small phallic menhir in the right of the picture, which stands about 60 cms above the grass.
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Location of possible Iron Age and Roman Sites |
In the afternoon we visited a site near Odeaxere. Just to the right below the cranes is a ruined house. This was pointed out as the area of an Iron Age settlement, with Roman remains nearby. This ruin is destined to be completely destroyed to make way for more villas.
