The Cairns of de Castiñeiras

About this heritage

The history of Bueu extends over a millennium, as evidenced by the cairns and petroglyphs scattered throughout this municipality, in the middle of the Atlantic route of the Cassiterides. Although there are no documented Mediterranean remains, it is difficult to think that the Phoenician navigators sailed on by.

To learn more

Among these ancient remains treasured by Bueu are the cairns of Castiñeiras, which are buried in a business park, and the Forno das Arcas cairn in Cela. These prehistoric tombs, so characteristic of the megalithic era in Galicia, are piles of earth and stones which conceal an interior dolmen.

Castiñeiras also features the Abelaires petroglyph, a set of 4,000-year-old cave engravings that bore witness to the Phoenicians’ travels through Galicia. The designs depicted in the Castiñeiras petroglyph; pots, circles and labyrinths, are frequent designs in other sites of Galicia.

Ancient fortifications are scattered throughout Bueu: Ons, Castrillón (Meiro), Bon (Beluso) and A Cividade, all belonging to the Bronze Age; and other subsequent fortifications, such as those in Pescadoira and Meiro.

To know it better

The prehistoric refuge of Chan de Castiñeiras, located in Bueu, is one of the most important cairns and dolmen grounds in Galicia. They are adjacent to the Cotorredondo park and Castiñeiras lake, between the towns of Vilaboa and Marín (Pontevedra).

The dolmens, typical of the final Neolithic era, were a type of funerary monument, i.e., where the deceased from the neighbouring villages were buried. Along the same lines, the cairns were sepulchres formed by a dolmen covered with a pile of earth which, anciently, were used to identify and cover the tomb.

The “Mámoa do Rei” (do Rei Cairn) was discovered, thanks to different investigations. This cairn, was built around the year 3,000 B.C., is approximately 25 metres in diameter, and implies it being one of the most important cairns in Galicia.