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Location:
Vila Cha,
Alijo, Portugal.
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Grid Reference:
41°
20’ N, 7° 28’ W. |
(Passage-mound).
Commonly called one
of the most important 'Anta's' in Northern Portugal.
This anta stands isolated on a plateau
at around 3m high, has the 'standard' seven uprights and flattened
capstone on the underside, but also contains traces of Red Ochre and
Cup-marks.
Traces of a mound suggest that this monument was once at least
partially covered.
(Click
here for map of the site)
(Scroll down for more)
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Ante de Fonte Coberta.
The name 'Ante de Fonte Coberta' translates
as the 'Dolmen of the covered spring'. The folklore of the
Pyrenees, France, Spain and Portugal regarding sacred wells is
very similar to that of Ireland, Scotland and England. Borlase (1)
writes:
"It is interesting to notice that the
pre-Christian custom called dessil, or circuit around a venerated
spot; which is practised in Ireland in the case of one dolmen at
least, as well as at wells and Churches innumerable, is found also
in Portugal... It is not in Ireland alone that dolmens are
associated with the notion of wells and water springs. The
Portuguese names, Anta do Fontao, Fonte Coberta, Anta do Fonte-de
Mouratao, and the French names, Fonte de Bourre, and Fonte nay le
Marmion, show this to be the case".
 The Eastern upright has been broken in
half, a feature common to many Portuguese Anta's.
The tide-line around the bottom shows the erosion
of the mound over the last few years only ... before which (i.e. 2006),
the ground surrounding the Anta was covered in grass.
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Gallery of Images:
(List of Prehistoric Portuguese sites)
(Portugal Homepage)
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