Excursion to Neolithic Sites (Dolmens) near Caceres Spain, June 2005

Before migrating to Ireland and then to Britain, Celtic tribes lived in Spain. They left stone slab tombs (Dolmens) as an indication of their culture which existed prior to the Roman Empire. Some Dolmens date back to 4000 BC although the ones seen here may be from later Celtic tribes that were constructed after the original neolithic versions.

On the way to find the stone slab Celtic gravesites, one can see a lot of cacti.

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It looks more like Texas than Texas.

Except the main product of the area (besides cattle) is cork for wine bottles and other uses. The trees are burned to enable the cork to be stripped from the trunk of the tree without killing the tree.

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You can see the cork back of the bark on this tree that has been stripped except for one section left so bark will grow back.

The path to the Celtic Grave Site went through a field where long horn cattle were grazing. An old corral and stock buildings are crumbling, reminding me of scenes for the U.S. Southwest.

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The first sighting of the prehistoric Celtic gravesite

Returning the same path to the car, the longhorn herd is waiting to say goodbye.

For photos of the conference and Caceres: See http://cpanel.ischool.illinois.ed/~weech/Spain/Conf/icte05.htm
For photos of Roman Sites in Merida, Spain, see: http://cpanel.ischool.illinois.ed/~weech/Spain/Merida/Roman.htm
For photos of Evora, Portugal, see: http://cpanel.ischool.illinois.ed/~weech/Spain/Evora/Pics.htm
For photos of Lisbon, see: http://cpanel.ischool.illinois.ed/~weech/Spain/Lisbon/LisPics.htm
To return to Terry Weech' s home page, click on Homepage

Rev. 7/18/05