Ploughs, herds and chafurdões

Abstract

The chafurdões are one of the most characteristic ethnographic buildings in the Alto Alentejo countryside. These are circular drystone structures topped by corbelled domes. Written sources suggest that at least some of them were built from the 17th century onwards. Their usages in the peasant landscapes were numerous: as a shelter for shepherds and farmers, storage facilities for tools and produce, and, less frequently, to keep livestock. Nevertheless, their location, deep within cultivated fields, suggests that they were not permanent housing structures, but rather periodically occupied during certain moments, in which it was necessary to be closer to the fields. Nowadays, many of these structures are still standing, kept by farmers mostly for storage purposes. Their presence in the landscape constitutes an important example of rural cultural heritage that should be further examined and preserved. This paper will consider the distribution of these structures in the countryside, review the techniques used to build them, discuss their seasonal use during agricultural practices of the modern period, and reflect upon their meaning and preservation today, from a cultural heritage perspective.