Unlike other settlements of the time, where an elevated, dominant site with natural defence conditions was chosen for its construction. Here, the choice was for an area relatively low and covered by the landscape, near the Ribeira de Mora - tributary of the Mira river. And this is – largely - explained by the fact that this was an important crossing point between the Algarve hills and the Alentejo plains. In fact, we are at the first line of the geographical border between these two worlds!
As the name itself indicates, the archaeological site extends over two platforms - the “mesas”: The upper “mesa” - here called mesa "A" - where we are, and the lower “mesa” – mesa “B”, that are delimited by imposing slopes that hide the walls! If we add the western platform to these “mesas”, we have an area of almost 4 hectares -more or less 4 football fields- of archaeological remains!
Before moving on to the next point, one last piece of information:
This Roman settlement was inhabited until around the beginning of the 2nd century AD, at which time a regional administrative reorganisation led the inhabitants to abandon this site.
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