THE UISPP JOURNAL

Luis Berrocal-Rangel, Lucía Ruano Posada, Gregorio R. Manglano, Pablo Sánchez de Oro – QUARRYING TOOLS AND STONEMASONS IN CELTIC IBERIA (WESTERN SPAIN): A SKILLED CRAFT WITH ETHNIC SIGNIFICANCE?

This paper examines the carving and production of verracos, granite sculptures of bulls and male boars found throughout Castile, León, and eastern Portugal on the western Iberian plateau. Probably created during the Late Iron Age and Roman periods, these sculptures are rarely found in stratified contexts, leaving their chronology, function, and meaning open to debate. To address these uncertainties, the study applies approaches from landscape archaeology combined with microwear and geochemical analyses to reconstruct their chaîne opératoire. The results suggest the involvement of itinerant craftsmen who carved figures directly in quarried blocks or bedrock, as well as the existence of organized workshops or ‘factories’, where sculptures were shaped through standardized procedures during later production phases.

Reference as:

Berrocal-Rangel L, Ruano Posada L, Manglano GR, Sánchez de Oro P. 2025. Quarrying tools and stonemasons in Celtic Iberia (Western Spain): a skilled craft with ethnic significance? UISPP Journal 7, 102–124. https://doi.org/10.62526/17E29S

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