Megaliths and stelae in the inner basin of Tagus river: Santiago de Alcántara, Alconétar and Cañamero (Cáceres, Spain)

Abstract

Several projects on the megalithic sites in the basin of the river Tagus contribute evidences on the close relation between stelae with engraved weapons and chronologically advanced megalithic graves. The importance of human images in the development of Iberian megalithic art supports an evolution of these contents toward pieces with engraved weapons which dating back to the 3rd millennium cal BC. From the analysis of the evidences reported by the whole geographical sector, this paper is also aimed at determining if the graphic resources used in these stelae express any kind of identity. Visible stelae in barrows and chambers from the 3rd millennium cal BC would be the images around which sepulchral areas were progressively added, thus constituting true ancestral references throughout the Bronze Age.