Have I mentioned the Camino de Santiago?

I know the answer… “yes, now please move on…”

So, how about a surprise encounter with some large(ish) standing stones in a field on the outskirts of Atapuerca, Northern Spain.

Not an ancient ‘henge ’, Gorsedd Circle or actual prehistoric ritual worship site.

But something that could trace it’s origins whaaayyy back to the previous Saturday, literally, 12th September 2026. That’s when the latest standing stone was erected.

How in the name of Piltdown Man did I manage to miss that and arrive 5 days too late?

Atapuerca, there was a lot going on.

To be honest, I almost trudged past the standing stones at Atapuerca.

It should have been the natural end of an 18km day of Camino walking, we were tired. However, ‘someone’ had managed to book accommodation in the village 2.5km further on at Olmos de Atapuerca, there was more to do.

My joyful detour to run around the stones, looking for one to hug, was looked upon with a degree of disdain. And with some curiosity by two Dutch Peregrinos alongside at the time. They however pretty much ignored the stones and cheerfully headed for their (close by) accommodation in Atapuerca.

The result was a less than satisfactory time spent with the stones and some below par photographs.

But, enough of a seed was planted, and to be honest, I can’t shake off what I saw in that sun baked field outside of Atapuerca.

Thank you ChatGPT

That evening I spent some time translating the inscriptions from stones I’d managed to photograph.

This one captures the essence of what was going on, people using rollers and ropes to raise a large stone. The inscription:

“Esta piedra de 5000 K se levantó al modo que las prehistóricas gentes del lugar el 18 de agosto de 1998 en homenaje a los primeros habitantes de la Sierra de Atapuerca.”

“A 5,000 kg stone, raised in 1998 using methods associated with the prehistoric people of that place, in homage to the earliest inhabitants of the Sierra de Atapuerca.”

That inscription pushed all of my buttons…

Less prehistoric monument, More indestructible bridge.

The stones at Atapuerca are very much a modern creation, deliberately connecting people from today with their ancestors, and descendants.

The latest one is a memorial to Don Miguel de la Quadra-Salcedo, on the 10th anniversary of his death and commemorating the first stone raising in Atapuerca.

There’s a specific part of the memorial that grabs my attention;

“como puente indestructible entre el pasado remoto y el futuro de nuestra tierra.”

“an indestructible bridge between the remote past and the future of our land.”

When I mentioned my ‘buttons’, this is what I’m talking about;

-A modern community deliberately connecting itself with prehistoric people,

⁃ People working together recreating the act of raising a large stone using historic techniques,

⁃ A monument created as a connection; an indestructible bridge, puente indestructible, pont anorchfygol..

It immediately got me thinking about what might be possible…

Can raising a standing stone connect contemporary people with their ancestors and simultaneously future generations?

But…..but we do that already.

This isn’t something we’ve forgotten about in Wales. I mentioned Gorsedd Circles earlier and there’s also the Caerwedros Talking Stone in Pembrokeshire.

But, could we do more?

Especially as the act of raising a stone is a spontaneous community effort. Using techniques that require lots of people to get involved.

If communities once chose to raise standing stones, what’s stopping us doing it now?

The question that has followed me home

So, I’ve come home from the Camino with an idea (rather than a plan).

Could a community in Wales do something similar?

Not a replica of Atapuerca. Not a monument designed by somebody else and installed for local people to admire.

A stone chosen, moved and raised by a community because that community wants to do it.

What would happen if a community decided to raise a stone of its own, in its own place, for its own future?

No What’s the PONT, today

(but an indestructible bridge… maybe.)

PS. I hope to shortly publish a Part 2 of this blog, Why do human beings raise stones? And a Part 3, Is it our ‘calling’ to raise (big) stones?