The Xerez Cromlech (), also known as the Xarez Cromlech, is a

megalithic A megalith is a large Rock (geology), stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. More than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging ...

complex that is believed to date back to the 5th or 4th millennium BCE. It is situated near the town of

Monsaraz Monsaraz is a civil parish (''freguesia'') of the municipality of Reguengos de Monsaraz, on the right margin of the Guadiana River in the Portuguese Alentejo region, near its border with Spain. The population in 2011 was 782, in an area of 88.29& ...

in the

Évora district Évora District ( ) is located in Alentejo, in southern Portugal. The district capital is the city of Évora. It borders Spain. Municipalities The district is composed by 14 municipalities: * Alandroal * Arraiolos * Borba * Estremoz * Év ...

of the

Alentejo Alentejo ( , , ) is a geographical, historical, and cultural region of south–central and southern Portugal. In Portuguese, its name means "beyond the Tagus" (). Alentejo includes the regions of Alto Alentejo Province, Alto Alentejo and Bai ...

region of

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, close to the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

border. The present site of the cromlech is not its original location. Due to the construction of the

Alqueva Dam The Alqueva Dam is an arch dam and the centrepiece of the Alqueva Multipurpose Project. It impounds the River Guadiana, on the border of Beja and Évora Districts in the south of Portugal. The dam takes its name from the town of Alqueva on its ri ...

for hydroelectric purposes, which led to the flooding of the original site from 2002, it was transferred from an area that is now under water to its present site close to the Orada Convent. This was the only monument to be moved, with the dam leading to the disappearance of prehistoric engravings and the Roman ''Castelo da Lousa''.

Layout

Although it has much in common with megalithic

stone circles A stone circle is a ring of megalithic standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially Stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being bu ...

, the Xerez cromlech is, in fact, square. There has been some dispute about the authenticity of the square layout or even whether it is a cromlech at all. When first discovered, the stones had been widely dispersed due to agricultural work and an initial topographical survey only identified 12 stones that could be part of a cromlech, although the present layout has 55. As the original site is now under water it is unlikely that the dispute will ever be resolved. It is acknowledged that the square shape results solely from interpretations by José Pires Gonçalves, a doctor and an amateur archaeologist from

Reguengos de Monsaraz Reguengos de Monsaraz (), officially the Municipality of Reguengos de Monsaraz (), is a municipality in Évora District in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 10,828, in an area of 464.00 km2. The City of Reguengos de Monsaraz proper has a po ...

, previously responsible for identifying the nearby Menhir of Outeiro, who identified the stones as a cromlech in 1969, having been alerted to the existence of the central phallic stone by two local residents, José Cruz e Leonel Franco.

Menhirs

The 55

menhirs A menhir (; from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large upright stone, emplaced in the ground by humans, typically dating from the European middle Bro ...

are of different types of granite of local origin. These are mainly between 0.37 and 2.1 meters in height, with varying shapes (ovoid, slightly flattened, cylindrical, sub-square, conical or polyhedral). Originally raised and put into position by Gonçalves and others in 1972, they are arranged around a large

phallic A phallus (: phalli or phalluses) is a penis (especially when erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history, a figure with an erect penis is described as ''ithyphallic''. Any object that symbo ...

menhir, which is about 4.5 meters high and weighs 7 tons. Seven menhirs, including the central one, are decorated with different motifs that show strong similarities to the designs identified in other monuments of the same type in the region, such as the better-known

Almendres Cromlech The Cromlech of the Almendres () is a megalithic complex (commonly known as the ''Almendres Cromlech''), located 4.5 road km WSW of the village of Nossa Senhora de Guadalupe, in the civil parish of Nossa Senhora da Tourega e Nossa Senhora de Gua ...

1998 excavation

In 1998, as part of the efforts to minimize the impact on Portugal’s heritage resulting from the construction of the dam, Mário Varela Gomes of the New University of Lisbon (Universidade NOVA de Lisboa) excavated the site, identifying a diverse set of highly fragmented items, including lithic artefacts (trapezoids and flakes in silica, silicon shale, quartz and quartzite), and some fragments of ceramic containers, such as decorated cups. At the time, Gomes apparently saw no reason to contradict the findings of Gonçalves. The architectural complexity of the site, the decorations on some of the menhirs and the archaeological materials collected suggested use of the area in the Late

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

, a first phase of construction of the site in the early and middle

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

, and redesign in the late Neolithic (including placement of the central menhir). The complex is believed to have been used throughout the

Chalcolithic The Chalcolithic ( ) (also called the Copper Age and Eneolithic) was an archaeological period characterized by the increasing use of smelted copper. It followed the Neolithic and preceded the Bronze Age. It occurred at different periods in di ...

Transportation

In November 2001, three months after the dam's floodgates were closed, the whole complex was dismantled and the stones were stored for more than two years. The present location was chosen because of the availability of government land and the fact that there would also be room to build a planned archaeology museum, which remained unbuilt in 2023. The reconstruction of the cromlech was carried out on 24-25 June 2004 to coincide with the

summer solstice The summer solstice or estival solstice occurs when one of Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). The summer solstice is the day with the longest peri ...

References

External links

*
Video of the Cromlech
{{European Standing Stones Buildings and structures completed in the 5th millennium BC Buildings and structures completed in the 4th millennium BC 1969 archaeological discoveries National monuments in Évora District Megalithic monuments in Portugal Prehistoric sites in Portugal Buildings and structures in Reguengos de Monsaraz Stone Age Europe Prehistoric art Tourist attractions in Évora District Summer solstice Archaeological discoveries in Portugal