1/ As promised a thread about the Cromeleque dos Almendres, nicknamed the "Portuguese Stonehenge" and one of the largest megalithic sites ever found. Located in Évora, Portugal, we'll look at its seemingly impossible astronomical alignments, functions and symbology in this thread

2/ This Cromlech went through 2 phases until abandonment. It started being built in 6000 BCE - predating Stonehenge by 3000 years. It started as a small circle of stones but was then expanded into a very large ellipse. The circle measures 18.8 m in diameter. The ellipse is 46.6 m

3/ The stones were chosen or carved into resembling eggs. Retain this detail, as it will be important for the interpretation of this Cromlech later. Most of the stones reach 3 meters in height and are carved with symbols - which we will also look at later.

4/ In the Late Neolithic some stones were flattened to have a more anthropomorphic shape, resembling eggs less. 1.3 km away northeast of the Cromlech, we can find the Menhir of the Almendres, which is 3.5 meters tall. Apparently unrelated, we'll see later their connection.

5/ When looking at megalithic monuments of this type, accurate astronomical aligning is bound to happen. Almendres is no exception, and its alignments are nothing short of impressive. During the Equinoxes, the moon travels directly above the longitudinal axis of the Cromlech.

6/ This same phenomenon only happens in a single other place: the Stonehenge. This is because Almendres and Stonehenge have the only 2 possible latitudes where this can happen. At Stonehenge, the moon is at its northernmost position during orbit. At Almendres, in the southernmost

7/ The Almendres Cromlech menhirs' faces which have symbols are also all turned to the East - the sunrise. The axis of the Cromlech is also aligned with the Spring Equinox and the imaginary line between the Cromlech and Menhir 1 km away is aligned with the Winter Solstice sunrise

8/ Even more impressive, the circle of the Cromlech is the terminal point of a 50 km long alignment, connecting the Cromlech of Monsaraz and the Dolmen of Zambujeiro. That is, if you stay at the Almendres circle during the Spring Full Moon, it will rise on the horizon and pass

9/ directly over the Cromlech of Monsaraz, then the Dolmen of Zambujeiro and finally above you in Almendres. Archaeologists conclude that such alignments are only possible because the ancient Neolithic people of what is now Portugal possessed a deep understanding of mathematics

10/ Looking at the symbols on the menhirs, the most common are lunar crescents and phallic shapes. However, there is also what it seems to be a bird on the Almendres Menhir. Other stones in the cromlech also have tree like symbols, suns, an Irminsul-like engraving and spirals

11/ Of course, these are all symbols of rebirth, and they're tied further with the astronomical alignments. Remember that the Cromlech is aligned with the Spring Equinox and the Winter Solstice - 9 months apart, the Rebirth of Nature and the Rebirth of the Sun.

12/ The trees also symbolise life, and the spirals eternity. So this monument was twofold: a center of astronomical calculations and also a very important monument for our rituals, rites of passage and the observance of Natural Patterns. A site to lift the amnesia...

13/ It should be obvious now why the rocks were shaped to resemble eggs. They are a symbol of the Universe and the womb. The sources of life, to which we all return upon death. This meaning is well attested in different European mythologies and also the Egyptian traditions.

14/ This meaning is once again tied to the 9 month period observed at Almendres - a symbolic pregnancy. The anthropomorphic stones, I believe, are supposed to be figures of the ancestors, who had built this monument. And the stone with the suns has 3 of them:

15/ the 3 symbolic pregnancies/reincarnations. To conclude, this mind blowing megalithic monument is one of the most important and well crafted in Europe. It contains unbelievably accurate astronomical alignments and also has encoded some of the European symbols and their meaning

16/ Thank you for reading if you made it this far. In the following 3 tweets I will link threads discussing the symbolism of the egg in European and Egyptian mythology. First, a thread from Pallando, talking about the egg in Finnish and Hellenic traditions https://twitter.com/KomninosM/status/1239203238504730624

17/ A thread by Sentona on the symbolism of the egg in the burials of the ancient world: https://twitter.com/sentona97/status/1248722109402095617

18/ And finally, another thread by Sentona on the symbolism of the eggs and birds (in this case, the geese) as creators in Egyptian mythology: https://twitter.com/sentona97/status/1257443609521127434