Estadilla - Las Valetas

Estadilla is a village at the foot of the Sierra de Carrodilla in the region Somontano de Barbastro. Estadilla is easily reached from the main road between Barbastro and Graus (N123). Arriving in Estadilla turn left into the road opposite the gas station (Calle San Lorenzo). At the end of this street straight-on into the Calle la Balsa (which was gravel at our latest visit). At the end, turn right into the Calle Llenado. Straigth-on until you reach a wider space in front of a large agricultural warehouse. Drop your vehicle. You are now on the Camino de Calasanz.

Pictures: 3.i.2015 & 12.x.2019

The first stone:
Situated at WGS84: 42.053917 / 0.257037
Pictures 31.i.2015

Walk the Camino de Calasanz. Two sharp bends will bring you up to the plateau. After about 900m you'll reach a ruin at the right side of the track. Continue until the track turns to the right (about 1100m). Now leave the road and walk the slope down until you find the ridge with the first stone (1).

The second stone:
Situated at WGS84: 42.051601 / 0.264739
Pictures 12.x.2019

After 1100m, keep to the road and walk another 200m. A path starts just before a bend to the left (blue line in 2). A cairn may be present. Follow the path to the top of the ridge (upper right in 2) and to where the path turns sharply to the left. From here walk to the right and follow the ridge until you find the stone.

(1) Overview of Las Valetas site with Estadilla in the back; circle gives location of the first stone.

(2) Overview of Las Valetas with the second stone (circle); blue line indicates start of the path.

(3) One stone in statu nascendi (l) and one already removed (r).

At the first site actually two (prints of) stones (3) can be found next to each other. As a quick search of the wider surroundings produced some stones which were clearly the result of an extraction process (7) probably more stones were extracted from this site or places nearby.

The stone of which the extraction is about half way (4, 5) is 65cm thick and has a diameter of 160cm. The ∅ is the normal size for crusher stones in oil mills of the region (f.e. Banastón). The stone is rather thick however and — since there is a horizontal slit (6) — the plan may have been to cut the stone in two thinner slices.

(5) Also notice the engraved circle as a guide for the extraction.

(8) Extraction on a ridge high above the road (visible top left).

The second stone is situated on a ridge high above the gravel road (8) between Estadilla and Calasanz. I cannot imagine how people at the time thought to carry the stone down to the village.

This stone (8 - 10) has a diameter of 165cm and is 55cm thick. Though these dimensions could pass for a crusher stone, I am not sure that this was the intention. A crusher stone has no need for vertical gutters on its side (9, 10).

Estadilla - Las Valetas

The first site

The second site