Portugal [antikvár]

HISTORY HISTORY In 1995, Portugal's electric company ED? was forced to interrupt construction of the Coa dam in the Tras-os-Montes region. A young archaeologist had discovered a I2.5-mile-Iong (20 km) stretch of cliff with rock carvings depicting animals, estimated at 20,000 years of age. This is not, however, the only evidence of Portugal's dense settlement before and during the Bronze Age: megalithic tombs, cultic sites, and dolmens (antas) are scattered throughout the country. In more recent history, some of these have been integrated into newer buildings or turned into chapels, such as those in Pavía or Alcoperta. A great number of cromlechs, large flat stones supported by four other stones, have also been discovered, such as the one in Herdade dos Almendros near Evora; so, too, have proud and phallic menhirs, such as those of Abeilhoa or Outeiro. During the second millenium B.C., Phoenicians reached the Atlantic coast of Portugal, and true to their mercantile tradition, established several trading posts in what became Lisbon, Nazaré and Aveiro. They were followed by the Carthaginians, who began settling the Al-garve coast from the 4th century B.C. onwards. At the time the southern inland region of the Iberian Peninsula was populated by tribes of Ibero-Celts, descendants of Berber tribes who had migrated from North Africa and mixed with the Celts coming southward around 600 B.C. In the north of Portugal, archaeologists discovered the remains of Celtic round houses and mighty fortified walls known Preceding pages: The colorful roosters of Barcelos - Portugal's national symbol. Fishing is a main source afincóme. A handsome couple. Left: The menhir of Telheiro. as Castro or citânia, such as those in Povoa de Lanhoso and Briteiros near Guimarâes. The boars and bulls of stone, cultic figures endowed with magic power, also date from this period. In fact the "boar of Murça" gave its name to the wine produced in the region. At the beginning of the Christian Era, Portugal was on the edge of the known world. The Greek geographer Strabo described the Lusitanians as a people that could not be compared to the other Mediterraneans; they drank a kind of beer instead of wine, used suet instead of oil, ate acorns and lived up in the mountains subsisting as husbandmen or bandits. Viriato Against the Romans The Romans arrived on the Iberian Peninsula in 218 B.C. during the second Punic War. Having defeated the Carthaginians, they turned their attention to the Iberian Celts. The shepherd Viriato, who hailed from the Serra da Estrela, made history with his ferocious resistance against the colonizers. By means of guerilla tactics, he was able to trounce the Romans several times before being murdered by a traitor. A monument has been erected to him in Viseu. The Romans were particularly interested in exploiting the agricultural possibilities of their new province. They introduced such staples as olives, wheat, grapes and cultivated plants, and established villages in the plains. Farms, known as vita rustica, were strategically located on rivers or in ports to facilitate the transport of produce back to Rome. The owners, or domini, were Romans; their workers were local slaves. Remains of the old Roman communities are sprinkled all over Portugal. Some lie hidden under modern cities. Some finds have been neatly integrated into modern buildings, as in the basements of the museums in Coimbra and Mértola. There are excavation sites in. y;,' 'î'v'i li'fi:, i- r'.M lím. a»' ' ¦ •¦'M u. I-' imM 15