The Algarve Archaeological Association (AAA) will be presenting two lectures, in English, by archaeologist Rui Parreira on Tuesday, March 8. Entitled ‘The Carnac Alignments and the megalithic builders of Western Europe’, the first lecture will be at 2.30pm at the Museu do Traje in São Brás and the second at 6pm at the Convento de São José in Lagoa.
Rui Parreira will be talking about the megalithic site of Carnac in Britanny, France, and its relationship with other megalithic sites in Western Europe.
In 2008, Rui took part in a meeting in Carnac with the aim of setting up a network of selected megalithic sites (among them Alcalar in the Algarve) to develop an international project for the enhancement and diffusion of these sites.
His trip to France was sponsored by the AAA and he had the opportunity to experience, for the first time, the ‘magic’ of some of the megalithic places around Carnac and to better understand their Neolithic context.
In this talk, he will present the main impressions of Carnac and will approach the economic and social structure that corresponds with their megalithic builders within the broader framework of the Neolithic and Copper Ages in Western Europe.
Rui Parreira is an archaeologist in the Regional Directorate of Algarve for Cultural Affairs based in Faro, where he currently holds the position of Director of Services. He has worked in the public domain since 1976.
From 1980 to 1985, he was curator in the National Archaeology Museum in Lisbon and, from 1986 to 1997, he was a senior technician (archaeologist) in Southern Portugal’s Regional Service of Archaeology in Évora.
From July 1987 to March 2004, he was Director of the Sagres Fortress (Algarve) and since 2004 he has been in his current position as the Director of Services.
Rui is a fellow researcher in the Uniarq/Unit of Archaeology of the University of Lisbon, developing his main scientific activity on the subject of Megalithic architecture and historical processes of emergence and change of complex societies in Iberia in the 4th/2nd millennia BC.
Rui has directed and co-directed archaeological fieldwork in several sites in Algarve, Alentejo and Central Portugal and has published several papers and books on the subjects of Prehistory, Archaeology, Museum Studies and Cultural Heritage Management.
Non-members are welcome to attend AAA lectures for a €5 admission fee, with all money raised by the AAA being used for archaeological grants and speakers.
For more information, contact [email protected], visit arquealgarve.weebly.com or Facebook ‘Algarve Archaeological Association’. Please note that Covid-19 regulations apply. Please check the website or facebook page for any last-minute changes.
