The verracos (; ; literally 'boar'), in the Iberian Peninsula, are the Vettones's granite megalithic monuments, sculptures of animals as found in the west of the Iberian meseta – the high central plain of the Iberian peninsula – in the Spanish provinces of Ávila, Salamanca, Segovia, Zamora, Cáceres, Ourense and the Portuguese provinces of Beira Baixa, Beiras e Serra da Estrela, Douro and Terras de Trás-os-Montes. Over 400 verracos have been identified. The Spanish word verraco normally refers to boars, and the sculptures are sometimes called verracos de piedra (pigs of stone) to distinguish them from live animals. The stone verracos appear to represent not only pigs but also other animals. Some have been identified as bulls, and the village of El Oso, Ávila, named for "the Bear", has a verraco which supposedly represents a bear. Their dates range from the mid-fourth to first centuries BC. There are some similar zoomorphic monument markers in lands of Poland from the same period or older. Though they were perhaps not confined to a single usage, the verracos were an essential part of the landscape of the Vettones, one of the Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula. It has generally been assumed, from their high visibility in their original open fields surroundings, that these sculptures had some protective religious significance, whether guarding the security of livestock or as funerary monuments (some of them bear Latin funerary inscriptions). The verracos are particularly numerous too in the vicinity of the walled Celtiberian communities that Romans had called oppida. Notable verracos Portugal Murça Porca de Murça (literally the "Sow of Murça" in Portuguese, although the sculpture appears to represent a boar, i.e. a male rather than a female pig). The name has been taken to designate a red wine of the Douro district. Torre de Dona Chama Berroa Marvão Head of berrão, with right eye clearly visible, found in the Abegoa area of Marvão. Today in Municipal Museum in Marvão. Spain Castile and León Province of Ávila Aldea del Rey Niño Arévalo (one verraco in the Palacio del general Vicente de Río) Ávila (14 verracos from Tornadizos and three found next to Adaja River) Cardeñosa (Castro of Las Cogotas) Chamartín (five verracos, the best preserved is the Verraco of the Castro de la Mesa de Miranda) Martiherrero (four verracos) Mingorría Mirueña de los Infanzones (two verracos embedded in a wall of a house) Narrillos de San