National Archeology Museum

   One of the most important archeological collections in Portugal is located in the National Museum of Archeology. Founded in 1893 by the famous archeologist Jose Leite de Vasconcelos, the museum has been in the west wing (the former dormitory for the monks) of the Jeronimos Monastery in the Belem district since 1903. Originally called the Portuguese Ethnological Museum, it's collections span from the Paleolithic era to the middle-ages. While its two main exhibits feature Egyptian and eighth century Islamic artifacts, others feature Visogothic jewelry, Iron and Bronze Age specimens, as well as Roman ornaments and mosaics. For us, the more impressive pieces were statues of Lusitanian Warriors (Indo-European peoples who inhabited western Iberia prior to the Roman occupation) dating to the first century A.D. Since this museum is part of the Jeronimos Monastery, visiting both in one day was easy.

Founded in 1893, the National Archeology Museum...

...takes up the west wing of the Jeronimos Monastery. This was the former dormitory for the monks.

Our favorite pieces were the first century A.D. statues of Lusitanian Warriors (they seemed to be in pretty good shape for being 2000 years old).

Dating from the end of the 3rd - to the beginning of the 4th centuries, this panel showing Mercury and Hercules was once part of a larger mosaic of the Muses.

Can you imagine finding something like this in your backyard? This jug dates from the early Neolithic era ( 6th - 5th millennium BCE).

During the second Iron Age ( circa third century B.C.) gold became an important part of jewelry making. "Torcs" (simple semicircular jewelry with decorated ends) such as this were often worn by men in the military as a symbol of power.

Fragment of a 6th century B.C. schist stela (sculpted stone shafts often associated with altars) found in the Loule region of southern Portugal.