In Alentejo, we can find different types of rock art, more or less contemporary of megaliths; the major differences between them are related with the kinds of rocks used as support. In the granitic landscapes, we find carved motifs, in bas relief, on the standing stones themselves, always made out of granite. These are often referred as megalithic art. In the schist landscapes, rock art is always carved, by incision or pecking, and the panels are usually located in the bottom of the river valleys.

In the quartzite areas, the motifs are usually painted, and the panels are in quartzite rock shelters. The iconography of post-glacial rock art is centered on the schematic representation of the human figure, circles, undulating lines and astral motifs. Before megaliths were built, in Paleolithic times, painted and engraved drawings have been made in the marble Cave of Escoural, not far from Évora. This is the only cave, in Portugal, with rock art from that period, and the most common motifs are zoomorphic. Globally, Alentejo displays a good evidence for the strong relationship between rock art and landscape.