Citânia de Briteiros

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general view over the site.

History

The Celtic-Iberian settlement, discovered in 1874 and excavated from 1875 onwards under the direction of Franciso Martins Sarmento (1833-99), was probably established about 500 B.C.; its most flourishing period was in the fourth C. B.C. and, as the excavations have shown, it continued to be occupied into late Roman times.

Site

The ancient town was enclosed within three rings of ramparts and contained some 150 single roomed dwelings, round, oval or rectangular in plan, and built from stone cut to fit so snugly and firmly that no mortar was needed. The water conduits can still be seen, as well as traces of the streets, already paved with stone slabs.

Two of the round huts were reconstructed on the theory that the circular dweling with a conical roof was the basic type of human habitation. There remains considerable doubt, however, about the authenticity of the reconstructions.

A much bigger house (about 11m/36ft in diameter) is believed to have been used for meetings, and an isolated building outside the perimeter, near the Guimaraes-Braga road, was probably a cremation site.