Estela de la Granja del Toriñuelo
The Estela de la Granja del Toriñuelo is a statue menhir ( Spanish Estàtua-menhir ). It comes from Jerez de los Caballeros in the Dehesa de la Granja, in the province of Badajoz in the Autonomous Community of Extremadura and is now in the Museo Arqueológico Nacional de España in Madrid .
The granite statue menhir, slightly damaged above , was discovered in 1914 by José Ramón Mélida (1856–1933) on the Granja de Toniñuelo farm. Georg Leisner saw him in 1934, and shortly afterwards he was featured in a magazine by Hugo Obermaier . Through the mediation of the Count of Casal, the stele was donated to the National Archaeological Museum.
It is an eye-catching piece in size and detail, the face of which is surrounded by ornaments that are interpreted as tiaras or necklaces, and the waist is surrounded by a belt. Anthropomorphic , iconographic monuments are characteristic of the Bronze Age in the west of the Iberian Peninsula . The stele differs from the statue menhirs in France in that its head was not sculpted, but instead was incised on the otherwise comparable stele, which made the outer halo around its head possible.
Some authors see a relationship with the megalithic monument Dolmen Granja on the same farm whose existence was the reason for Leisner's visit. However, apart from their geographical proximity, there is no evidence of a relationship between the stele and the Tholos tomb . The grave lies in a hill with a diameter of over 70 meters. In the burial chamber one could prove the existence of paintings and carvings, which practically disappeared in their entirety and in which snake and circular motifs could be found.
There are also two dolmens in the municipalities of Valcavado and Palomilla.
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Coordinates: 40 ° 25 ′ 24 ″ N , 3 ° 41 ′ 20 ″ W.