Identified in 1993, the stele-menhir at Herdade do Barrocal had tumbled. In 1995, archaeological excavations at the site found the structures that supported it, and it was subsequently re-erected. It is one of the most impressive prehistoric monoliths on the Iberian Peninsula, measuring 5.72m high. Engraved by percussion, it shows wavy lines, a crosier, circles with central indentations, broken lines, concavities and idol-shaped figures. According to the published study, these elements correspond to several engraving periods that extend from the monument’s erection (Early/Middle Neolithic – 5th millennium BC) to the Bronze Age (2nd millennium BC). These engravings are not visible to the naked eye today. The study also considers the possibility of an existing enclosure built in a period after the erection, which, using stone blocks and peripheral outcrops, had an oval plan (72x60m), with the stele located at the centre of the intersection of the prevailing axes.

Large stele menhirs like the one at Herdade do Barrocal not only symbolically marked the place of their erection but also integrated long-distance alignments, likely with astronomical orientations. Regarding the Barrocal stele, both the menhirs nearby and more distant points suggest alignments. For instance, a long sequence crossing the entire Neolithic symbolic landscape of Reguengos lines up Perdigões, the original site of Estela-Menir do Monte da Ribeira, Estela-Menir do Barrocal and the Monsaraz elevation with the equinox (90º).

Archaeological excavations and re-erection of the stele.

Gomes, M.V. (2007) – Estela-menir da Herdade do Barrocal (Reguengos de Monsaraz, Évora): resultados dos trabalhos de 1995. Revista Portuguesa de Arqueologia. 10(1): 43-71.; Valera, A.C. ed. (2018), Os Perdigões Neolíticos. Génese e desenvolvimento (de meados do 4º aos inícios do 3º milénio ac). Perdigões Monográfica, 1, Lisboa, NIA-ERA.