Moura Stone

In traditional Galician rural society the builders of the dolmens were mythical beings called Mouros, who kept treasures protected by enchantments and spells. For this reason, it is common to find toponyms such as Casa dos Mouros, Pedra dos Mouros or Pedra Moura.

Pedra Moura has the megalithic structure intact with its passage dolmen partially covered by an earthen tumulus in a relatively good state. This tumulus or mámoa also had a stone shell covering it which was partly altered in 1989.

Remains of prehistoric painting in red and black on a white plaster coating are preserved on at least 5 of the stones in the chamber and passage. Pigments are in quite poor conservation and the motifs are practically unidentifiable. Nevertheless, samples were successfully extracted in order to identify the composition. The black paint, seemingly of an organic origin, was used to determine dating via C14 processes.

Similar samples of black paint were collected by Fernando Carrera at the close of the 90s at Pedra Cuberta, Pedra de Lebre, Dombate, and others. In general, the results were quite homogeneous and in the case of  Pedra Moura a date between 3960 and 3640 BCE was given. This would seem to confirm that a good portion of the passage dolmens must have been constructed from the beginning of the 4th century BCE onward.

Furthermore, in recent years some extraordinary discoveries have been made in Galicia. One of these involved verifying that some of the capstones of dolmens such as Pedra Moura, Arca da Piosa, Pedra da Arca, and Dombate possess an anthropological form.