MINERALOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF SAMPLES FROM THE CASTLE OF SANCHO IV IN CUMBRES MAYORES (HUELVA).

The castle fortress of Cumbres Mayores or castle of Sancho el Bravo is a fortification dating from the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries. It is located in the town of Cumbres Mayores, in the province of Huelva (Andalusia, Spain).

It is part of the defensive system of the “Banda Gallega” and was under the jurisdiction of the city of Seville, which was granted a privilege, signed by King Sancho IV in Toro on November 4, 1293, to build the Castle of Cumbres Mayores. The reasons for its construction were fully justified during the following centuries, since during the late Middle Ages there was a frequent state of war between the neighboring kingdoms of Seville and Portugal.

The Castle-Fortress of Sancho IV (Cumbres Mayores) has an irregular floor plan, with nine sides and eight towers, alternating square and semicircular.

The objective of this study was the mineralogical characterization of a sample from the Castillo de Sancho IV in Cumbres Mayores used as a support base in menhirs.