El Oso, Ávila

A municipality in the Spanish province of Avila whose name ('the bear') derives from a megalithic stone sculpture outside its church. The monument is classified as a verraco, a type of prehistoric zoomorphic sculpture found across western Iberia, typically dating to the Iron Age Vettones culture (4th-1st century BC). Over 400 verracos have been identified across central Spain and Portugal, generally interpreted as having protective or funerary religious significance. Despite local legend identifying this example as a bear, scholars believe it may represent a boar, consistent with the verraco tradition.