The stone that divides the parishes
The Marco da Anta is one of the very few “pedrafitas”, or menhirs, documented in A Costa da Morte. However, it has been mentioned since ancient times by such prominent researchers as Carré Aldao or Luis Monteagudo, who visited it around 1950.
The stone, about two meters high, is striking for its peculiar phallic shape due to a horizontal groove near the upper end. This circumstance surely explains why the menhir also receives the curious name of Pedra do Carallo.
The function of the Frame in prehistory is unknown, although several hypotheses are debated among researchers, as a monument linked to funerary uses, fertility rites, an indicator of the presence of a megalithic necropolis or as a landmark delimiting the space. In historical times it seems that it could have functioned as an element that would mark the boundary between the parishes of Erboedo (A Laracha) and Loureda (Arteixo).
