The Megalithic Tomb of Carcavelos                                                                                  July 4-August 5, 2005

The dolmen of Carcavelos is situated in the township of Loures, located in the region of Lisbon, Portugal. This type of funerary monument dates to between the fourth and third millennium B.C.E., and was built by Neolithic people. It is one of the last dolmens from this area that has yet to be subjected to a scientific and thorough excavation. A recent probe at this tomb, conducted to determine the extent of damage due to looting, recovered some human bones associated with arrowheads, pots, beads and limestone idols.

The excavation planned for July-August of 2005 aims to verify the material culture associated with this dolmen as much as what kind of individuals were buried inside, i.e. men, women, children. In addition to this, we will try to determine when the dolmen was erected and for how long it was in use.

In order to understand the architecture of this tomb the excavation will be carried out in the areas of the chamber and corridor, as well as verifying the type of mound that once covered it. The excavation will be accompanied by a physical anthropologist, Nathalie Antunes, as we certainly expect to uncover skeletal remains.

Directors: Rui Boaventura, Archaeologist, University of Louisville, and Florbela Estevão, Archaeologist, Township of Loures

Dolmen of Carcavelos...7 year old child for scale.

Lodging and Accomodations

In addition to scientific aims, this excavation promises to educate participants and incorporate the entire crew into the every day activities and responsibilities of an on-going excavation. An introduction to field techniques/fieldwork (survey & excavation), architectural and spatial analysis, excavation methodology, planning, context recording, section drawing & drafting, finds processing and cataloguing, as well as the analysis of finds will be thoroughly explained during the course of the excavation.