There is a huge amount of prehistoric art in Portugal, including carved or engraved rocks (Portuguese: gravuras rupestres) as well as paintings (pinturas rupestres). Sometimes these are in caves or inside megalithic structures, other times they are in the open air. In addition, there are smaller portable engraved or painted stones which are displayed in museums around the country. The most famous prehistoric art site is the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Côa Valley, with open-air rock engravings dating back over 20 thousand years ago. The cave of Escoural has painted artwork that goes back to the Paleolithic period, some of the oldest in Europe. The famous painted dolmen of Antelas is the most impressive example of painting within a megalithic tomb.
Use the map in the sidebar to browse or search among the various prehistoric sites. (The “Filters” control in the top right corner allows you to select types of sites.) Highlighted map markers indicate sites that are described on this website. Below is a list of all the art sites on our website (so far!).
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Penascosa Rock Art Site
The hot sun beats down on your head. You can hear the rush of water as the Côa River cascades over rocks: the invitation to enjoy the cool of the green waterside is almost irresistible. But the rocks beckon. On the edge of the beach area, and running up the hillside, an abundance of engraved…
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Fariseu Rock Art Site
The river flows quietly but steadily past the riverbank. The water laps softly against the jetty. Water flows past the rocky outcrops, relentlessly. Turning from their ancient engravings, you watch it head towards the ocean. Beneath the surface, the water flows over other outcrops of rock. Hidden below, more engravings remain unseen and unseeable. What…
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Côa Museum
As you walk down the cement canyon, the walls close in on you and the blue sky dwindles. Darkness encloses you and it seems like you are traveling into the bowels of the earth and back in time. Within, you are surrounded by art and artefacts of life as it was tens of thousands of…
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Necrópole Megalítica de Chão Redondo
ALSO IDENTIFIED AS: Dólmen 2 (or Anta 2) de Chão Redondo, or Monumentos Megalíticos do Chão de Redondo From a distance, it doesn’t seem very extraordinary. There’s a remnant of the large mound of stone and earth which originally covered the prehistoric tomb. The tomb itself looks fairly typical of an average-sized neo-chalcolithic chamber tomb.…
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Anta Pintada de Antelas
ALSO KNOWN AS: Dólmen de Antelas, or in English: the painted dolmen of Antelas On a small dirt road, in the deep interior of central Portugal, rises a small hill. Go around to the back and you find that this is no normal hill: it is an artificial mound. A tumulus, or (in Portuguese) a…