Editing Verraco

{{short description|Granite megalithic sculpture of animal, found in Spain and Portugal}}
[[File:IMG Toros de Guisando.JPG|thumb|The ''[[Bulls of Guisando]]'', in [[El Tiemblo]], Castile and León, Spain.]]
[[File:PorcaMurca.jpg|thumb|The ''Sow of Murça'', in [[Murça]], Portugal.]]

The '''''verracos''''' ({{langx|es|verraco}}; {{langx|pt|berrão}}; literally 'boar'), in the [[Iberian Peninsula]], are the [[Vettones]]'s [[granite]] [[megalith]]ic monuments, sculptures of animals as found in the west of the [[Iberian Peninsula|Iberian]] ''[[Meseta Central|meseta]]'' – the high central plain of the [[Iberian Peninsula]] – in the [[Spain|Spanish]] provinces of [[Ávila (province)|Ávila]], [[Salamanca (province)|Salamanca]], [[Segovia (province)|Segovia]], [[Zamora (province)|Zamora]], [[Cáceres (province)|Cáceres]], [[Province of Ourense|Ourense]] and the [[Portugal|Portuguese]] provinces of [[Beira Baixa (intermunicipal community)|Beira Baixa]], [[Beiras e Serra da Estrela]], [[Douro (intermunicipal community)|Douro]] and [[Terras de Trás-os-Montes]]. Over 400 ''verracos'' 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]], named for "the Bear", has a verraco which supposedly represents a bear.
Their dates range from the mid-fourth to first centuries BC.
There are some similar [[zoomorphic]] monument markers in lands of Poland from the same period or older.
<ref name="urlWożniak, Zenon (2004). PROBLEM ISTNIENIA CELTYCKIEGO NEMETONU NA ŚLĘŻY (in Polish). Przegląd Archeologiczny, Vol. 52, pp. 131-183">{{cite web |url=https://rcin.org.pl/Content/60072/WA308_79791_PIII149_Problem-istnienia_I.pdf |title=Wożniak, Zenon (2004). PROBLEM ISTNIENIA CELTYCKIEGO NEMETONU NA ŚLĘŻY (in Polish). Przegląd Archeologiczny, Vol. 52, pp. 131–183. }}</ref>

Though they were perhaps not confined to a single usage, the ''verracos'' were an essential part of the landscape of the [[Vettones]], one of the  [[Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula]]. 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 [[Celtiberians|Celtiberian]] communities that Romans had called ''[[oppidum|oppida]].''



==Notable verracos==

===Portugal===
[[File:HeadVerracoMarvao.jpg|thumb|right|Berrão head displayed in the [[Marvão]] Municipal Museum]]
* [[Murça]]
** ''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]] district.<ref>{{cite web |title= Concelho de Murcaport |website= rtsmarao.pt |url= http://www.rtsmarao.pt/concelho_de_murcaport.htm}}</ref>
* [[Torre de Dona Chama]]
** ''Berroa''
* [[Marvão]]
** Head of ''berrão'', with right eye clearly visible, found in the Abegoa area of Marvão. Today in Municipal Museum in Marvão.

===Spain===
====Castile and León====
[[File:mingorria0520.jpg|thumb|right|Verraco in [[Mingorría]], Castile and León, Spain.]]
[[File:VERRACO DE VILLANUEVA DEL CAMPILLO 2.jpg|thumb|Verraco located in the Plaza mayor of [[Villanueva del Campillo]]. It is the [[Vettones]]' largest zoomorphic sculpture found until now in the Iberian Peninsula.]]
[[File:VILLATORO.jpg|thumb|right| Verracos in [[Villatoro]], Castile and León, Spain.]]
===== Province of Ávila =====
* [[Aldea del Rey Niño]]
* [[Arévalo]] (one verraco in the Palacio del general Vicente de Río)
* [[Ávila, Spain|Ávila]] (14 verracos from Tornadizos and three found next to [[Adaja|Adaja River]])
* [[Cardeñosa]] (Castro of [[Las Cogotas]])
* [[Chamartín, Ávila|Chamartín]] (five verracos, the best preserved is the [[Verraco of the Castro de la Mesa de Miranda]])
* [[Martiherrero]] (four verracos)
* [[Mingorría]]
* [[Mirueña de los Infanzones]] (two verracos embedded in a wall of a house)
* [[Narrillos de San Leonardo]], Ávila
* [[El Oso, Ávila|El Oso]] (verraco nicknamed "El oso" (''the bear'') and gives name to the town)
* [[San Miguel de Serrezuela]] (today in ''El Torreón de los Guzmanes'' in the city of Ávila)
* [[Santa María del Arroyo]] ([[Verraco of Santa María del Arroyo]])
* [[Santo Domingo de las Posadas]] (one verraco)
* [[Solosancho]] (two verracos, [[Castro de Ulaca]])
* [[El Tiemblo]] (four verracos, the known "''[[Bulls of Guisando]]''")
* [[Tornadizos de Ávila]] (eight verracos preserved)
* [[La Torre]] (two headless verracos in the atrium of the church and other embedded in a wall)
* [[Villanueva del Campillo]] (two verracos, one of them the largest in Europe)
* [[Villatoro]] (three verracos)
* [[Vicolozano]], Ávila

===== Province of Salamanca =====
[[File:Berraco (Plaza del Castillo, Ciudad Rodrigo).jpg|thumb|right|Verraco in [[Ciudad Rodrigo]], Castile and León, Spain.]]
* [[Ciudad Rodrigo]] (two verracos, one of them from Gallegos de Argañán)
* [[Gallegos de Argañán]] (one today in the Museum of [[Salamanca]] and other in the Casa de la Cultura in [[Ciudad Rodrigo]])
* [[Juzbado]]
* [[Larrodrigo]]
* [[Ledesma, Castile and León|Ledesma]]
* [[Lumbrales]] (two verracos)
* [[Masueco]] (today in the Museum of [[Salamanca]])
* [[Monleón]]
* [[Puente del Congosto]]
* [[La Redonda]] (today in the Museum of [[Salamanca]])
* [[Salamanca]] (the [[Verraco of the bridge, Salamanca|verraco of the bridge]] cited in ''[[El Lazarillo de Tormes]]'' next to the [[Roman bridge of Salamanca|Roman bridge]] and several verracos in the Museum)
* [[San Felices de los Gallegos]]
* [[Santibáñez de Béjar]]
* [[Tabera de Abajo]]
* [[Yecla de Yeltes]] ([[Castro de Yecla la Vieja]], today in the Aula arqueológica)

=====Province of Segovia =====
* [[Segovia]] (two verracos: a bull and a wild boar; today in the Museo Provincial).<ref name="Segovian_sculpture">{{cite book | author= MARTÍN, José Luis| title= The Segovian sculpture| year= 1992| location = Segovia| isbn= 84-606-0909-X| pages= 231–235}}</ref>
* [[Coca, Segovia|Coca]] (three verracos: two in front the City Gate of the Town<ref name="Segovian_sculpture"/> and one embedded in the [[Castle of Coca|castle]]'s walls).

===== Province of Zamora =====
[[File:Villardiegua-Mula.JPG|thumb|right|Mule of [[Villardiegua de la Ribera]], Castile and León, Spain.]]
* [[Muelas del Pan]]
* [[San Vitero]]
* [[Toro, Zamora|Toro]]
* [[Villardiegua de la Ribera]]

==== Castile-La Mancha ====
===== Province of Toledo =====
* [[La Puebla de Montalbán]]. One verraco, found in 2006 and placed in the Museum "La Celestina".<ref>{{Cite web| author= City Council of La Puebla de Montalbán| year= 2010| title= El VII aniversario del Museo 'La Celestina' acercará al público el verraco encontrado en La Puebla| url= http://www.pueblademontalban.com/ayto/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=448&Itemid=62| archive-url= https://archive.today/20120629051619/http://www.pueblademontalban.com/ayto/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=448&Itemid=62| url-status=dead| archive-date= June 29, 2012| access-date= May 26, 2010}}</ref>
* [[Castillo de Bayuela]] Two verracos. Located in the Plaza de San Antonio and in almost perfect condition.
*[[Talavera de la Reina]]. Known as «cabeza del moro» ("the Moor's head") due to it being embedded in a wall, with only the head being visible.
* [[Talavera la Nueva]]
* [[Torralba de Oropesa]]
* [[Torrecilla de la Jara]] (two verracos)

==== Extremadura ====

===== Province of Cáceres =====
* [[Botija, Cáceres|Botija]] ([[Castro de Villasviejas del Tamuja]], "Tamusia")
* [[Guadalupe, Cáceres|Guadalupe]] (Caserío de Mirabel)
* [[Jaraíz de la Vera]]
* [[Madrigalejo]] (currently in the Archaeological Museum of [[Province of Cáceres|Cáceres]])
* [[Segura de Toro]]
* [[Valdelacasa de Tajo]]
* [[Villar del Pedroso]]
* [[Pasarón de la Vera]] It was possibly destroyed in the 19th century, but still forming part of its coat of arms.

==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)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_5/alvarez_sanchis_6_5.html 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'')
*[http://www.fotoaleph.com/Exposiciones/Verracos/Verracos-index1.html#Verracos Photo gallery of ''verracos'']
{{Subject bar |portal1= History |portal2= Portugal |portal3= Spain |commons= y |commons-search= Verracos de piedra}}

{{Pre-Roman peoples in Iberia}}

[[Category:Megalithic monuments]]
[[Category:Archaeology in Europe]]
[[Category:Lists of buildings and structures in Spain]]
[[Category:Ancient history-related lists]]
[[Category:Stone verracos| ]]