Castro of Monte Mozinho

Castro of Monte Mozinho (Castro de Monte Mozinho)
Fortified settlement of Monte Mozinho, Penafiel City of the Dead
Castro
A view at the top of the hill of Monte Mozinho
Official name: Povoado fortificado de Monte Mozinho/Cidade Morta de Penafiel
Named for: Monte Mozinho
Country	Portugal
Region	Norte
Subregion	Tâmega
District	Porto
Municipality	Penafiel
Location	Oldrões
Architects	unknown
Style	Calcolithic
Material	Granite
Owner	Portuguese Republic
For public	Public
Easiest access	Road midway along the Estrada Municipal between Galegos and Valpedre
Management	Instituto Gestão do Patrimonio Arquitectónico e Arqueológico
Status	Property of Public Interest Imóvel de Interesse Público
Listing	Decree 37/077, Diário do Governo, Série 1, 228 (29 September 1948)

The Castro of Monte Mozinho (Portuguese: Povoado fortificado de Monte Mozinho/Cidade Morta de Penafiel) is a Neolithic fortified settlement, sometimes referred to as the City of the Dead, situated in the civil parish of Oldrões, in the municipality of Penafiel in the Tâmega Subregion of the Portuguese district of Porto.

The site dates to a proto-historic period still largely undefined. Its first period of occupation can be traced to the 1 century BCE.

By the Middle Ages the site continued to be occupied by a small community.

On 8 November 2004, a interpretative centre was inaugurated by the Secretária de Estado das Artes e Espectáculos (Secretary-of-State for the Arts and Performances), Teresa Caeiro.

In 1930, archaeological excavations under the direction of Abílio Miranda. Excavations were continued in 1943, under the direction of Elísio Ferreira de Sousa, and in 1947, under the supervision of Fernando Russell Cortez.

Between 1974 and 1979, a new excavation was carried out by Carlos A. Ferreira de Almeida. A similar excavation began in 1982 (ending ten years later) by the archaeologist Teresa Soeiro.

The artefacts unearthed included fragments of ceramics dating to the Iron Age and Roman occupation, including pots, glass, Imbrex and tegula, millstones, coins and metallic elements (including artesnal, defensive and agricultural implements). In addition there were decorative jewellry in silver and bronze Transmontanan fibulas, in addition to granite statuary and alters (an epigraph, fragment dedicated to Jupiter and another truncated to the foculus). These and other artefacts were housed and on display in the Museu Municipal de Penafiel (Penafiel Municipal Museum), Museu de Etnografia e História do Porto (Porto Museum of Ethnography and History) and the Museu de Antropologia da Universidade do Porto (University of Porto's Anthropologic Museum).

The fortified settlement was located in an isolated, rural hilltop covered in pine forest, overlooking the Ribeira da Camba. It is erected in the southern part of the municipality, between the parishes of Santo Estêvão de Oldrões and Galegos.

The castro covers an area of 20 hectares, defined by four lines of walls that encircle the settlement, at a maximum of 3.5 metres (11 ft) thick at the doorways. The settlement was structured by principal dwellings oriented north to south, articulated with lateral lodgings, aligned orthogonally.