Another dolmen of Marv鉶, a photo from Portalegre, South

Photographer's Note

Continuing my theme on megalithic monuments, this is another dolmen (or anta, as they are popularly known in Portugal), which is not far from the ones of my earlier posts (about 600 meters from the last dolmen and less than 1 Km from the 'antique stone winery').

The apparent smallness may be deceiving (its height above the ground is little less than 1 meter / 4 feet), as many of these monuments were originally covered by earth, sometimes completely, other times only partially. This may be the case of this one. As in many other cases, this dolmen had some practical uses in relatively recent times. This one looks like having been used to shelter livestock, probably pigs or sheep, not a very honourable purpose, at least compared with others that were turned into chapels, like some of those that you can see in this adores theme.

Perhaps it was better that I showed a closer perspective of the monument, but that wasn't easy to do, as there was that high grass, the stones encircling the area in front of the entrance and the bright white sky that was impossible to avoid in any shot of the entrance that included also the cover.

WS's: #1 - A wider POV from farther; #2 - Close-up of the entrance and the interior.

Dolmens are the oldest `monuments� we can find in Western Europe. As far as I know, most or all of them were built at least 5000 years ago and they were tombs, (actually not every archaeologist is fully convinced of that). Those in better shape still preserve the cover stone that make them look a bit like huge mushrooms or tables (the word derives from the antique Breton word that means 'stone table'). I have written some more info on dolmens in the note of my first post featuring one.

You can browse all my posts of the Marvao district here.

Weblinks to info on dolmens: answers.com, Wikipedia.

Location (latitude, longitude): 39.46,-7.3155 (I am not sure about the accuracy, but my guess is that the error isn't higher than 300 meters)

Wanda1, robertosalguero, danos, sagar, feather, xuaxo, edytungkal, AiresSantos, paura, jusninasirun, Jardim, Didi, Emile has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Wanda1 (15142) 2008-04-28 20:50

Hi Jose,
I like the brown grass mixed with the green and the stones forming rows and nice diagonal lines. An interesting shot well documented.
Regards
Wanda

japiey (10163) 2008-04-28 23:15

Hi Jose,

Beautifull image.. like a painting..
Good composition.
Well done, and a fine description in notes..
All the best.

jp

robertosalguero (292) 2008-04-29 0:28

Ol� Jos�,

Very interesting monuments. I wonder what the real purposes of many of them were. 5000 years is a long time to hide so many secrets regarding the builders and the purpose. Nice image with good emphasis on the monuments and surroundings. Thanks Jos�.

Roberto

gildasjan (43826) 2008-04-29 0:29

Bonjour Jose
Un tr鑣 beau rendu des couleurs pour cette magnifique composition.Une belle variation sur le vert.
Bonne journ閑.
Cordialement
Gildas

UnTrained (0) 2008-04-29 0:43

Ol� Jos�,
high quality documentary capture and in my opinion a bit weak in the impression. I do not know if there will be ever a moment of better light adding some shadows and depth with the tree at the right and location it has. But the grass and rocks are clear, sharp and have a good colour and we can't have all sometimes.
Lieben Gruss, Ulf

danos (110407) 2008-04-29 3:40

Ola Jose,
as i see this dolmen consists from small stones in contrast with the others that we see and are huge one. How do you know that they are not simple stones that have been placed there with the passage of years and are dolmen? Are there paintings on them or other characteristics that make them distinguish?.

Regards,Danos

sagar (2410) 2008-04-29 6:14

Hi Jose,
A beautiful setting..... the dolmen has a smell of ancience in it.
Lovely capture. The surroundings with the beown and green grass looks wild and wonderful.
Regards,
Sagarneel.

feather (51130) 2008-04-29 6:55

It's a fascinating series of images of dolmens, made more interesting as even the experts don't agree on their purpose. I think we all love a mystery. You composed the image well with the stones leading to the dolmen itself on a diagonal. I like all the textures you have in the scene from the tree and all the grasses. I also like the WS image as a composition, using the tree branches as a frame, but it doesn't have the educational value of this one where we can see the dolmen more clearly. Good work. Now I need to remember to look out for the other WS tomorrow. ;D
Kath

tober (8797) 2008-04-29 7:20

Hi Jose, Portugal, especially Alentejo is full of such mysterious ancient monuments. I have recently visited the ones located near Evora (I forgot their names). But I didn't know about this one. Your theme on this issue really has a documentary value. Thanks for sharing, Tolga

xuaxo (6854) 2008-04-29 10:23

Ol� Jos�,
Esta anta v�-se um bocadinho mal. Mas depois de ver os WS parece-me que seria dif韈il mostr�-la melhor (com inclus鉶 de ambiente circundante, que acho bem).
O WS#1 est� com um aspecto e tom de cores muito interessante; parace uma imagem de algum filme fant醩tico.
Um abra鏾,
F

toto (0) 2008-04-29 15:12

Bonsoir,
belle photo de ce dolmen, belle prise sous un bon POV qui nous montre votre prise avec cette v間閠ation luxuriante.
Jolies couleurs de cette v間閠ation, les diff閞ents tons, et celle de ces rochyers.
Bonne nettet� de l' ensemble.

Amiti閟 Thomas

edytungkal (4551) 2008-04-29 18:41

Very nice picture Jose...
I prefer this shot than ws's pictures, this absolutely showed the perfect colours combination with simple subject and i like how you framed with beautiful nature and reduce the pale sky. One of the best from the series...
tfs

daniel

Bluejeans (64251) 2008-04-30 11:07

Oi Jos� ,
Bela composi玢o com esta anta rodeada de vegeta玢o , gostei muito das cores da palha seca e do verde fazem um bonito contraste ,bonita a moldura da foto, os ws d鉶 outro 鈔gulo de vis鉶 para ficarmos com ideia do lugar, parab閚s!!!
Um abra鏾 Gon鏰lo

mark_mk (266) 2008-05-01 5:36

Hi Jose,
wow what an intersting landscape! And you captured it very well, all the great colors and the rocks look wonderful! Excellent POV and nicely framed, I like it a lot!

Best regards
Mark

AiresSantos (56155) 2008-05-01 12:22

Ola Jose
Esta foto dos dolmen esta excelente. Existe qualquer coisa de fantastico na foto. Adoro os detalhes
Um abra鏾
Aires

paura (25802) 2008-05-01 16:23

Jos�,
A natureza aqui, na sua foto, est� muito bem mostrada. Parece roupa de domingo. Lindas formas e cores.

Abra鏾

Paulo

crckt (7222) 2008-05-02 17:55

Hi Jose,
A soothing shot! I like the tecture of the grass here, looks really pretty.
Well done,
Shaeri

jusninasirun (17529) 2008-05-04 7:40

Hello Jose. Thanks for sharing this image and the note. Good contrast of the weed with the big tree and rocks in this low perspective. I like the lightness of the image and well done. Jusni

Jardim (3243) 2008-05-08 12:49

Ol� Jos�,

O que eu gosto mais nesta fotografia � o efeito bonito que a vegeta玢o d� � composi玢o.
J鷏io Jardim

Didi (61589) 2008-05-09 10:52

Salut mon cher Jos�
Voici un Dolmen qui int閞essera Asterix et Obelix par Toutatis :) Je ne savais pas qui'l y avait une section celte au Portugal.
Je trouve ce sujet fort int閞essant.
Amiti閟.

Emile (20352) 2008-05-12 6:56

Hola Jose.
Una interesante foto con el monumento megal韙ico cubierto por un follaje de hierbas altas y lindos colores. Muy buena nota descriptiva. Buen POV.
Un fuerte abrazo.

Photo Information

Copyright: Jose Pires (stego) (24132)
Genre: 风景
Medium: 彩色
Date Taken: 2007-06-10
Categories: Ruins
Camera: Olympus E-300, 14-45 mm Zuiko Digital
Exposure: f/5.1, 1/80 seconds
Details: Tripod: Yes
More Photo Info: view
Map: view
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Theme(s): Dolmes of the world, old stone, !Norte Alentejano, Cromlechs & Dolmens, !Megalithic monuments [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2008-04-28 20:24