Menhir of Outeiro

{{Short description|Phallic monolith in Évora district, Portugal}}

{{Infobox ancient site

| name = Outeiro Menhir

| native_name = Menir do Outeiro

| alternate_name = Penedo comprido

| image = OuteiroMenhir1.jpg

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| caption = A view of the menhir

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| coordinates = {{coord|38.470381|-7.393626|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

| location = Outeiro, Évora, Alentejo, Portugal

| type = Phallic menhir

| part_of =

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| length =

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| diameter = 1 meter

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| height = {{convert|5.6|m|ft|abbr=on}}

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| built = {{circa|4000 BC}}

| abandoned =

| epochs = Neolithic

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| discovered = 1969

| excavations =

| archaeologists = Henrique Leonor Pina; José Pires Gonçalves

| condition = Very good

| ownership = Portuguese Republic

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| public_access = Yes

| website =

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}}

The Menhir of Outeiro ({{langx|pt|Menir do Outeiro }}), also known as the Penedo Comprido (long boulder), is a megalith located midway between the villages of Outeiro and Barrada near the municipality of Reguengos de Monsaraz, in the district of Évora, in the Alentejo region of Portugal. It is a few kilometers from the Portuguese-Spanish-border. The stone was discovered on its side in 1969 by Henrique Leonor Pina and José Pires Gonçalves and, on the initiative of Gonçalves, was raised again around 1970.{{cite journal |last1=Cardoso |first1=Joao |title=Nos 50 Anos da identificação do Megalitismo não funerário Alentejano. O povoamento da região de Reguengos de Monsaraz nos IV e III milénios a.C. |journal=Al-Madan |date=2015 |volume=II |issue=19 Tome 2 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272770989_Nos_50_Anos_da_identificacao_do_Megalitismo_nao_funerario_Alentejano_O_povoamento_da_regiao_de_Reguengos_de_Monsaraz_nos_IV_e_III_milenios_aC/citation/download |access-date=18 October 2019}} The menhir was classified as a Portuguese National Monument in 1971.{{cite web |title=Menhir de Outeiro - Standing Stone (Menhir) in Portugal in Évora |url=https://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=13846 |website=The Megalithic Portal |access-date=18 October 2019}}{{cite web |title=Menir do Outeiro |url=http://www.patrimoniocultural.gov.pt/pt/patrimonio/patrimonio-imovel/pesquisa-do-patrimonio/classificado-ou-em-vias-de-classificacao/geral/view/69718 |website=Patrimonio Cultural |access-date=18 October 2019}}{{cite web |title=Menir do Outeiro |url=http://www.cm-reguengos-monsaraz.pt/pt/visitar/Paginas/menir-outeiro.aspx |website=Município de Reguengos de MonsarazT |access-date=18 October 2019}}

The granite monolith is 5.6 meters high with an average diameter of one meter, and weighs an estimated 8 tonnes. It is the second largest in Portugal. The top has a hollow of 30 cm in diameter, which is believed to represent a urethra, thus giving rise to the understanding that the megalith symbolizes a phallus. It is considered one of the best examples of a phallic menhir in the Iberian Peninsula. Based on its similarity to other megalithic finds in the Évora district, the menhir is believed to date from the Late Neolithic or Chalcolithic.