Ulaca's Iron Age Shrine

Ulaca, Amblés valley (Avila Spain), is an Iron Age oppidum with an extension of 70 ha and 3 km wall. It's one of the largest fortified settlement in the Iberian Penninsula having its heyday between the III B.C and 50 A.D The most prominent monuments within the oppidum are the sauna and "the sacrifice altar". A rectangular shape rock, 16x8 m, with a double stair and a system of intercommunicated concavities. The function of this structure has been deduced from latin inscriptions of the Panoias Altar (Vila Real, Portugal) wich testify the sacrifice of animals. The altar is aligned with the surroundig picks like Risco del Sol, coinciding the slope of the exterior stairs with the winter solstice. Pérez Gutiérrez, M. 2009. Astronomía y Geometría en la Vettonia. Complutum 20(2): 141-164. Álvarez-Sanchis, J. Marín, C. Falquina, A. Ruiz-Zapatero, G. 2008. El oppidum vettón de Ulaca (Solosancho, Ávila) y su necrópolis. En Arqueología Vettona en la Meseta Ociidental en la Edad del Hierro. Zona Arqueológica 12: 338-361