At the beginning of the 3rd millennium a.n.e. a set of changes takes place, changing the social, mental, and ideological structure of the peasant communities in South Iberia: copper metallurgy, walls, exotic materials and ... tholoi.

The analysis of this phenomenon is carried out through different scales: a peninsular perspective, which includes the dynamics of contacts on both shores of the Mediterranean and a micro-regional analysis that analyzes the social contexts where these changes are inscribed. 

In the Center and South of Portugal, these changes take place in very different social and regional contexts. In the Center (Estremadura), the appearance of the tholoi is part of a panorama of great diversity of sepulchral types: dolmens, artificial caves and many natural caves. The south of the Tagus, the Middle Alentejo, presents the highest concentration of orthostatic sepulchres in Iberia (1670), with very few tholoi. In this megalithic landscape, in Reguengos de Monsaraz, appears a unique case of megalithic complexes of dolmen and tholoi. Finally, tholoi appear associated with ditch enclosures in South Portugal (as in Alcalar, Porto Torrão or Perdigões). 

This communication will analyze the different regional contexts through case studies, without forgetting the broader scope of the Mediterranean.