Verraco
Encyclopedia
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
megalith
Megalith
A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. Megalithic describes structures made of such large stones, utilizing an interlocking system without the use of mortar or cement.The word 'megalith' comes from the Ancient...
ic monuments, sculptures of animals that are to be found in the west of the Iberian
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
meseta
Meseta
Meseta may refer to:*Meseta Central , the high plains of central Spain*Meseta , partially collapsed volcanic vent of Volcán de Fuego in Guatemala*Meseta, fictional currency of the Phantasy Star video game series...
- the high central plain of the Iberian peninsula
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
- in the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
provinces of Ávila
Ávila (province)
Ávila is a province of central-western Spain, in the southern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered on the south by the provinces of Toledo and Cáceres, on the west by Salamanca, on the north by Valladolid, and on the east by Segovia and Madrid. Ávila has a...
, Salamanca
Salamanca (province)
Salamanca is a province of western Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Zamora, Valladolid, Ávila, and Cáceres; and by Portugal....
, Zamora
Zamora (province)
Zamora is a Spanish province of western Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Castile and León.The present-day province of Zamora province was one of three provinces formed from the former Kingdom of León in 1833, when Spain was re-organised into 49 provinces.It is bordered by...
, and Cáceres
Cáceres (province)
The province of Cáceres is a province of western Spain, in the northern part of the autonomous community of Extremadura. It is bordered by the provinces of Salamanca, Ávila, Toledo, and Badajoz, and by Portugal....
, but also in the north of Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
and Galicia. Over 400 have been identified.
The Spanish word verraco normally refers to boars and the sculptures are sometimes called verracos de piedra (pigs of stone) to distinguish them from live animals. The stone verracos appear to represent not only pigs but also other animals. Some have been identified as bulls, and the village of El Oso, Ávila
El Oso, Ávila
El Oso is a municipality in the Spanish province of Ávila, in the autonomous community of Castile-Leon.-Megalith:The village takes its name from a megalithic monument outside the church. The monument in question may not have been intended to represent a bear...
, named for "the Bear", has a verraco which supposedly represents a bear.
Their dates range from the mid 4th to 1st centuries BC.
There is some similar zoomorphic monument markers in lands of Poland from the same period or older.
Though they were perhaps not confined to a single usage, the verracos were an essential part of the landscape of the Vettones
Vettones
The Vettones were one of the pre-Roman Celtic peoples of the Iberian Peninsula .- Origins :...
, one of the Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula
Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula
This is a list of the Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian peninsula .-Non-Indo-European:*Aquitanians**Aquitani**Autrigones - some consider them Celtic .**Caristii - some consider them Celtic ....
. It has generally been assumed from their high visibility in their original open fields surroundings that these sculptures had some protective religious significance, whether guarding the security of livestock or as funerary monuments (some of them bear Latin funerary inscriptions). The verracos are particularly numerous too in the vicinity of the walled Celtiberian
Celtiberians
The Celtiberians were Celtic-speaking people of the Iberian Peninsula in the final centuries BC. The group used the Celtic Celtiberian language.Archaeologically, the Celtiberians participated in the Hallstatt culture in what is now north-central Spain...
communities that Romans called oppida
Oppidum
Oppidum is a Latin word meaning the main settlement in any administrative area of ancient Rome. The word is derived from the earlier Latin ob-pedum, "enclosed space," possibly from the Proto-Indo-European *pedóm-, "occupied space" or "footprint."Julius Caesar described the larger Celtic Iron Age...
.
Portugal
- MurçaMurçaMurça is a municipality in norhern Portugal with a total area of 189.37 and a total population of 6,476 inhabitants. Situated in the central part of the eastern district of Vila Real, and consigned to the Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro region, the municipality of Murça occupies an are of...
- Porca de Murça (literally the "Sow of Murça" in Portuguese, although the sculpture appears to represent a boar, i.e. a male rather than a female pig). The name has been taken to designate a red wine of the DouroDouroThe Douro or Duero is one of the major rivers of the Iberian Peninsula, flowing from its source near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province across northern-central Spain and Portugal to its outlet at Porto...
district.
- Porca de Murça (literally the "Sow of Murça" in Portuguese, although the sculpture appears to represent a boar, i.e. a male rather than a female pig). The name has been taken to designate a red wine of the Douro
- Torre de Dona ChamaTorre de Dona ChamaTorre de Dona Chama is a Portuguese civil parish in the municipality and district of Bragança, in the Trás-os-Montes region of northern Portugal...
- Berroa
Spain
- El TiembloEl TiembloEl Tiemblo is a municipality located in the province of Ávila, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2006 census , the municipality has a population of 4,071 inhabitants.]...
, Ávila (province)Ávila (province)Ávila is a province of central-western Spain, in the southern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered on the south by the provinces of Toledo and Cáceres, on the west by Salamanca, on the north by Valladolid, and on the east by Segovia and Madrid. Ávila has a...
- Bulls of GuisandoBulls of GuisandoThe Bulls of Guisando are a set of celtiberian sculptures located on the hill of Guisando in the municipality of El Tiemblo, Ávila, Spain. The sculptures, made of granite, represent quadrupeds identified as bulls or pigs...
, 4 verracos mentioned by CervantesCervantes-People:*Alfonso J. Cervantes , mayor of St. Louis, Missouri*Francisco Cervantes de Salazar, 16th-century man of letters*Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban composer*Jorge Cervantes, a world-renowned expert on indoor, outdoor, and greenhouse cannabis cultivation...
. They are protected as a sitio histórico or cultural landscapeCultural landscapeCultural Landscapes have been defined by the World Heritage Committee as distinct geographical areas or properties uniquely "..represent[ing] the combined work of nature and of man.."....
.
- Bulls of Guisando
- SalamancaSalamancaSalamanca is a city in western Spain, in the community of Castile and León. Because it is known for its beautiful buildings and urban environment, the Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. It is the most important university city in Spain and is known for its contributions to...
- One verraco next to the Roman bridgeRoman bridgeRoman bridges, built by ancient Romans, were the first large and lasting bridges built. Roman bridges were built with stone and had the arch as its basic structure....
. It is mentioned in the sixteenth-century picaresque novelPicaresque novelThe picaresque novel is a popular sub-genre of prose fiction which is usually satirical and depicts, in realistic and often humorous detail, the adventures of a roguish hero of low social class who lives by his wits in a corrupt society...
Lazarillo de TormesLazarillo de TormesThe Life of Lazarillo de Tormes and of His Fortunes and Adversities is a Spanish novella, published anonymously because of its heretical content...
as being like a bull:
- One verraco next to the Roman bridge
Salimos de Salamanca y, llegando a la puente, está a la entrada de ella un animal de piedra que
casi tiene forma de toro. El ciego me mandó que llegase cerca del animal y, allí puesto, me
dijo...
- Villanueva del CampilloVillanueva del CampilloVillanueva del Campillo is a municipality located in the province of Ávila, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2006 census , the municipality has a population of 156 inhabitants....
, Ávila (province)Ávila (province)Ávila is a province of central-western Spain, in the southern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered on the south by the provinces of Toledo and Cáceres, on the west by Salamanca, on the north by Valladolid, and on the east by Segovia and Madrid. Ávila has a...
- Two verracos, one of which is possibly the largest of them all (a larger than life-size bull or aurochsAurochsThe aurochs , the ancestor of domestic cattle, were a type of large wild cattle which inhabited Europe, Asia and North Africa, but is now extinct; it survived in Europe until 1627....
, but surviving in an incomplete state).
- Two verracos, one of which is possibly the largest of them all (a larger than life-size bull or aurochs
Further reading
- J. Leite de Vasconcelos, Religiões da Lusitânia, Imprensa Nacional Casa da Moeda, Lisbon.
- Eduardo Sánchez Moreno, 2000. Vetones: Historia y Arqueología de un pueblo prerromano (Madrid: Ediciones de la Universidad Autónoma)
External links
- Jesús R. Álvarez-Sanchís, "Oppida and Celtic society in western Spain," in e-Celtoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies vol 6 (The Celts in the Iberian Peninsula)
- Photo gallery of verracos