Megalithic Set of Escariz

In the parish of Escariz, we´ve found a curious occurrence. Nuclei of funerary monuments, spaces that, by the study done, revealed some cave paintings. The archaeological works developed since the 1980's revealed many curiosities about these monuments and about how our ancestors were facing death over time.

Specific:

The Megalithic Set of Escariz defines a group with more than 10 nuclei of megalithic graves and megalithic tradition, comprised between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age, making a total of more than half a hundred collective graves. Of these nuclei, we must highlight the:

Alviada´s Nucleous

The nucleus of Alviada revealed, so far identified, 7 prehistóric graves. In the general picture of these monuments, we must highlight the grave of Alviada, also known as Dolmen of Alviada, whose monumento has been classified as National Monument since 1992 and represents a remarkable megalithic monument.

It is a large tumulus, with a diameter of 18.5 meters and a height of two meters, covered by a powerful carapace in small granite stones. In its interior, it houses an imposing long chamber, composed by nine monoliths, eight of which contained paintings and engravings.

Alagoas´s Nucleous

A few hundred meters from the nucleus of Aliviada, another set of graves stands out in Escariz: the nucleus of Alagoas. Among the twelve monuments identified, we should highlight Mamoa 4, which encloses the only corridor dolmen known to date and excavated in the Arouca Geopark territory, except for the exceptional corridor dolmen of Portela da Anta in Freita´s Mountain.

Venda da Serra´s Nucleous

Another area that´s worth mentioning is, in fact, Venda da Serra. This set contains 4 graves, flanking paths that may have their origin in pre-Roman times. Of the four monuments, it stands out the grave number 2, a tumulus of great dimensions that encloses in its interior a funerary chamber with seven monoliths, part of them still in situ.

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