Massive egg-shaped granite boulders, arranged by prehistoric hands up to 7,000 years ago, form the standing stone circles of one of Europe’s oldest and largest megalithic complexes, the Early Neolithic Almendres Cromlech near Évora in Alentejo, southern Portugal. The megaliths or menhirs were placed in concentric circles to align with the sun, moon and stars.
Almendres Cromlech, Évora, Alentejo Central, Portugal: cork oak trees with vivid green leaves crown this view of part of the Early Neolithic “Portuguese Stonehenge”: circles of lichen-encrusted standing stones, first arranged 7,000 years ago, that grew over the millennia into one of the largest megalithic complexes in Europe. The Cromeleque dos Almendres (Cromlech of the Almonds), was started as a small circle of menhirs or megaliths that expanded with the addition of much larger stone circles to the west about 1,000 years later. Like Stonehenge, the world-famous prehistoric site on Salisbury Plain, England, the Almendres Cromlech was probably built as an observatory to view the sun, moon and stars, and as a venue for sacred rituals. The massive granite boulders vary greatly in size, with some more than meters ( ft) tall. Despite weathering and the patchy lichen, incised lines and carved symbolic shapes curved like snakes, croziers or shepherds’ crooks are still visible on some of them. Evidence that the cromlech was used for rudimentary astronomy includes the fact that about 5,000 years ago, many of the stones were moved to new sites to better align them with heavenly bodies. At least one megalith has man-made holes or dimples in its top that, if filled with stones, could be used to observe the spring equinox. The Almendres Menhir, a tall megalith standing apart from the rest, would have pointed to the summer solstice sunrise when seen from the main monument. The cromlech was discovered as recently as 1964, by amateur archaeologist Henrique Leonor de Pina (1930-2018). Excavations showed that it once consisted of at least 100 megaliths, most shaped like eggs or almonds, of which about 95 remain in place today.
Size: 7360px × 4912px
Location: Almendres Cromlech, Évora, Alentejo Central, Portugal
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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