Megalithic Monument

Santa Rita
Santa Rita , 8900-000 , Santa Rita , Santa Rita
https://ciipcacela.wordpress.com/investigacao-arqueologica-historica-e-antropologica/megalitismo-em-cacela-tumulo-megalitico-de-santa-rita/

Considered one of the megalithic constructions most important of the Algarve, this tomb dates back to the year 2500. C. At the site were found several bones and some objects that have been left in place as offerings.
Access: Situated on agricultural land, it requires a 200 meter walk from the mill (private) Santa Rita. Not accessible by car.

Five thousand years ago, during prehistoric times, men and women who lived in a village in Santa Rita built megalithic tombs in stone for there to bury their dead.

Recent archaeological excavations at the tomb of Santa Rita, the best preserved of which are known in Cacela area, revealed a burial chamber of regular plant to which it was acceded by a long corridor.

About artificial hill covering the chamber was found a necropolis about a thousand years more recent than the first deposition in the tomb, witnessing a continuity in their use and sacredness.

Oriented to the east, facing the horizon where the stars are born (the sun, moon and stars), the tomb reveals the conclusion of a cosmic order that regulates the cycles of birth, death and rebirth of nature and of man himself.

funerary monument, a place of worship where they guard the memory of ancestors, is inside the chamber during the 2008 excavations, it was found buried some of the community members who built it. The offerings that accompanied the dead on their "journey": artifacts linked to the world of the living (ceramic vessels, polished stone axes, adzes, ...), but also to the world of the dead as recorded shale plates and other votive objects.


Notes: Awaiting classification as National Heritage.

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Built Heritage