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Stone marking a sel

AnonymousXVII-XVIII centuries

Gordailua, the Gipuzkoa Heritage Collection Centre

Gordailua, the Gipuzkoa Heritage Collection Centre
Irun, Spain

This is a prism-shaped limestone rock, carved on one face (letters) and on the top (lightning bolts). It has been split along the bottom and removed from the buried section, which has yet to be located. This stone would have marked the centre of the plot; the outer limits also had markers.

Seles or sarobes were circular plots of land, formerly marked out for grazing livestock. Eight radial lines were marked out from a central stone, each ending in its own boundary marker. The size of the plot was regulated by local law in Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa. Summer and winter sels were of different size, because the land was used on a seasonal basis. Although farmhouses were built on many sels, most retained their original shape and size.

This stone was found by J. Salbarredi in 2008 in the municipal area of Elduain (Gipuzkoa), on the Argarate pass. In September 2014, it was recovered by the Provincial Government of Gipuzkoa's Directorate-General for Hill Land and the Natural Environment and brought to Gordailua.

Bibliography:

Zaldua Etxabe, Luis Mari. Saroiak eta kortak : mendialdeko antzinako gizartearen oinordeak. Urnieta : [s.n.], 2006. 217

Zaldua Etxabe, Luis Mari. Saroeak Urnietan : saroeen inguruko ikerketak zertan diren Euskal Herrian = Seles en Urnieta : "status quaestionis" de las investigaciones en torno a los seles en Euskal Herria = Stone octogons in Urnieta... Urnieta : Kulturnieta, 1996. 123

Moraza Barea, Alfredo. 600 aniversario de la mancomunidad de Enirio-Aralar (1409-2009). Ordizia: Mancomunidad de Enirio-Aralar, 2010. 174

Moraza Barea, Alfredo. Enirio-Aralarko Mankomunitatearen 600. urteurrena : (1409-2009). Ordizia: Enirio-Aralar Mankomunitatea, 2010. 174

http://saroiak.net/biblio.php
http://www.leitzaran.net/seles/argarate-garaikoa.htm

Inventory number: GFA-042071-001

Details

  • Title: Stone marking a sel
  • Creator: Anonymous
  • Date: XVII-XVIII centuries
  • Physical Dimensions: 47x20,5x20,5 cm
  • Provenance: Elduain (Gipuzkoa)
  • Type: Delimitation of lands
  • Medium: Stone

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