.jpg/1920px-Ortostato_del_dolmen_de_Navalc%C3%A1n_(51545564468).jpg 1920w)
Estatua-menhir del dolmen de Navalcán
Photo Ángel M. Felicísimo from Mérida, España · CC BY 2.0Source file on Wikimedia Commons
Overview
About this site
Overview
The statue-menhir of the Navalcán dolmen is an engraved menhir found at Navalcán, in the comarca of Campana de Oropesa, province of Toledo, Spain. It formed part of the Navalcán dolmen but is now kept in the courtyard of the Museo de Santa Cruz in Toledo.
Read on Wikipedia1 min readCC BY-SA 4.0
Article
Estatua-menhir del dolmen de Navalcán
DescriptionSources for this section
Sources for this section
The stone is decorated on all four sides. The clearest motif is a serpent crawling along the ground; fainter lines include several double wavy lines and a crook (báculo). The stone was oriented towards the east.
The statue-menhir stood at the entrance of the Navalcán dolmen, which is about five metres long.
SettingSources for this section
Sources for this section
The statue-menhir stood at the entrance of the Navalcán dolmen, which is about five metres long. The dolmen lies in the Navalcán reservoir and remains under water for most of the time, becoming visible only in periods of severe drought. Its round construction is of the same type as the dolmens of Azután and La Estrella.
ContextSources for this section
Sources for this section
A statue menhir is a carved standing stone of the later European Neolithic, in which a vertical slab or pillar carries a stylised figure of a human, sometimes with hints of clothing or weapons. Such stones are most commonly found in southern and western France, Catalonia, Corsica, Sardinia, Italy and the Alps.
Tradition and region
About this kind of monument
Statue menhirs
A statue menhir is a type of carved standing stone created during the later European Neolithic. A vertical slab or pillar carries a stylised figure of a human, sometimes with hints of clothing or weapons. They are most commonly found in southern and western France, Catalonia, Corsica, Sardinia, Italy and the Alps. A group from the Iron Age is known in Liguria and Lunigiana, and two stand on Guernsey; one of them, in the churchyard of Saint Martin, is called La Gran'mère du Chimquière, the grandmother of the cemetery, and is highly detailed, while a second, less detailed one was found buried beneath the porch of the parish church in Castel.
In Sardinia the "statue-menhirs" show a human face at the top and gendered symbols on the flat front. More than a hundred of this standardised type have been found, most of them around the village of Laconi, and in the Sardinian language they are called perdas fittas. The Arco stelae in Trentino are six Copper Age statue menhirs found in 1989. Arco I is a limestone stele 2.15 metres high showing a heavily armed, apparently male figure with seven daggers, three axes, three halberds and a necklace. They are similar in style to other anthropomorphic steles made across Europe between the fourth and third millennia BCE.
At Filitosa in Corsica, menhirs 2 to 3 metres tall were carved with faces, armour and weapons about 1500 BCE.
Folklore: the Guernsey name "the grandmother" is a popular one and has no known link with the makers.
Dating depends on comparison of the style and the carved weapons with other stelae.
When visiting, look at the carved details.
Paraphrased from Wikipedia: Statue menhir, Wikipedia: Menhir, Wikipedia: Arco stelae, Wikipedia: Filitosa, Wikipedia: List of menhirs · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photographs
1 photograph, each with its author and licence
Where it stands
Spain
The pin marks the monument itself — its exact point.
- Coordinates
- 40°02′19″ N, 5°06′33″ WFor a GPS or map app: 40.03871, -5.10914
Access is as our sources describe it; we have not visited the site to check.
Nearby
The closest sites in the Atlas, by straight line.
.jpg){kind=link}
.JPG){kind=link}
Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
1 source behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q19309488wikidata.org
Image files
- Ortostato del dolmen de Navalcán (51545564468).jpgÁngel M. Felicísimo from Mérida, EspañaCC BY 2.0
Report a correctionWrong date, name, photograph or source? Tell us and it will be put right.
Around this place
The ten nearest sites, by compass
Credit
Text, licence and sources
Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Estatua-menhir del dolmen de Navalcán" (Spanish), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; authors are listed in the page history. Reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikipedia · Edit history and authors