The giant disk-shaped stele of Barros

The Barros stele is a giant disk-shaped Cantabrian stele dating back to the 4th century BC, found in Barros, a town in the municipality of Los Corrales de Buelna, Cantabria. Declared a site of cultural interest in 1985, it is also known by the popular names "rueda de Santa Catalina" and "rueda de la Virgen." It is believed to have marked the grave of a warrior from the late Bronze Age or early Iron Age before being moved from its original location. It measures 1.66 meters in diameter by 0.40 meters in thickness, situated on a base that is 1 meter high and 0.80 meters wide.

While it is the most famous disk-shaped stele in Cantabria, it is not the largest; the counter-arch of the hermitage of the Virgen de la Rueda is part of another large stele with a diameter of 1.90 meters. Other pre-Roman, Roman, and medieval giant stelae are preserved in the same town. The Barros stele is carved in natural sandstone with a stone quality index of 65% and contains 14 internal fissures. Its exterior surface is in good condition.

The decorative motifs, related to the cult of the Sun, consist of a peripheral frieze of isosceles triangles and a series of concentric circles carved in low relief on both faces. Four grooves also run along the edge of the stele.

In 1946, the provincial council ordered the stele to be taken to the Museum of Prehistory and Archaeology of Cantabria in Santander, which excited the town and led to a formal request for its return. The stele returned to Barros a year later and is now located in the Parque de las Estelas de Barros, opened in 2001 next to the N-611 highway. It can be visited for free alongside a second Barros stele, both of which were removed from the adjacent hermitage.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons