Botija and walk to Villaviejas, a Celtic -Iberian archaeological site

Coming back from Trujillo we took a route near La Cumbre. There is a road with an extensive project to provide nest boxes on every telephone post, many of them were occupied by the beautiful European Roller, my first sighting of this bird, astounded by the gorgeous plumage.
Arriving in Botija we wanted to do a new walk, a continuation  from the mill buildings on the River Tamuja, along the river bank to Villaviejas, the remains of a Celtic Iberian village of the Vettone tribe, circa 200 -50 B.C.
Before the walk we strolled around the village, on first sight nothing special but there were many points of interest.

The Church of Santa Maria Magalena is a simple rustic structure from the XV1 century but it has charm and gives some great  perspectives from the surrounding olive groves.

The village is built from the surrounding stone, slate. On the more humble buildings it is left exposed, unplastered. The wonderful craftmanship of laying the stone is exposed, intricate and fascinating.

Paths between slate walls lead out of the village into the surrounding olive groves and pastures. On the edge of the village is a fascinating ruin, an old fabrica de aceites, not sure if this means an almazara, olive oil mill or not, needs further investigation. A little world of its own, behind the 3 metre surrounding walls were a courtyard, lots of barns and a secret garden.

The walk to the molinos is one of our favourites and is described here.

http://finca-al-manzil.blogspot.com.es/search?q=a+walk+through+the+dehesa

http://finca-al-manzil.blogspot.com.es/2016/05/another-walk-to-botija-molinos.html

Today we started off on new territory beyond the molinos on the path to Villaviejas.

We walked for 25 minutes on a footpath which wound along the meandering Tamuja sometimes leaving the riverbank where the rocks were too steep.

It is not really obvious when arriving at the site of Villaviejas, it is on a bend of the river, on the opposite bank and relatively high above a natural slate embankment, a good defensive position.

It is easy to cross the river at this time of the year, plenty of exposed rocks to use as stepping stones.

The Vettones were a pre-roman Celtic Iberic tribe covering an area between Salamanca, Alcantara and Toledo with Villaviejas being the most southerly settlement. They were active for about 400 years before the Romans  gradually making more established and populous settlements. With the coming of the romans the remote rural settlements survived for a time but were gradually absorbed into the roman organization of their new colony Lusitania with Merida as the capital.
For very detailed and interesting information about the Vettones  and their mode of life, read on here-

https://www4.uwm.edu/celtic/ekeltoi/volumes/vol6/6_5/alvarez_sanchis_6_5.html

A WALK THROUGH THE DEHESA TO VISIT BOTIJA MOLINO ON THE TAMUJA RIVER

Botija is a small village buried in the deep peace of the Extremadura countryside. It is surrounded by dehesa, rich grazing land for Iberic pigs, cows and sheep.
We walked along an ancient path to an 18th century mill complex recently restored.
There has been no rain for weeks so the Tamuja river was very dry, just some isolated stretches of water, no water running through the mill but we will return after some rain to see the dramatic rocks surrounding the mill forming a cascade as the water falls from the millpond back to the course of the river.

Manfred went ahead to deal with these cows, they went running off but those horns looked rather alarming.
On the way back we crossed an ancient stone bridge only just wide enough for a small cart.

Lots of pigs in the woods devouring the acorns, enjoying the sun and taking a wallow in mud pools. Delightful life until the day of the matanza and transformation into wonderful jamon .

THE LÁCARA DOLMEN

Just a short journey from Finca al-manzil in the direction of Merida is the dolmen of Lácara, one of the most complete Neolithic dolmens in Europe.

It dates from 3000 -4000 years B.C. between the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods. There is a charming walk through the typical dehesa strewn with huge granite boulders, the landscape has changed very little over the millenniums. Agriculture was already well organized during the Neolithic period; the primal forest had been cut down leaving only the holm oaks scattered across vast areas of pasture for cattle and sheep, pigs fattened on the holm oak acorns. The land was used in a sustainable manner, prunings from the holm oaks used for making charcoal; trees, pasture and animals working in a cycle which is still in action today over vast areas of Extremadura.  The organization of efficient farming allowed a surplus with which to sustain a larger population, more energy, more manpower to construct the dolmens so typical of this period; territorial status symbols of power and wealth, places dedicated to sacred rites.

It took enormous effort and much time to construct a dolmen the size of Lácara. The natural granite boulders had to be split through their natural fissures with wooden wedges and stone maces, then dragged with ropes on huge sledges with wooden rollers to the place of construction, probably 50 -100 people needed to move each stone.  The larger stone slabs were placed upright to form the walls of the funeral chamber which is a rough octagonal of about 5 metres diameter. Other slabs used horizontally for the roof of chamber and 9 metre corridor. The whole construction covers an area of 28 metres x 35 metres including the outer ring of upright stones. When it was finished it was covered in layers of pebbles from the nearby stream and earth to create a huge artificial mound of 7 metres, hiding the inner construction, just the entrance to the vestibule left open.

It was a communal burial chamber used over successive generations for at least 1000 years. The dead were entombed in a foetal position surrounded by some personal possessions such as necklaces, axes, knives and amulets for protection on the journey to the next life.

This amazing dolmen has survived almost intact despite the ravages of time. It is exposed to the light of day now, we can see the bare bones of the construction, walking along the 9 metres of low, covered corridor gives just a little frisson, just an echo of what the dolmen was like when it was buried 7 metres under the ground, just flickering fire to light the way into the burial chamber, a cold dark place full of cadavers.