The contribution of Menir da Caeira (Arraiolos, Portugal) to the understanding of religious behaviour in the Bronze Age and the Roman period

Abstract

Ritual manifestations associated with non-funerary megalithic monuments, that is, menhirs, whether isolated or in association (pairs of menhirs and enclosures) are currently unattainable, since, in most cases, the traces left by their main users do not they have endured for millennia. The Caeira menhir is an example of this situation, as we do not know anything about the primary cults that could be associated with it. But, in this case, its sacred / religious use was not restricted to the Neolithic, since, in the excavation carried out in 2016/2017 and 2019, vestiges of the Bronze Age and Roman period were identified, interesting for the knowledge of the religious rituals existing in later periods. The archaeological work carried out on the Menhir Caeira led us to conclude that it is an exceptional megalithic monument, not only in morphological and artistic terms, but also due to the complex rituals practiced there from the Neolithic to the Roman Empire, well documented from the point of view from an archaeological point of view.