A team of IEM archaeologists spent the month of June excavating the archaeological site of Lameiros Tapados, located in the parish of Ventosa, Municipality of Vouzela. The site was identified following the great October fire of 2017, which uncovered some stone structures that were then recognisable on the surface. The archaeological work allowed for the identification of two rectangular plan houses built with unequipped stones and covered with thatched/giesta roofs. The houses, without apparent internal divisions, had a floor fireplace which provided the space with lighting and heating as there was otherwise only the doorway opening to the exterior. In the immediate vicinity of the now excavated houses, traces of other buildings have also been discovered, which were sited on a small mountain ridge at an altitude of 800 metres. The archaeological remains recovered from inside these houses are dominated by the presence of small granite millstones (sleepers and movers) for domestic use, the remains of ceramic bowls and pots, and some crucibles which testify to weaving activities. These remnants allow us to date the houses to between the end of the 9th century and the beginning of the 11th century, a time when the houses were abandoned and, over time, losing the memory of the now recovered site.
The excavations are part of the Lafões – Estudo do Património Histórico-Arqueológico de Vouzela (Lafões Project – Study of the Vouzela Historical-Archaeological Heritage), which stems from a partnership between IEM | NOVA FCSH, Vouzela Municipality and the University of Algarve, which began in December 2015. On 14-16 November the results of the project will be presented and discussed at the I Jornadas de Arqueologia de Lafões – Vouzela (1st Lafões – Vouzela Days of Archaeology) and in a temporary exhibition that go on display in the Municipal Museum. You are all invited!