A third rock engraving, more than 20,000 years old, has been discovered in the Ocreza valley as part of an archaeological survey coordinated by researchers from the Instituto Politécnico de Tomar (IPT) and the Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa.

According to Sara Garcês, researcher and archaeologist at the IPT and Instituto Terra e Memória in Mação, the engraving found shows the back of what appears to be a bovid, i.e. "a prehistoric aurochs". Although the rock is broken, the figure is thought to be of considerable size.

The discovery of the rock with the rock engraving was made as part of an archaeological survey being carried out there in partnership with the Instituto Terra e Memória, Mação Town Council, the Museu de Arte Pré-Histórica e Sagrado do Vale do Tejo and the Centro de Geociências. This is the third engraving to be discovered and is located about two kilometres from the previous ones discovered in 2000 and 2021.

From the archaeologist's point of view, this new discovery strengthens the team's conviction "that the Ocreza valley really has enormous potential in terms of archaeology and new discoveries of Palaeolithic art in this region". Based on this new result, the team expects to find more engravings along the four kilometres currently under investigation.

For the scientific director of the Museu de Arte Pré-Histórica e do Sagrado do Vale do Tejo and full professor at IPT, this discovery raises new questions and opens up new possibilities for exploration and research. "It leads us to believe that this area may in fact be larger than imagined, less localised, and possibly encompassing the Tagus Valley ensemble with the rest of the Tagus Valley rock art complex. And this is extremely important from a heritage point of view," emphasised Luiz Oosterbeek, speaking to Agência Lusa.

Following this discovery, the Mação City Council decided to classify the area as a municipal interest zone.

Photo by Kenia de Aguiar Ribeiro