by JOSÉ MIRÃO, HERCULES director, and ANTÓNIO CANDEIAS, IN2 PAST coordinator

Organized with the Associated Laboratory IN2PAST
Limited capacity. Registration via email festivalimaterial@gmail.com

HERCULES Laboratory is one of the best known European research units in the study and safeguarding of Cultural Heritage. Its scientific capabilities have allowed for a wide range of projects, from Edvard Munch’s paintings to Almada Negreiros’ murals, from Arraiolos carpets to the Vatican Library. This is a chance to get to know the laboratories of this Research Unit of the University of Évora and part of the Associated Laboratory IN2PAST.

with archaeologist MÁRIO CARVALHO

The construction of megalithic monuments in Alentejo was carried out by the successive communities of shepherds and farmers from the Neolithic and Copper Age periods. This new lifestyle, in position to that of the previous hunter-gatherers, clearly implied major social, religious and artistic changes. In opposition to the more zoomorphic themes previously represented, the rock art and the portable art that we find in the megalithic monuments is focused on the representation of Human figure, the stars, geometric shapes and the staff (or shepherd’s crook). In this cultural context, shale plaques are objects of great symbolic and artistic richness, exclusively produced in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. They were part of the funerary offerings of high status individuals and are, as a rule, rectangular or trapezoidal, in polished shale and profusely decorated with geometric patterns and anthropomorphic elements. In this workshop, after a brief archaeological context, participants will have the opportunity to make their own shale plaque, using only materials and tools from those periods and following the original processes: shaping, polishing, drilling and engraving.

With archaeologist MÁRIO CARVALHO

The Almendres Cromlech is the largest megalithic monument in the Iberian Peninsula and one of the oldest examples of monumental architecture in Europe. It was built by the first sedentary societies, of shepherds and farmers, who occupied this region about 7000 years ago. On this guided tour, we seek to offer an archaeological framework of the site (architectural, chronological and cultural aspects) and share the different interpretations, formulated by archaeologists, about its original function and the meaning of its art. As the monument is framed by a very special natural landscape ­ the Montado ­ we will seek, in addition, to provide relevant environmental information about the fauna and flora that we encounter along the way.