Archaeological investigation found “traces of a Bronze Age village from the 11th to 9th century BC, with a hut and several adjoining structures”, “the oldest” so far found in the village, which “may correspond to the origin of the population nucleus of this location”, she said.
There are “traces of an agricultural house” that show the “first contact with the Mediterranean world in a little-known period in the region of Estremadura Province”, she added.
The discovery surprised the archaeologists because the work is in the historical nucleus of Mafra, “It would be expected” to discover findings from the medieval era, since the historical documentation includes “references to a castle”, without any remnants of the respective walls ever being found.
The findings were discovered during the archaeological monitoring works of the Mafra health centre and were coordinated by the Mafra municipality’s archaeologist, Marta Miranda.
The excavations have been taking place since July, and Archaeology and History students from the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Lisbon are collaborating under the coordination of archaeologist Ana Catarina Sousa, as a result of a collaboration between Mafra’s municipality and the archaeology centre of the University of Lisbon.