Castro do Zambujal is one of the most complex prehistoric fortified villages in the Iberian Peninsula. It is located about three kilometers southwest of the city of Torres Vedras and was discovered by Leonel Trindade in 1938.
Castro do Zambujal is one of the most complex prehistoric fortified villages in the Iberian Peninsula. It is located about three kilometers southwest of the city of Torres Vedras and was discovered by Leonel Trindade in 1938.
The agricultural couple, whose existence dates back to the 16th century, destroyed part of the walls, with the stones being used for their construction. Excavations carried out in recent years, by the German Archaeological Institute, made it possible to reconstruct part of the fortification and differentiate the multiple construction phases.
The Chalcolithic settlement attests to the profound socioeconomic changes that occurred during this period. At first, the village would be protected only by a central fortress with massive towers and relatively narrow walls. In a second phase of the occupation, the structures were strengthened, with two more imposing lines of walls rising up and a barbican adjoining the initial fortress. In the third phase of construction, the barbican and the entrances to the second line of walls were mitigated, with a tendency to make the defensive logistics of each of the walls autonomous. In the fourth and last phase of construction, hollow towers were erected. The village will have been abandoned about 1700 years a. Ç..
The inhabitants of Castro do Zambujal were engaged in activities related to prospecting, mining and copper metallurgy, maintaining commercial relations, both in the peninsular territory and outside, between the end and the middle of the third millennium BC. In addition to these materials, they were found examples of everyday activities, especially decorated ceramics, here strongly represented, belonging to the bell-shaped group.
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