Portugal has a vast collection of museums, including many fascinating local museums. Here, we focus on museums that have prehistoric collections or which are focused on prehistory.
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 museums on our website (so far!).
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Centro de Interpretação dos Concheiros de Muge
English name: Interpretation Centre of the Muge Shell Middens A museum about the “Concheiros de Muge,” or the Shell Middens of Muge: a group of mesolithic shell middens that are one of the most famous and important archaeological sites for the Mesolithic period. The middens themselves are not generally visitable, so this interpretation centre is…
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Núcleo Museológico de Arqueologia de Afife
English name: Afife Archaeology Museum Tucked away beside the Afife Casino (not a gambling hall, but the town’s social centre), is a small but fascinating archaeological museum. There are artefacts from the Paleolithic up through the Roman period, and information about the rich ancient history of the town and the area. The museum is laid…
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Casa dos Nichos
This ancient building holds even more ancient contents inside. It’s the archaeological museum of Viana do Castelo, with information about the prehistory of the area from the Stone Age to the Roman era. Viana do Castelo’s archaeological museum (Núcleo de Arqueologia) has a small but impressive exhibit telling the story of the area’s ancient past,…
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Museum of the Southwest Script
Portuguese: Museu da Escrita Sudoeste de Almodôvar (MESA) The characters tease you: they look familiar, and they obviously convey a message. What is it? It’s impossible to say. Someday we may decipher all the symbols, but for now they remain enigmatic, leaving us to wonder at the people who lived here before the Romans. This…
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Museum of Vila do Bispo
In Portuguese: Museu de Vila do Bispo, also known as: Celeiro da História (“The Granary of History”) Come into this restored granary, and walk through the history of the region. From dinosaurs to the modern day, a carefully and artistically designed space guides you through the huge spaces of the old warehouses, teaching you and…