support the hypothesis, other than the use of the term tholoi (which can be seen as a more contemporaneous development). VNSP I It has been determined that early inhabitants in this region began building fortifications around 2700 BCE, with the Dolmen of Herdade de Zambujal being the more central, with a very complex plan and up to six reconstructions in its lifetime. These cultures left behind many traces of their culture: stylized cups, crescents of clay, sticks of slate and the so-called plate-idols, that some archaeo-astronomers consider to be precise calendars. Nevertheless, the exchange with other groups, particularly Los Millares, is also present in the archaeological record. The inhabitants of the fort had its economy based on agriculture and grazing, which was suitable to the surrounding lowlands. VNSP II But, trade proved to have greater interest: the first settlers brought with them red-tinged pottery, more delicate then later ceramics, with excellent decoration, suggesting their contact with peoples of a superior civilization (something that they could not produce with similar quality). With the arrival of the Beaker peoples around 2200 BCE, the local culture entered a new period of development that mixed the Beaker people burial rites, while maintaining other traditions. It is likely that the Beaker people's presence within this region also resulted in secondary phase of development of this culture. The inter-cultural exchanges between groups were more frequent, and their influence spread to distances of 1000 kilometres or greater, as was the case with the Treilles, in the French Languedoc. Local artifacts associated with these cultures, such as the Palmela arrowheads or bell-shaped beakers, were commonly found dispersed in the western half of the Iberian peninsula, suggesting an origin in the region. After 1900 BCE there is a decentralization in the Iberian peninsula, resulting in a dispersion of many of these artifacts to as far as Bohemia. With the arrival of Bronze Age technologies in southern Iberia after 1800 BCE (particularly in El Argar), the influence of the castro culture of Vila Nova de São Pedro begins to slowly decline. Finally, around 1300, it merges with the wider culture associated with internally burnished pottery, including most of Portugal and the wider Atlantic Bronze Age cultures. Excavations The site was discovered in 1936 by Raposo, and followed in 1937 by excavations under the auspices of the Associação dos Arqueólogos Portugueses (Association of Portuguese Archaeologists). Between 1941-1948, 1949–1954, 1959 and 1960–1967,