179
Faulo and Puzalo are two chambers near the village of Bigüezal. The first has a
tumulus of 12 m in diameter composed of dry stone, with a small chamber formed
by five orthostats in a rectangular plan (Narvarte Sanz, 2005: 228–230). Puzalo is
very similar to Faulo, with a tumulus of dry stone of 14 m in diameter with a rectangular chamber comprised of four stones (Narvarte Sanz, 2005: 231–232). These
two have an orientation towards the southeast, slightly outside the solar range,
although they could be facing the lunar extremes (see Table 2).
Interestingly, all of these structures present orientations towards the southeast, in
close resemblance to those of Hechicera group. Finally, we should mention the Mas de
Abad dolmen, which is very close to Catalonia and offers another example of a dolmen
with a southern orientation. Thus, the similarity appears throughout the Ebro valley.
If we open the scope of our inspection to regions further to the north, east and
west (there is a clear megalithic void to the south), we find a similar trend again
when we move towards east.
To the west, most dolmens in the Duero plateau, including those closer to the
Portuguese border in Salamanca, appear to present mostly orientations between
nearly due east and winter solstice sunrise. The ones in the northern parts of the
Table 2 Orientation data for the new measurements in several regions
#
Site
φ (°/’)
λ (°/’)
a (°)
h (°)
δ (°)
La Rioja
1
Collado del Mallo
42/18
2/27
85
−0.5
2.9
2
Cerro Palomero I
42/16
2/31
110
2.5
−13.1
3
Peña Guerra I
42/19
2/28
116
9
−12.5
Álava
5
Campas de Oletar
43/3
3/7
122.5
1.75
−22.1
6
Añes
43/3
3/9
113
10
−9.4
7
Alto de las Campas
43/0
3/3
118
1.5
−19.2
8
La Lastra
42/44
2/58
103
4.7
−6.4
Navarra
10
Faulo
42/41
1/9
135
2.4
−29.6
11
Puzalo
42/41
1/9
132
6.5
−24.4
12
Aranzadi
42/56
1/57
125
0
−25.2
13
Arzábal
42/56
1/58
95
0.2
−3.9
14
Aitzibita
42/41
1/54
127
0.5
−26.2
15
Artekosaro
42/49
2/7
96
3
−2.5
16
Charracadia
42/40
1/55
164.75
1.25
−44.3
Huesca
17
Losa Mora
42/18
0/5
110
4.8
−11.4
18
Belsué
42/17
0/23
98
7.9
−0.6
The columns provide the name of the megalithc site, location (latitude and longitude) the orientation of the corridor, altitude of the horizon and declination
Diachrony and the Big Picture: Chabola de la Hechicera, a Peculiar Orientation…
Faulo and Puzalo are two chambers near the village of Bigüezal. The first has a
tumulus of 12 m in diameter composed of dry stone, with a small chamber formed
by five orthostats in a rectangular plan (Narvarte Sanz, 2005: 228–230). Puzalo is
very similar to Faulo, with a tumulus of dry stone of 14 m in diameter with a rectangular chamber comprised of four stones (Narvarte Sanz, 2005: 231–232). These
two have an orientation towards the southeast, slightly outside the solar range,
although they could be facing the lunar extremes (see Table 2).
Interestingly, all of these structures present orientations towards the southeast, in
close resemblance to those of Hechicera group. Finally, we should mention the Mas de
Abad dolmen, which is very close to Catalonia and offers another example of a dolmen
with a southern orientation. Thus, the similarity appears throughout the Ebro valley.
If we open the scope of our inspection to regions further to the north, east and
west (there is a clear megalithic void to the south), we find a similar trend again
when we move towards east.
To the west, most dolmens in the Duero plateau, including those closer to the
Portuguese border in Salamanca, appear to present mostly orientations between
nearly due east and winter solstice sunrise. The ones in the northern parts of the
Table 2 Orientation data for the new measurements in several regions
#
Site
φ (°/’)
λ (°/’)
a (°)
h (°)
δ (°)
La Rioja
1
Collado del Mallo
42/18
2/27
85
−0.5
2.9
2
Cerro Palomero I
42/16
2/31
110
2.5
−13.1
3
Peña Guerra I
42/19
2/28
116
9
−12.5
Álava
5
Campas de Oletar
43/3
3/7
122.5
1.75
−22.1
6
Añes
43/3
3/9
113
10
−9.4
7
Alto de las Campas
43/0
3/3
118
1.5
−19.2
8
La Lastra
42/44
2/58
103
4.7
−6.4
Navarra
10
Faulo
42/41
1/9
135
2.4
−29.6
11
Puzalo
42/41
1/9
132
6.5
−24.4
12
Aranzadi
42/56
1/57
125
0
−25.2
13
Arzábal
42/56
1/58
95
0.2
−3.9
14
Aitzibita
42/41
1/54
127
0.5
−26.2
15
Artekosaro
42/49
2/7
96
3
−2.5
16
Charracadia
42/40
1/55
164.75
1.25
−44.3
Huesca
17
Losa Mora
42/18
0/5
110
4.8
−11.4
18
Belsué
42/17
0/23
98
7.9
−0.6
The columns provide the name of the megalithc site, location (latitude and longitude) the orientation of the corridor, altitude of the horizon and declination
Diachrony and the Big Picture: Chabola de la Hechicera, a Peculiar Orientation…