The earliest archaeological remnants discovered in Mafra date to an early settlement of this region in the Neolithic period. In Seixosa, civil parish of Encarnação, in an area that was once a beach, there were archaeological remnants from the Paleolithic period, that indicate one of the oldest human presences in Europe. Similar human vestiges were discovered along the beach of São Julião, including specifically shell mounds produced by Mesolithic communities in the parish of Carvoeira. Although many of these remnants have been discovered submerged along the coast, they have been dated to 7000 B.C. During the Neolithic (5000 B.C.), the first agro-pastoral communities began to appear, remaining in small groups in strategically defensible locations. This includes sites in Igreja Nova, such as Penedo do Lexim (considered an important point in comprehending the Neolithic and Copper Age Iberian settlements) and occupied during the final part of the Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. Other structures from the Neolithic, today missing, such as the "castle" of Cheleiros or dolmens, whose name remains the only proof there is existence, such as Antas-Azueira and Antas-Gradil. In addition to the Penedo do Lexim, also in the Serra do Socorro and Tituaria, as funerary tombs from the Chalcolithic.