Also known as: Monte Canelas 1
English: the Rock-Cut Tombs of Monte Canelas
Here’s information about the site
This site is a “hypogeum,” or a cave cut in the rock by humans. In Portuguese, it’s called a hipogeu or a gruta artificial (“artificial cave”). It was broken open when a road was being dug, and the contents were excavated. This was the first time that a Portuguese artificial cave was thoroughly excavated and analysed by archaeologists in the 20th century.1
There were two domed chambers that had been dug in the rock, connected to each other and accessed by a skylight in the top.
During excavations, two levels of use were found: 3,500-2,700 BC and again around 2,000 BC. A total of at least 171 individuals were identified. In the oldest period, the remains of about 147 individuals were identified.2 These individuals included men and women, as well as children. People were interred in a foetal position, accompanied by many votive objects: schist plaques engraved with geometric designs, bone pins, ceramics, stone tools, and jewelry.
The Portimão museum has displays of objects found as well as information about the caves.
There is another nearby site, Monte Canelas 2 (mostly destroyed and not visitable), which is identified as a Roman site, but also showed evidence of another hypogeum.
Location
The site is in the Algarve, district of Faro. It’s in the municipality of Portimão, parish of Mexilhoeira Grande. The remnant of the cave is alongside a road, Travessa do Alecrim, in the residential complex of Monte Canelas, near the town of Alcalar.
Coordinates: 37.206345, -8.593615
Access
The remains of the cave are right alongside a road. It’s easy to reach. The remains of the two chambers are still visible, although there is no information about them here. To really understand and appreciate them, you have to visit the museum in Portimão.
Signage
There are signs to the residential area of Monte Canelas along the road (EM532) from Alcalar to Senhora do Verde. There are no signs indicating the archaeological site. The site is at a sharp bend in Travessa do Alecrim, next to “Casa Taifa.”
Links
- Entry (in English) in the Megalithic Portal
- Description (in Portuguese) from Archaeologist’s Portal of Directorate-General of Cultural Heritage
- List of engraved schist plaques (in English) – catalogue 865-873 – from University of Iowa’s “Esprit” database of schist plaques
Nearby
The Megalithic Monuments of Alcalar are very near to the site. The Portimão Museum (about 12km to the south), has information about Monte Canelas and more.
Sources
- Neves, M. J., & Silva, A. M. (2018). Uma análise arqueotanatológica em três hipogeus: os contributos dos sítios de Monte Canelas I (Portimão) e do Monte do Carrascal 2 (Ferreira do Alentejo) para a compreensão das práticas funerárias nos 4º e 3º milénio a.C. no Sul de Portugal. In J. C. Senna-Martínez, M. Diniz, & A. F. Carvalho (Eds.), De Gibraltar aos Pirenéus – Megalitismo, Vida e Morte na Fachada Atlântica Peninsular (pp. 411-430). Nelas: Fundação Lapa do Lobo / UNIARQ – Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa / CEAACP – Universidade do Algarve. https://repositorio.ulisboa.pt/entities/publication/d17f53e7-6882-4604-8494-feb0ba23a8e2 Accessed 2 April 2026. ↩︎
- Morán, Elena. “Principais Monumentos E Expressões Artísticas Pré-Históricas Na Região Do Algarve.” Super Interessante História: Portugal Pré-Histórico, no. 22, 2025, pp. 164–181. ↩︎