Hiking through the Pozuelo Dolmens

A trip to the third millennium BC

The Pozuelo Dolmens are located in the municipality of Zalamea la Real (Huelva), in the Mining Basin of the Río Tinto. To date, a total of 49 megalithic sites have been found in Zalamea, which are grouped into two large areas, the western one, which can be called the El Villar – El Buitrón dolmen culture, and the eastern area occupied by the El Pozuelo dolmens. We can find five types of monuments:

1. Small gallery dolmens in which there is no differentiation between the corridor and the single chamber that it consists of.
2. Gallery and single-chamber dolmens equipped with a central support for the cover stones.
3. Gallery dolmens in which other lateral chambers have been added to the initial chamber.
4. False dome tombs built with vertical orthostats both in the corridor and in the chamber.
5. Orthohedral cist built with large slabs.

This set of megalithic monuments (constructions of large stones) is part of a large group of burials of the same type that extend throughout western Europe between 2,500 and 1,900 BC. There is a great abundance of them in the southwest of the peninsula (Algarve and Lower Alentejo in Portugal, province of Huelva and part of Extremadura). The case of Huelva is one of the most interesting, as it presents one of the highest concentrations of megalithic tombs on its surface. These monuments are funerary constructions for collective burials, in which the deceased were buried and certain rituals were offered to them. One of the most abundant is the dolmen (construction in the form of a large table with a horizontal slab supported by two other vertical ones -orthostats-, forming a large lintel), which was later covered with a mound of stones and earth. According to various authors, it also had the purpose of marking the territory [Raised to be viewed]; they probably also served as a social cohesion, since the ties with the group extended beyond death, through burial in the same dolmen or in a nearby one in the same necropolis.

In El Pozuelo there is an interesting set of sixteen dolmens, forming a necropolis, next to the town of Chinflón, from the same period. They can be included among those of the corridor and chamber typology, although among them there are various types: from a simple corridor and chamber, to those with multiple chambers, very original due to their complexity. As for their dimensions, it is worth noting the enormous variety of them, together with the common characteristic of their low height. Local materials were used in their construction (slate, porphyry slabs, flagstones…), but their movement would require a certain social organization.

The burials carried out in El Pozuelo were multiple, both in the chambers and in the corridor, and the existence of a grave goods is characteristic. This was composed of both elements of personal and daily use (necklace beads, arrowheads or halberds, knives carved in stone, pieces of pottery…), as well as other ceremonial elements, such as idols, very abundant, among which the anthropomorphs and the staff stand out, made of slate from the area.

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List, description and guide to visit the megalithic sites:

The Dolmens Found in Pozuelo are 18, although not all of them can be visited, either due to their condition or the difficulty of access. We will give information about the first nine Dolmens that are included in this route:

Dolmen No. 1:

It is known by the name of “the Moors’ hut”; it is a dolmen with two parallel chambers that possibly led to a common corridor that has disappeared. The orientation of its chambers is northwest-southeast. It preserves one of the cover stones.

Its ring has the peculiarity of being built in one of its parts by a masonry wall of approximately one meter in height. The approximate diameter of the peristaltic ring is about 20 meters, not being completely circular since it follows the orography of the terrain on which it sits.

Dolmen No. 2:

Gallery dolmen consisting of a main chamber with a side chamber facing south and accessed from the first chamber. In the centre of this there was a well dug in the rock by fugitives during the civil war. It is surrounded by a peristaltic ring of about 14 metres in diameter. The main chamber is oriented east-west.

Dolmen No. 3:

Gallery dolmen very similar to number 1, formed by two parallel chambers that lead to a single corridor facing southeast-northwest. It preserves one of the stones of the cover. The peristaltic ring is approximately 14 metres in diameter, circular in shape.

Dolmen No. 4:

Large gallery dolmen, known as “Tholo”, formed by a single chamber with a central support and antechamber. The large size of the chamber forced the use of central stones to support the cover. Ellipsoidal plan, larger than the other constructions. Its orientation is southeast-northwest. The peristaltic ring is approximately 14 metres in diameter.

Dolmen No. 5:

Gallery dolmen composed of four chambers, two of which lead into a common corridor and the other two into the southern chamber. Its peristaltic ring can only be seen in some of its parts. It is a very irregular group; as a curiosity, there are some very well-carved elliptical stone columns at the entrance to the central chambers. The corridor and the entrance are oriented towards the east.

Dolmen No. 6:

Gallery dolmen with four chambers with a very irregular layout in which two main chambers can be seen that lead into a common corridor and to which two other adjoining chambers have been added. It preserves its peristaltic ring delimiting the tumulus and at the entrance there is a stone that is higher than the others, which would indicate the position of the access door.

Dolmen No. 7:

This is the most emblematic dolmen of the complex, both for its originality in the clover-shaped layout and for being the most visited. A gallery dolmen with two adjoining chambers. Its tumulus has a diameter of approximately 14 metres. The orientation of the monument is east-west. Its pool could be used for the burial of a prominent person or for carrying out cremations inside the dolmen.

Dolmen No. 8:

A small single-chamber gallery dolmen. Currently only the orthostats moved from their original place are preserved. The tumulus and the ring are practically unrecognisable. It had a vertical stone that marked the access door. The orientation of its chamber was east-west.

Dolmen No. 9:

A small single-chamber gallery dolmen, very similar to the previous one. Orientated east-west, it has the peculiarity that the north wall has been carved into the same natural rock. Its low height forced one to enter squatting.

Chiflón Mine:

Mine worked in prehistoric times. The excavations carried out in its surroundings have uncovered a temporary mining camp from the Late Bronze Age. All indications point to the fact that work was already carried out in the Chalcolithic, although no remains have been found to corroborate this. The mine consists of a series of shafts, of which 5 are from the prehistoric period, 1 from the Roman period and 1 from the modern period.

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