Monsanto: The Thriving Medieval Town Built Around Giant Boulders

Ancient Origins

In most parts of Europe, the medieval period ended around the fourteenth century, right around the time Giotto introduced perspective into the art of pre-Renaissance Italy. Yet for the twelfth century municipality of Monsanto in Portugal, the middle ages were just beginning. With Mount Monsanto rising in the east, a shortage of supplies and space forced those living within its shadow to merge with it, forming one of the single most intriguing cities still thriving in the world today. In essence, one could call the inhabitants of Monsanto people of the mountain.

 In the province of Idanha-a-Nova (since renamed Idanha-a-Velha), the people of Monsanto live in, under, beside and between the enormous boulders that shaped the village. Situated along the Spanish border "in the Northeast" and "nestled on a steep hill slope [the] Monsanto hillock (Mons Sanctus)…abruptly rises out of the prairie and reaches 758 meters on its highest point. There are several hamlets scattered along the several slopes and at the bottom of the hill, which shows the population movements towards the plain." This mountain-side village has thrived since its medieval founding, holding tight to its early traditions, merging with the very essence of the city's foundation—the rock of Mount Monsanto itself.

House constructed under a rock in Monsanto. (CC BY-SA 3.0)

 Called a "geopark" under UNESCO, the villagers were forced to work with the granite rocks protruding from the mountain, adapting the medieval structure of their city to fit the overwhelming, unmovable arms of the mountain. Where the boulders fell, house walls, street boundaries, and structural stability were dependent, and this constructive pattern has only continued as time has gone on.

The village has kept much of its medieval construction. (CC BY-SA 3.0)

In the present, Monsanto remains unwavering. In lieu of automobiles, trains, etc., "the streets of the village are too narrow and steep to use any kind of transportation except donkeys." Built atop a mountain, one would expect the steepness. But rather than attempting to restructure their community so that houses are made of brick and mortar rather than of "boulders…fitted with doors" and "red-roofed cottages tucked against" the same boulders, the inhabitants of Monsanto continue to live amongst the mountain’s crevices. The lack of modern conveniences is refreshingly not a deterrent.

House constructed between two boulders. (CC BY-SA 3.0)

 Though the majority of what remains of Monsanto village is structurally medieval, the origins of the town extend much further back. Traces of Stone Age habitation have been found, along with archaeological evidence of a Lusitanian fortress and of Roman occupation in St. Laurence's field, at the foot of the hill, as well as of Visigoth and Arabian occupation. Likely settling in the region under the Roman Empire, the Romans thrived at the base of the mountain while the native culture was still widely considered Gallic.

The Visigoths (5th-8th centuries AD) arrived at the end of the Roman Empire, usurping the Roman hold that had long laid over the previously Gallic community. During the Reconquista (approximately 718– 1492 AD), King Afonso Henriques conquered Monsanto from the Moors, eventually establishing the country of Portugal in the process. In 1165, the king granted the city to the Templar monks and Monsanto became something of a highlight of religious worship.

Above the village is a medieval castle/fortress that originated in the 12th century. (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Throughout all of the turmoil surrounding creation and support of the impressive rock-friendly village, the city continued on with its stoic existence. While the landscape changed around them, the mountain-top village was relatively constant. It thrived embedded in the foundation of the mountain, watching as a silent observer of the various religious and political battles, and vigilantly continues to serve a stoic guardian of the Portuguese and Spanish borders.

Top image: Inbuilt rock house of Monsanto, Portugal. (CC BY-SA 3.0)

By Riley Winters

10,000-Year-Old Telescopes? Ancient Tombs May Have Enhanced Visibility of Astronomical Phenomena

Ancient Origins

Could ancient megalithic passage graves in Portugal dating as far back as 8000 BC have doubled as astronomical observatories? A team of researchers studying the ancient tombs thinks so, and have even suggested that the megaliths provided optical opportunities for the ancient observers, effectively acting as ‘telescopes’ without lenses.

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The idea behind the researchers’ speculations is that the passages of the tombs, which show just a small patch of sky on the horizon, would have been dark. Anyone sitting inside them would have had an early view of rising stars. The reduced ambient light in the passages around twilight would have made the stars more visible to the naked eye. Telescopes did not come until much later (1608 AD), but ancient observers may have used the stone constructions to enhance their visibility of astronomical phenomena.
In particular, says undergrad Kieran Simcox of Nottingham Trent University in England, the ancient people may have been trying to get an early glimpse of Aldebaran, a bright red star in the constellation Taurus.
That star might have played a role in moving herds and flocks to higher grazing every summer. It’s possible, the researchers say, that herding the flocks to higher ground may have coincided with the star’s first annual rising in morning twilight. Around 4000 BC, Aldebaran rose for the first time each year around the end of April of beginning of May, “so it would be a very good, very precise calendrical marker for them to know when it was time to move into the higher grounds,” Dr. Fabio Silva of the University of Wales Trinity Saint David told the Guardian.

Earth’s moon occults Aldebaran (Wikimedia Photo/Christina Irakleous)

Dr. Silva and Daniel Brown, also of Notthingham Trent University, were the advisers for Mr. Simcox’s project.
The passage tombs, which consist of one or more chambers and a corridor covered in earth or stone, are known all over Europe. Prehistoric peoples placed their deceased community members in the tombs between 6000 and 2000 BC, the Neolithic era - some of the tombs feature paintings point to their purpose. Two famous passage graves are Maeshowe in Scotland and Newgrange in Ireland.

The famous passage tomb of Newgrange (public domain)

Inner chambers of the tombs, which are known as dolmens, were graves for the deceased (at least later on), while outer chambers may have been used to conduct death rites or other rituals, the researchers say.
Drs. Silva and Brown told Discover Magazine: “These passage graves exhibit elements suggesting that initiation rituals, also known as rites of passage, might have been conducted within the megalithic chamber.”
Mr. Simcox told Discover that some literature speculates that viewing stars from passage tombs would make them more visible, but the idea needs research. The team intends to do just that—study the rising of faint stars to see if they are more visible from the passages.

The orientation of the tombs suggests that they are aligned to offer a view of Aldebaran, the brightest star in the constellation of Taurus. Photograph: University of Wales Trinity Saint David/Nottingham Trent University.

For many years, researchers and scholars have been speculating whether prehistoric and ancient stone monuments around the world were used for astronomical and calendrical purposes, now they are getting closer to understanding just how they did this.
Top image: Dolmens or passage graves like this one, Anta da Orca, in Portugal, may have been simple star observatories. (Photo by Alta Falisa/Wikimedia Commons)
By Mark Miller

History Trivia - King Edward III of England declared King of France

January 26

66: 5th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.

1316 Revolt in Wales against the authority of Edward II began.

1340 King Edward III of England was declared King of France.

1531 An earthquake killed thousands in Lisbon, Portugal.

1564 The Council of Trent issued its conclusions in the Tridentinum, which established a distinction between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.

History Trivia - Byzantine Emperor Heraclius' fleet takes Constantinople

October 5,

610 Byzantine Emperor Heraclius' fleet took Constantinople. He was responsible for introducing Greek as the Eastern Empire's official language.

869 4th Council of Constantinople (8th Ecumenical Council) opened.

1143 King Alfonso VII of Leon and Castile (Emperor of all Spain) recognized Portugal as a Kingdom.

1553 Queen Mary's first Parliament met and declared Katherine of Aragon's marriage to Henry VIII legitimate, and also declared the Queen's birth legitimate.

Remains of Europe's largest predatory dinosaur discovered in Portugal

A Torvosaurus gurneyi dinosaur is seen in an undated artist's rendering. (REUTERS/SERGEY KRASOVSKIY)

Scientists in Portugal have discovered a new species of dinosaur -- possibly the largest land predator of any kind ever found in Europe.
Paleontologists Christophe Hendrickx and Octávio Mateus of Universidade Nova de Lisboa and Museu da Lourinhã in Portugal say the 33-foot-long dinosaur called Torvosaurus gurneyi was the scourge of Jurassic Europe, Reuters reported.
"It was indeed better not to cross the way of this large, carnivorous dinosaur," Hendrickx said. "Torvosaurus gurneyi was obviously a super predator feeding on large prey like herbivorous dinosaurs."
Remains of the species were unearthed by an amateur fossil hunter in 2003 in rock cliffs near Lisbon, Hendrickx told Reuters. He said fossilized embryos possibly belonging to the same species were identified last year in Portugal.
The predator, which roamed Europe 150 million years ago, weighed four to five tons, had a nearly 4-foot-long skull, possessed powerful jaws lined with blade-shaped teeth four inches long, and may have been covered with an early type of feather, Hendrickx said.
The scientists said this is the second species of the genus Torvosaurus. The Torvosaurus tanneri, which lived at the same time in North America, was identified in 1979.
The newly-identified predator is not only is the largest known meat-eating dinosaur from Europe, but is the biggest land predator of any kind ever found on the continent, according to Reuters.
"This is not the largest predatory dinosaur we know. Tyrannosaurus, Carcharodontosaurus, and Giganotosaurus from the Cretaceous were bigger animals," Hendrickx said in a news release referring to predators that appeared on Earth after the Jurassic period.
Carnivorous dinosaurs of the Jurassic period were typically medium-sized, with an average length of about 7 to 16 feet. Larger ones like Torvosaurus gurneyi lived in the late Jurassic period, according to Reuters.
"This animal, Torvosaurus, was already a fossil for 80 million years before the (Tyrannosaurus rex) ever walked the Earth," Mateus said.

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/03/06/remains-europe-largest-predatory-dinosaur-discovered-in-portugal/?intcmp=obinsite