Vila Nova de São Pedro
| Castro of Vila Nova de São Pedro (Castro de Vila Nova de São Pedro) | |
| Castro | |
| Named for: Vila Nova de São Pedro | |
| Country |  Portugal |
|---|---|
| Region | Alentejo |
| Subregion | Lezíria do Tejo |
| District | Lisboa |
| Municipality | Azambuja |
| Location | Vila Nova de São Pedro |
| - elevation | 75 m (246 ft) |
| - coordinates | 39°13′11.16″N 8°50′25.33″W / 39.2197667°N 8.8403694°WCoordinates: 39°13′11.16″N 8°50′25.33″W / 39.2197667°N 8.8403694°W |
| Length | 55 m (180 ft), West-East |
| Width | 50 m (164 ft), North-South |
| Architects | unknown |
| Style | Chalcolithic |
| Material | Limestone |
| Origin | 2700 BCE |
| Discovery | 1936 |
| Owner | Portuguese Republic |
| For public | Public |
| Easiest access | Torre de Penalva |
| Management | Instituto Gestão do Patrimonio Arquitectónico e Arqueológico |
| Status |
Property of Public Interest Imóvel de Interesse Público |
| Listing | Decree 516/71; DG274, 22 November 1971 |
  Location of the Castro cultures of the Iberian peninsula, with the locational influence of the castro of Vila Nova de São Pedro
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The Castro of Vila Nova de São Pedro is a Chalcolithic archaeological site in the civil parish of Vila Nova de São Pedro, municipality of Azambuja, in the Portuguese Estremadura area of Lezíria do Tejo. It is important for the discovery of thousands of arrowheads within its fortified settlement, associated with the Chalcolithic period of human settlement. associated with the long-lived fortified town, or castro, of Zambujal, near the municipality of Torres Vedras. The period of "urban" settlement lasted from 2600 to 1300 BCE, and was a contemporary of the southeastern Spanish settlements of Los Millares and El Argar.
The rural site, is located on a small hilltop dominated by the ruins of a castle, and intersected in the north, east and west by the Ribeira de Alcoentre, Ribeira do Carrascal and Ribeira do Massuca (respectively).
The castro settlement was built during two phases: initially (associated with the VNSP I culture), an open settlement; followed by a fortified settlement (VSNP 2) encircled by wall of rocks (covered in clay). Within its perimeter are the vestiges of a semi-circular domed oven/kiln, alongside a limestone space and cistern. Many of these pre-existing structures were dismantled and/or destroyed during a phase of settlement (VNSP III), followed by a fourth period of occupation which resulted in another phase of destruction (VNSP IV), leading to the construction of a new system of defense.
The oven and ancillary space (where was discovered full of pottery from the VSNP 2 era) constitutes a group associated with the industrial fabrication of ceramics, receiving water from the cistern for its operation. These structures were destroyed and substituted for new spaces (VNSP III) when the spaces were expropriated for the metallurgic manufacture of copper, spinning and weaving, and the manufacture of dairy products, etc.
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