Tholos do Barro

The Tholos do Barro was a Chalcolithic or Copper-Age domed tomb of block masonry. Its ruins are located on Monte da Pena, near the village of Barro, Torres Vedras municipality, in the Lisbon District of Portugal. The tholos was classified as a National Monument in September 1940.
The Tholos do Barro is a megalithic monument dated between 2500 and 2200 BC. It is located close to a hilltop monument to Our Lady of Fátima. The tholos was discovered in 1908 by Paulo Bovier Lapierre, a French Jesuit priest who was teaching at the Barro college and convent at the foot of the hill. The tomb was excavated a year later by Eugene Jalhay and Félix Alves Pereira but the results of their excavations were not published. Among the items found at the site were implements made from amphibolite, diorite and granite, limestone idols and vessels, ceramics, bones, jewellery, a copper dagger and metal rings. Cylindrical idols characteristic of the early Chalcolithic period permitted the tomb to be dated and it is considered to be contemporary with the nearby Castro of Zambujal, one of the most important chalcolithic sites in the Lisbon area. The finds are located in the Lisbon National Archaeological Museum and also in the Leonel Trindade Museum in Torres Vedras.

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