by Heraclius Astudillo Pombo, MACS, UDL.
Introduction the popular use of fossil fuels, as a rare type of architectural ornamentation.
Among the fossils that were characteristic of certain places, especially those whose appearance could be more attractive to the eye, and relatively plentiful, may have been considered, by local people as objects to give them good use various aesthetic purposes, as were elements of a territory representative and expressive or symbolic of a particular regional identity. Also, when this type of fossil, appearing in relief or fully detached from its parent in communal spaces, quite close to the population and is easily accessible, may have been perceived as a very interesting natural resource, being free and easily collectable, so that in the light of the cases presented here show, sometimes, their extraction must take place in astronomical amounts .
existing stone fountain in the town of Monsagro (Salamanca), built with granite in 1925 and restored "paleontologist" with a Cruziana added in 1989. Monsagro is a municipality located in the Parque Natural de Las Batuecas, where slates abound Paleozoic quartzite showing some curious figures in relief that are actually molds activity marks (double rows) left 430 million years ago by marine invertebrates generally trilobites.
Image: EFE / Carlos García http://www.diarioinformacion.com/servicios/lupa/lupa.jsp?pIdFoto=3718719&pRef=2009070500_30_906507__Ciencia-Fosiles-especiales-cuando-parque-Batuecas
The criteria that should be taken into account by the craftsmen for the election of certain types of fossils, as elements "natural" that adorn the various types of architectural structures such as buildings and attached elements appear to have been relatively diverse and can be deducted, from patterns that show the buildings decorated some English cities.
In some cases, it seems that we have opted for fossils as an architectural element because it is a material that always and everywhere, is rare and curious, because it is a stone material source "mysterious" and be the places where they lie in abundance, distribution, quite rare.
Construction details of access to the front door of "The Fossil Shack," Vault (Spain), one of the two boxes and flooring, internal molds made from several species of bivalves, gastropods, echinoids and corals, Cretaceous.
Image: Photo taken from photographic Santidrián by Ernesto on his visit to the site.
http://s213.photobucket.com/albums/cc109/ErnestoFoto/fotosPaleo2/fotosPaleo2/P7230026.jpg
singulator effect that was intended to achieve, in a building owned by the use certain fossil applied in a certain way decorative, has tried to reach distinatas following strategies and in terms of aesthetic taste of the decorator and morphology of the fossils available locally.
English Case, known by the author.
After searching patiently in a large number of sources of information and consultation, exhaustively, the contents of a variety of documents, we have discovered a number of cases, although numbers are very few, are sufficient, as shown, a cultural event, then show the existence of this architectural phenomenon and serve as indicative of a more than likely, larger social and wider geographical spread of this rare ornamental procedure, it is assumed that the phenomenon has an extension that should be much greater than the result of this work may appear. Moreover, the submitted sample, it also serves to give us an idea of \u200b\u200btheir low incidence or intensity locally, except in the case of the population of Monsagro Salamanca, where the density of buildings ornamented with paleontological has become very high .
Sources:
- Blanch Marín, Ernesto, the city of Morella (Castellón), personal communication 22, 27 and July 28, 2009
- Bespin Serrano, José Manuel. The Voice of Alcaine, Alcaine (Teruel). Personal communication 17 and October 24, 2009
- Garcia, Carlos 2009 & Fossils EFE special when the park was The Batuecas Tues Journal Information. is. Sunday, 05 July 2009.
http://www.diarioinformacion.com/ciencia/2009/07/05/ciencia-fosiles-especiales-parque-batuecas/906507.html
- Gasulla, Jose Miguel, a paleontologist at Morella (Castellón), personal communication of June 19, 2009
- Gil Montes, Juan (Jugimo), geologist and historian of Extremadura. Personal communication of April 26, 2009
- Gutiérrez Marco, JC, Gutierrez del Arroyo Radish, I. San José Lancha, M. Á. & Pieren Pidal, A. P. Una aproximación a las entrañas ibéricas. Excursión geológica al Parque Nacional de Cabañeros
- Jiménez Chicote, Juanma. “El presente en Las Hurdes” publicado el 27 de octubre del 2008, en el blog: Viajando, viajando...¿donde llegaré? http://jmduende.spaces.live.com/blog/
- Santidrián Cas, Ernesto, " Visita a la Cabaña de los fósiles" , en la web Ernesto y la paleontología http://www.telefonica.net/web2/paleontologiaernesto/Curiosidades/CosasCuriosas/CabanaFosiles.html
- Serrano Dolader, Alberto, periodista and writer of Caspe (Zaragoza) personal communication of January 20, 2010.
Introduction the popular use of fossil fuels, as a rare type of architectural ornamentation.
Among the fossils that were characteristic of certain places, especially those whose appearance could be more attractive to the eye, and relatively plentiful, may have been considered, by local people as objects to give them good use various aesthetic purposes, as were elements of a territory representative and expressive or symbolic of a particular regional identity. Also, when this type of fossil, appearing in relief or fully detached from its parent in communal spaces, quite close to the population and is easily accessible, may have been perceived as a very interesting natural resource, being free and easily collectable, so that in the light of the cases presented here show, sometimes, their extraction must take place in astronomical amounts .
fossils of any kind, have always been a rare geological material, which the human imagination and creativity has sought since ancient times, various practical uses, among which include the, in theory, purely ornamental because sometimes confirmed their apotropaic function and sometimes not be completely ruled out. In this paper, we report on, a variety of decorative use of fossils, as we will present several cases of using fossils as decorative elements, used for the beautification of some types of architectural structures.
existing stone fountain in the town of Monsagro (Salamanca), built with granite in 1925 and restored "paleontologist" with a Cruziana added in 1989. Monsagro is a municipality located in the Parque Natural de Las Batuecas, where slates abound Paleozoic quartzite showing some curious figures in relief that are actually molds activity marks (double rows) left 430 million years ago by marine invertebrates generally trilobites. Image: EFE / Carlos García http://www.diarioinformacion.com/servicios/lupa/lupa.jsp?pIdFoto=3718719&pRef=2009070500_30_906507__Ciencia-Fosiles-especiales-cuando-parque-Batuecas
The criteria that should be taken into account by the craftsmen for the election of certain types of fossils, as elements "natural" that adorn the various types of architectural structures such as buildings and attached elements appear to have been relatively diverse and can be deducted, from patterns that show the buildings decorated some English cities.
In some cases, it seems that we have opted for fossils as an architectural element because it is a material that always and everywhere, is rare and curious, because it is a stone material source "mysterious" and be the places where they lie in abundance, distribution, quite rare.
At other times, it seems that the choice of fossil, is based on the formal beauty of their appearance, due to the good state of preservation of shapes and patterns or, rather, in his striking resemblance with living creatures had been "petrified". More rarely, on a few occasions, the choice of decorative fossils, seems to have based on its high symbolic value, as they relate to certain realities of the local geological past or symbolic meaning, since they express some kind of traditional link the population with universal myths or certain local etiological legends.
Construction details of access to the front door of "The Fossil Shack," Vault (Spain), one of the two boxes and flooring, internal molds made from several species of bivalves, gastropods, echinoids and corals, Cretaceous. Image: Photo taken from photographic Santidrián by Ernesto on his visit to the site.
http://s213.photobucket.com/albums/cc109/ErnestoFoto/fotosPaleo2/fotosPaleo2/P7230026.jpg
singulator effect that was intended to achieve, in a building owned by the use certain fossil applied in a certain way decorative, has tried to reach distinatas following strategies and in terms of aesthetic taste of the decorator and morphology of the fossils available locally.
In some cases is expected to achieve a visual impact by displaying a single copy, well preserved and of good size, or a few fossils of similar characteristics that have been placed strategically in a construction site that is preeminent and that has good visibility. At other times, seems to have tried to get a visual effect much more powerful and personalized by congestion or crowding, since it has been used a great quantity of fish, usually small in size and often in a poor condition with that certain compositions have been performed very little effect plastic forming different shapes that are sometimes purely geometric or abstract forms, and others, are being curious figures represent very schematically, the form of certain man-made objects or living things.
English Case, known by the author.
After searching patiently in a large number of sources of information and consultation, exhaustively, the contents of a variety of documents, we have discovered a number of cases, although numbers are very few, are sufficient, as shown, a cultural event, then show the existence of this architectural phenomenon and serve as indicative of a more than likely, larger social and wider geographical spread of this rare ornamental procedure, it is assumed that the phenomenon has an extension that should be much greater than the result of this work may appear. Moreover, the submitted sample, it also serves to give us an idea of \u200b\u200btheir low incidence or intensity locally, except in the case of the population of Monsagro Salamanca, where the density of buildings ornamented with paleontological has become very high .
warn the reader or reading some of the cases is shown here, are not new, since they have already been exposed Earlier in this same blog, when we discussed some "elements built" topographic environment have led to successful examples of English place names paleontological motivation.
The various cases of English buildings, ornamented with paleontological have been located and collected, are sorted alphabetically, by locality.
- Alcaine (Teruel), the "House of the fossils" or "Casa del Quinto Centenario." The main facade, in the area of \u200b\u200bthe ground floor of the building, then "decorated" with a series of very simple figures, prepared with different types of shells marine fossils from the Jurassic and Cretaceous, of which are in abundance at the end of the town of Teruel. On the wall the author shows some elementary and naive allegories concerning the discovery of America. The mural was made in 1992 by its owner and resident Christopher Morales, to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the discovery and Hispanization of America. We have reported how particular architectural ornamentation, may soon disappear as a result of redevelopment planned.
curious aspect of paleontology in the wall decoration of a house of Alcaine, ornamentation also be a kind of sampling of the fossil shells of marine invertebrates Jurassic and Cretaceous, more abundant at the end of the town.
Image: original photography by José Manuel Bespin, on loan courtesy of the author.
- Alpanseque (Soria) "The House of fossil . This is a private house, whose façade is an area where you can see a strange decoration, abstract mosaic-like, irregular and chaotic, formed by the extreme accumulation of fossil shells, invertebrates and marine Cretaceous Jurassic period filled, more or less aligned the various "tiles." These shells and internal molds of bivalves, gastropods, echinoids, cephalopods and brachiopods have been collected in the surroundings of the town, by the author that has circulated in profusion on the walls of the ground floor to create a Curious mural, with pictures extrañod relief.
Detail of a corner of the House of fossils "Alpanseque (Soria), which can be seen in on the facade of the building layout drawings, mosaic, particularly" primary " and abstract, full of fossils whose tiles an effect aligned textures, oppressively, dense.
Image: Photo of Adolfo García http://www.barahona.org/alpanseque/urbana.htm
- Vault (Álava) "The Fossil Shack," or "House fossils. " building was remodeled to house a plant showing various rural tourism decorative internal molds made with shells of various types of marine invertebrates (brachiopods, cephalopods, echinoderms, gastropods and bivalves,) and fragments of coral skeletons, the Cretaceous, which have been collected in great quantity, around the people, by the owner who has acted as a patient and rustic, local craftsman.
Aspect of the main entrance of the "house of fossil Vault (Spain), with its many decorations and outdoor furniture made with a cluster of different types of fossils, collected in the vicinity of locality.
Image: extracted from photographic photography by Ernesto Santidrián án, during his visit to the site. The photographs can be found at: http://www.telefonica.net/web2/paleontologiaernesto/Curio sidades / CosasCuriosas / CabanaFosiles.html
and if the link works, also in:
http://blogs.paleored.com/ernesto/ernesto.php?title = la_cabana_de_los_fosiles & more = 1 & c = 1 & tb = 1 & pb = 1
- Morella (Castellón), The "Maset of Bandstand" or "hut Mendaña" (already built today desaparecida ) and the "Maset fossils" or "hut" Punta ". This is Casitas two peasants on the outskirts of Morella, initially enabled for shorter stays in intensive collection periods and as shelter from inclement weather, at times of the agricultural cycle, which coincide with agricultural work imprecindible with episodes of bad weather. Subsequently, both cabins were refurbished to agricultural uses compatible with recreation uses as humble little cottage for weekend and holiday.
The " Maset dels Corets " or " Mendana Booth, owned by Mr. Moya, and for nearly twenty years was demolished by its owners, but we were informed that a large part of their major walls were decorated baroque, with a lot of fossil internal molds of gastropods, bivalves and, especially, with large numbers of echinoids molds of the genus Heteraster oblongus, sea urchin called in Morella in Valencia, " corets "(cast. hearts), from where the first of what became known place name with this cabin.
The " Maset dels Fossils" or " Hut Point, which is owned by Mrs. Aurora, about 15 or 20 years it was rebuilt and remodeled to improve their living conditions. In this particular case, presented in one of the facades, a representation of Morella municipal coat, made of marine invertebrate fossils Cretaceous. There are also various pots, fully lined with internal molds fossils, bivalves, echinoids and especially of gastropods.
Vista
unfortunate for our purposes, of the "Hut Point, but unfortunately we do not have any other picture, with which to show details of ornamentation created using different types of fossil specimens.
Image: http://www.morella.net/morella/conocenos/el_antiguo_termino_de_morella/segona_del_riu/caseta_de_la_punta
- Navas de Estena (Ciudad Real), "The House of Trilobites." Although for non-experts, may seem a mere stones, among the many that form the surface of the facade of the family house of Estena Navas, the left side of the front door
hides a little surprise for Visitors advised, since some of the smaller stones, more slender and dark, in fact, trilobites are "camouflaged" gathered around the town.
Up to five copies of authentic trilobites have been built more as a curiosity than as an ornament and the facade of a private house in Navas de Estena. The "trilogy" which, at first glance, here are the appearance of a vulgar smaller stones and darker than the others, are indicated by white arrows.
image: http://155.210.87.123/viejip/archivos/info_excursion.pdf
- Retuerta del Bullaque (Ciudad Real) "Casa ichnological" recent house construction and superb craftsmanship in which the owner has set selectively in all exterior walls, fragments of quartzite stone slabs of the Lower Ordovician fossiliferous. They are a great sample, very comprehensive and informative, the diversity of trace fossils from the Armorican Quartzite (Ordovician) that can be seen on a walking tour of the National Park
Cabañeros, include copies of "Crucian" in excellent condition preservation. View of the main entrance to the "house ichnological" Retuerta, even to the naked eye can not see all the stones used for the coating containing Cruziana and other Ordovician trace fossils.
image: details Cruziana holding some stones of the facade can be viewed at: http://155.210.87.123/viejip/archivos/info_excursion.pdf
- Royuela (Teruel), the "Casa del Caracol"
- Sierra de Francia (Salamanca) "Building Beautiful Stone"
When, about 30 to 40 years in Monsagro began restoring the damaged main facades of some old buildings of the resort, someone thought of incorporating as a decorative architectural element, characteristic of pobloción mountain, some fragments of Paleozoic quartzite slabs of slate, filled with a kind of relief in the form of interlocking strands, which are a type of trace fossil called c ruzianas and less on other types of footprints ( artróficos, mazes, didímolinos , beetles, fraenas, tracks worms and rusoficos vane), all produced by the activity of benthic marine invertebrate life, mostly, trilobites, in Ordovician times, makes about 430 million years old, crawled on the soft sediments of the seafloor at the time.
The monsagreños called, popularly, " pretty rocks "the kind of rough boards in some of their surface figures showed the curious ways. Over the years, the local use of such material has become customary, as it has been popularized, multiplying its applications could be considered, at present, as a popular, indigenous, and external ornamentation the typical indoor monsagreña. Today
many buildings showing their facades, partly or completely covered with stone slabs with Crucian, embedded, forming baseboards, doors or windows or isolated elements are examples of this, the parish church many private homes and several cafes in this town. Other buildings in the town that show this type of coating or decorative inlay are several sources and some walls of solar and orchards. Furthermore, within households, have also been used, slates quartzite with Crucian, ornamental purposes, so as to take the bells from the chimneys of fireplaces.
Today, the use of stone Cruziana constitye a sign of identity of the local architecture. Humble
Monsagro building, two floors, renovated externally through appeasement
or its main facade with pieces of "beautiful stone " slate quartzite with trace fossils, mostly Cruziana , although not rare beetles and other types of trace fossils.
image: original photo Juan Carlos Dominguez Zamarreño http://www.zama1.jazztel.es/
In the province of Salamanca, you can also find some buildings with their facades adorned with quartzitic shales, Ordovician, with Cruziana, in the nearby town of La Alberca .
- Serrania de las Hurdes (Cáceres) "Building Beautiful Stone,
In the province of Cáceres, there are several locations Hurdanos, which have been used. for the same purposes and uses decorative materials of the same type and same geological age as those used in neighboring populations of Monsagro Salamanca and La Alberca. But in the territory of Cáceres, the use of Paleozoic quartzite slate slabs, the Ordovician period, filled surfaces Cruziana, for architectural ornamentation seems to be much more recent than its neighbors Monsagro, which appear to have been assumptions Inventors use.
Hurdes In Cáceres, you can see examples of architectural decoration "Cruziana" in mountain villages and Nuñomoral Vegas de Coria, locations Hurdano river valley and also in the village of Pinofranqueado in the river valley of the Angels. In these areas, have been used mainly to decorate the facades of modern houses, cafes and restaurants.
- Sierra de las Villuercas (Cáceres) . In the village of Cañamero appears that the use of slabs of slate with "Crucian" goes back to the last two decades, but not in the exterior walls of buildings, but inside modern houses, for covering the campans ornamental fireplaces and the mouths of fireplaces that exist in many classrooms, housing construction recent.
-Tejada (Burgos), The "conch houses"
Several houses in this town of Burgos have been restored over the past two decades, have been incorporated into its facade elements decorative architectural characteristic of the area, pieces of rock containing internal molds of ammonites, which the locals have dubbed, popularly, " shells."
appearance of the stones with fossils of ammonites, built on the facades of some buildings in the town of Tejada (Burgos).
Image: http://www.arlanza.com/es/turismorural/?iddoc=1766
- Valldemossa (Mallorca) "La Casa dels caragols, better known as" Can Xesc Manitos "
A house of the Majorcan town of Valldemossa, bears in various parts of the main facade, bonded with cement, some internal molds of ammonites, Cretaceous, to which natural of the island, known popularly in Majorca, " caragols " or " caragols de pedra.
Two of the ammonites, arranged in two holes in the wall, the stone facade of the house of his own, decorated with ammonites and Ripoll Francesc Lladó (alias Xesc Manitos) in Valldemossa.
Image: original photograph Sanvicente Vicente Fernandez, Palma de Mallorca.
www.fotocommunity.es/pc/pc/display/14861038
- Villar del Humo (Cuenca) "Las Casas de los Caracoles, In this mountain town, There are several houses that show as decoration property, copies of
Cretaceous ammonites from medium to good size, embedded in the walls of its main facades. In this area, locals have called, traditionally, "snail" for the ammonites.
curiously decorative appearance of a large ammonite embedded in the wall of a facade.
As an interim conclusions
First, according to all informants and the particular documents that mention it, this is a relatively recent phenomenon, since as much, would go back to half a century old, being the most common age of this popular practice, 20 to 30 years.
The various cases of English buildings, ornamented with paleontological have been located and collected, are sorted alphabetically, by locality.
- Alcaine (Teruel), the "House of the fossils" or "Casa del Quinto Centenario." The main facade, in the area of \u200b\u200bthe ground floor of the building, then "decorated" with a series of very simple figures, prepared with different types of shells marine fossils from the Jurassic and Cretaceous, of which are in abundance at the end of the town of Teruel. On the wall the author shows some elementary and naive allegories concerning the discovery of America. The mural was made in 1992 by its owner and resident Christopher Morales, to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the discovery and Hispanization of America. We have reported how particular architectural ornamentation, may soon disappear as a result of redevelopment planned.
curious aspect of paleontology in the wall decoration of a house of Alcaine, ornamentation also be a kind of sampling of the fossil shells of marine invertebrates Jurassic and Cretaceous, more abundant at the end of the town.
Image: original photography by José Manuel Bespin, on loan courtesy of the author.
- Alpanseque (Soria) "The House of fossil . This is a private house, whose façade is an area where you can see a strange decoration, abstract mosaic-like, irregular and chaotic, formed by the extreme accumulation of fossil shells, invertebrates and marine Cretaceous Jurassic period filled, more or less aligned the various "tiles." These shells and internal molds of bivalves, gastropods, echinoids, cephalopods and brachiopods have been collected in the surroundings of the town, by the author that has circulated in profusion on the walls of the ground floor to create a Curious mural, with pictures extrañod relief.
Detail of a corner of the House of fossils "Alpanseque (Soria), which can be seen in on the facade of the building layout drawings, mosaic, particularly" primary " and abstract, full of fossils whose tiles an effect aligned textures, oppressively, dense.
Image: Photo of Adolfo García http://www.barahona.org/alpanseque/urbana.htm
- Vault (Álava) "The Fossil Shack," or "House fossils. " building was remodeled to house a plant showing various rural tourism decorative internal molds made with shells of various types of marine invertebrates (brachiopods, cephalopods, echinoderms, gastropods and bivalves,) and fragments of coral skeletons, the Cretaceous, which have been collected in great quantity, around the people, by the owner who has acted as a patient and rustic, local craftsman.
Aspect of the main entrance of the "house of fossil Vault (Spain), with its many decorations and outdoor furniture made with a cluster of different types of fossils, collected in the vicinity of locality.
Image: extracted from photographic photography by Ernesto Santidrián án, during his visit to the site. The photographs can be found at: http://www.telefonica.net/web2/paleontologiaernesto/Curio sidades / CosasCuriosas / CabanaFosiles.html
and if the link works, also in:
http://blogs.paleored.com/ernesto/ernesto.php?title = la_cabana_de_los_fosiles & more = 1 & c = 1 & tb = 1 & pb = 1
- Morella (Castellón), The "Maset of Bandstand" or "hut Mendaña" (already built today desaparecida ) and the "Maset fossils" or "hut" Punta ". This is Casitas two peasants on the outskirts of Morella, initially enabled for shorter stays in intensive collection periods and as shelter from inclement weather, at times of the agricultural cycle, which coincide with agricultural work imprecindible with episodes of bad weather. Subsequently, both cabins were refurbished to agricultural uses compatible with recreation uses as humble little cottage for weekend and holiday.
The " Maset dels Corets " or " Mendana Booth, owned by Mr. Moya, and for nearly twenty years was demolished by its owners, but we were informed that a large part of their major walls were decorated baroque, with a lot of fossil internal molds of gastropods, bivalves and, especially, with large numbers of echinoids molds of the genus Heteraster oblongus, sea urchin called in Morella in Valencia, " corets "(cast. hearts), from where the first of what became known place name with this cabin.
The " Maset dels Fossils" or " Hut Point, which is owned by Mrs. Aurora, about 15 or 20 years it was rebuilt and remodeled to improve their living conditions. In this particular case, presented in one of the facades, a representation of Morella municipal coat, made of marine invertebrate fossils Cretaceous. There are also various pots, fully lined with internal molds fossils, bivalves, echinoids and especially of gastropods.
Vista unfortunate for our purposes, of the "Hut Point, but unfortunately we do not have any other picture, with which to show details of ornamentation created using different types of fossil specimens.
Image: http://www.morella.net/morella/conocenos/el_antiguo_termino_de_morella/segona_del_riu/caseta_de_la_punta
- Navas de Estena (Ciudad Real), "The House of Trilobites." Although for non-experts, may seem a mere stones, among the many that form the surface of the facade of the family house of Estena Navas, the left side of the front door
hides a little surprise for Visitors advised, since some of the smaller stones, more slender and dark, in fact, trilobites are "camouflaged" gathered around the town. Up to five copies of authentic trilobites have been built more as a curiosity than as an ornament and the facade of a private house in Navas de Estena. The "trilogy" which, at first glance, here are the appearance of a vulgar smaller stones and darker than the others, are indicated by white arrows.
image: http://155.210.87.123/viejip/archivos/info_excursion.pdf
- Retuerta del Bullaque (Ciudad Real) "Casa ichnological" recent house construction and superb craftsmanship in which the owner has set selectively in all exterior walls, fragments of quartzite stone slabs of the Lower Ordovician fossiliferous. They are a great sample, very comprehensive and informative, the diversity of trace fossils from the Armorican Quartzite (Ordovician) that can be seen on a walking tour of the National Park
Cabañeros, include copies of "Crucian" in excellent condition preservation. View of the main entrance to the "house ichnological" Retuerta, even to the naked eye can not see all the stones used for the coating containing Cruziana and other Ordovician trace fossils. image: details Cruziana holding some stones of the facade can be viewed at: http://155.210.87.123/viejip/archivos/info_excursion.pdf
- Royuela (Teruel), the "Casa del Caracol"
The main facade of a house has been restored recently , incorporated as a decorative architectural element, characteristic of the environment of the town, a stone that contains the internal mold of ammonites, fossils that abound in the Sierra de Albarracín and people in the area, popularly called "snails." 
decorative effect, and intriguing, a solo ammonites medium dim ensions shown embedded in the wall, centered over the hole of a ground floor window of a house.
Image: original photograph of Alberto Serrano Dolader, on loan courtesy of the author.
- Sierra de Francia (Salamanca) "Building Beautiful Stone"
When, about 30 to 40 years in Monsagro began restoring the damaged main facades of some old buildings of the resort, someone thought of incorporating as a decorative architectural element, characteristic of pobloción mountain, some fragments of Paleozoic quartzite slabs of slate, filled with a kind of relief in the form of interlocking strands, which are a type of trace fossil called c ruzianas and less on other types of footprints ( artróficos, mazes, didímolinos , beetles, fraenas, tracks worms and rusoficos vane), all produced by the activity of benthic marine invertebrate life, mostly, trilobites, in Ordovician times, makes about 430 million years old, crawled on the soft sediments of the seafloor at the time.
The monsagreños called, popularly, " pretty rocks "the kind of rough boards in some of their surface figures showed the curious ways. Over the years, the local use of such material has become customary, as it has been popularized, multiplying its applications could be considered, at present, as a popular, indigenous, and external ornamentation the typical indoor monsagreña. Today
many buildings showing their facades, partly or completely covered with stone slabs with Crucian, embedded, forming baseboards, doors or windows or isolated elements are examples of this, the parish church many private homes and several cafes in this town. Other buildings in the town that show this type of coating or decorative inlay are several sources and some walls of solar and orchards. Furthermore, within households, have also been used, slates quartzite with Crucian, ornamental purposes, so as to take the bells from the chimneys of fireplaces.
Today, the use of stone Cruziana constitye a sign of identity of the local architecture. Humble
Monsagro building, two floors, renovated externally through appeasement
or its main facade with pieces of "beautiful stone " slate quartzite with trace fossils, mostly Cruziana , although not rare beetles and other types of trace fossils. image: original photo Juan Carlos Dominguez Zamarreño http://www.zama1.jazztel.es/
In the province of Salamanca, you can also find some buildings with their facades adorned with quartzitic shales, Ordovician, with Cruziana, in the nearby town of La Alberca .
- Serrania de las Hurdes (Cáceres) "Building Beautiful Stone,
In the province of Cáceres, there are several locations Hurdanos, which have been used. for the same purposes and uses decorative materials of the same type and same geological age as those used in neighboring populations of Monsagro Salamanca and La Alberca. But in the territory of Cáceres, the use of Paleozoic quartzite slate slabs, the Ordovician period, filled surfaces Cruziana, for architectural ornamentation seems to be much more recent than its neighbors Monsagro, which appear to have been assumptions Inventors use.
Hurdes In Cáceres, you can see examples of architectural decoration "Cruziana" in mountain villages and Nuñomoral Vegas de Coria, locations Hurdano river valley and also in the village of Pinofranqueado in the river valley of the Angels. In these areas, have been used mainly to decorate the facades of modern houses, cafes and restaurants.
- Sierra de las Villuercas (Cáceres) . In the village of Cañamero appears that the use of slabs of slate with "Crucian" goes back to the last two decades, but not in the exterior walls of buildings, but inside modern houses, for covering the campans ornamental fireplaces and the mouths of fireplaces that exist in many classrooms, housing construction recent.
-Tejada (Burgos), The "conch houses"
Several houses in this town of Burgos have been restored over the past two decades, have been incorporated into its facade elements decorative architectural characteristic of the area, pieces of rock containing internal molds of ammonites, which the locals have dubbed, popularly, " shells."
appearance of the stones with fossils of ammonites, built on the facades of some buildings in the town of Tejada (Burgos).
Image: http://www.arlanza.com/es/turismorural/?iddoc=1766
- Valldemossa (Mallorca) "La Casa dels caragols, better known as" Can Xesc Manitos " A house of the Majorcan town of Valldemossa, bears in various parts of the main facade, bonded with cement, some internal molds of ammonites, Cretaceous, to which natural of the island, known popularly in Majorca, " caragols " or " caragols de pedra.
Two of the ammonites, arranged in two holes in the wall, the stone facade of the house of his own, decorated with ammonites and Ripoll Francesc Lladó (alias Xesc Manitos) in Valldemossa.
Image: original photograph Sanvicente Vicente Fernandez, Palma de Mallorca.
www.fotocommunity.es/pc/pc/display/14861038
- Villar del Humo (Cuenca) "Las Casas de los Caracoles, In this mountain town, There are several houses that show as decoration property, copies of
Cretaceous ammonites from medium to good size, embedded in the walls of its main facades. In this area, locals have called, traditionally, "snail" for the ammonites. curiously decorative appearance of a large ammonite embedded in the wall of a facade.
As an interim conclusions
First, according to all informants and the particular documents that mention it, this is a relatively recent phenomenon, since as much, would go back to half a century old, being the most common age of this popular practice, 20 to 30 years.
Secondly, this type of phenomenon ornamental, no signs can reasonably popular in the future, much more than what has been achieved so far, as state and regional legislation to protect natural heritage, prohibits disorderly exploitation or appropriation of paleontological resources, given their justified interest in science and its educational value, a situation that does not prevent poaching for commercial purposes, but should hinder improper collection of fossils, decorative purposes for indoor as for public display on the walls.
Thirdly, in some locations it appears that some owners of homes and other buildings seem to have wanted to express, publicly, and implement, by hand, their desire to identify their properties by atypical ornaments, to thereby , get easily differentiated from all others and identify them as their own. This willingness to extreme difference could be due to the idea that lack of personal details very rare, their properties could be building too vulgar and too impersonal, as in the villages of population pequeños o medianos, suelen predominar los patrones estéticos y arquitectónicos, más tradicionales, comunes o convencionales. El doble objetivo de alcanzar una elevada personalización y una singularización de sus propiedades, con escaso dispendio económico, habrían conseguido alcanzarlo los propietarios, mediante el uso de determinados materiales pétreos que contenían algunos tipos de ejemplares fósiles. Estos objetos debían ser característicos y abundantes en la localidad, para que su incorporación en las fachadas y, con menor frecuencia, en los interiores, formando parte de diseños realizados al completo gusto del promotor-autor, fuese posible.
Dada la evidente escasez, en all areas of Spain, the buildings are so unique kind of architectural ornamentation popular els characterized by decorative use of certain types of fossils, local, we can state categorically that this is not a true traditional style of architectural decoration, it has proved to be a fairly recent social phenomenon.
not be considered as a kind of folk architecture, except the municipality of Salamanca Monsagro therefore has failed to lead to joint, but usually it's buildings. Therefore, we believe that this is a tactic or form, particularly inexpensive, but very simple and colorful, to claim the attention of neighbors and strangers, into a building that is intended to show as clearly differentiated and personalized.
We also believe that it is a very effective way to manifest in public space, as having a strong personality and a creative restlessness or "plastic" renewing of the conventional small-town architectural aesthetic, very different and distinctive from that of the whole of its neighbors. Although, in some cases unique building, the neighbors of "decorator craftsman", think they do not consider these samples as decorative masterpieces of decorative art, a refined product of creativity, but rather as true manifestations of eccentricity or desire for notoriety.
Fourth, from a point of view, merely statistical and data at our disposal, at present, the number of cases for the same locality Monsagro in Salamanca, the English town that is more buildings decorated with fossils concentrated, followed by La Alberca also in Salamanca, Cañamero, in Cáceres, Villar del Humo, Cuenca and Tejada, Burgos, followed by other towns.
By number of locations in a same region, the most representative would prove Extremadura, with four stocks: Cañamero Nuñomoral, Pinofranqueado and Vegas de Coria, all in the province of Cáceres, and Castilla-Leon, also with four populations: Tejada, Burgos and Monsagro and La Alberca, Salamanca and Alpanseque in Soria. I would
Aragon two populations and Royuela Alcaine, Teruel and Castilla-La Mancha, also with two locations: Navas de Retuerta del Bullaque Estena and in Ciudad Real. With one location, would Islands, with Valldemossa Mallorca, Euskadi, in Vault, in Álava and the Valencia region, with Morella in Castellon,
Please note:
As we have stated on occasion previous grateful to the readers who pass by this place, any contribution from any sort of information they want to do in order to help fill in or expand, which has been collected here with patience and effort and disinterested. Sources:
- Blanch Marín, Ernesto, the city of Morella (Castellón), personal communication 22, 27 and July 28, 2009
- Bespin Serrano, José Manuel. The Voice of Alcaine, Alcaine (Teruel). Personal communication 17 and October 24, 2009
- Garcia, Carlos 2009 & Fossils EFE special when the park was The Batuecas Tues Journal Information. is. Sunday, 05 July 2009.
http://www.diarioinformacion.com/ciencia/2009/07/05/ciencia-fosiles-especiales-parque-batuecas/906507.html
- Gasulla, Jose Miguel, a paleontologist at Morella (Castellón), personal communication of June 19, 2009
- Gil Montes, Juan (Jugimo), geologist and historian of Extremadura. Personal communication of April 26, 2009
- Gutiérrez Marco, JC, Gutierrez del Arroyo Radish, I. San José Lancha, M. Á. & Pieren Pidal, A. P. Una aproximación a las entrañas ibéricas. Excursión geológica al Parque Nacional de Cabañeros
- Jiménez Chicote, Juanma. “El presente en Las Hurdes” publicado el 27 de octubre del 2008, en el blog: Viajando, viajando...¿donde llegaré? http://jmduende.spaces.live.com/blog/
- Santidrián Cas, Ernesto, " Visita a la Cabaña de los fósiles" , en la web Ernesto y la paleontología http://www.telefonica.net/web2/paleontologiaernesto/Curiosidades/CosasCuriosas/CabanaFosiles.html
- Zamarreño Domínguez, Juan Carlos. 2003. fossils Monsagro houses are a makeshift museum of the Primary Era http://www.zama1.jazztel.es/
- Zamarreño Domínguez, Juan Carlos. 2004. A Monsagro fossil museum. Emotions in Salamanca, 2. Diputación de Salamanca
http://www.dipsanet.es/turismo/emociones/2/contfosiles.htm
-vv. aa. 2003. Guide ichnofossils the streets of Monsagro , included in: "Monsagro. A makeshift museum of Primary Era "published by the City Council Monsagro (Salamanca).
- Zamarreño Domínguez, Juan Carlos. 2004. A Monsagro fossil museum. Emotions in Salamanca, 2. Diputación de Salamanca
http://www.dipsanet.es/turismo/emociones/2/contfosiles.htm
-vv. aa. 2003. Guide ichnofossils the streets of Monsagro , included in: "Monsagro. A makeshift museum of Primary Era "published by the City Council Monsagro (Salamanca).
0 comments:
Post a Comment