{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,16]],"date-time":"2026-03-16T15:45:20Z","timestamp":1773675920571,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":54,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,12]],"date-time":"2026-03-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1773273600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Humans"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The article presents the preliminary data from the excavation of the Azurrague 1 Dolmen (Our\u00e9m), carried out within the MEDICE II project, highlighting the importance of its location in a karstic landscape marked by a strong tradition of funerary cults in natural cavities. The dolmen structure features a heptagonal chamber and a short passage, with ritual deposits that include macrolithic tools, polished axes, ceramics, and human remains dated between the beginning of the Late Neolithic and the Middle Chalcolithic. The data indicates practices of secondary burial, continuity of regional lithic traditions, and a symbolic integration between exogenous architectural forms and endogenous ritual content established in caves. The proximity to caves with contemporary chronologies, such as Lapa da Furada, reinforces the coexistence of differentiated yet interconnected ritual spaces. Analogies with the Rego da Murta Megalithic Complex, caves and other sites in the Alto Nab\u00e3o region support the hypothesis of a hybrid, long-lasting cultural system in which megalithic monumentalization is associated with ancestral symbolic practices.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/humans6010009","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,12]],"date-time":"2026-03-12T14:46:31Z","timestamp":1773326791000},"page":"9","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Dolmens in a Land of Caves: The Azurrague Pre-Historic Monument (Our\u00e9m\u2014Central Portugal)"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"6","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3354-0727","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alexandra","family":"Figueiredo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Tomar, Unidade Departamental de Arqueologia, Conserva\u00e7\u00e3o e Restauro e Patrim\u00f3nio, 2300 Tomar, Portugal"},{"name":"Centro de Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o em Ci\u00eancias Hist\u00f3ricas, Universidade Aut\u00f3noma de Lisboa, 1169 Lisboa, Portugal"},{"name":"Centro de Geoci\u00eancias, Universidade de Coimbra, 3004 Coimbra, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1285-6071","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Cl\u00e1udio","family":"Monteiro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro de Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o em Ci\u00eancias Hist\u00f3ricas, Universidade Aut\u00f3noma de Lisboa, 1169 Lisboa, Portugal"},{"name":"Tecnh&Art, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Tomar, 2300 Tomar, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"53","article-title":"Contribuici\u00f3n a la definici\u00f3n de las pr\u00e1ticas funer\u00e1rias neol\u00edticas y calcol\u00edticas en el Macizo Calizo de Extremadura: El Dolmen de Fonte Moreira (Alcanena) y el megalitismo ortost\u00e1tico en Alta Extremadura","volume":"34","author":"Andrade","year":"2024","journal-title":"Estudios Arqueol\u00f3gicos de Oeiras"},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"Batata, C. 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