Funding for open access publishing: Universidad de Sevilla/
CBUA Javier Rodriguez-Corral is a fellow of the VI PPIT-US funded
by Universidad de Sevilla. Carlos Rodriguez Rellán is an EMERGIA
fellow (EMERGIA20_00349), funded by the Secretaría General de
Universidades, Investigación y Tecnología de la Junta de Andalucía.
This research was also funded in the framework of a research project
with reference number PID2022-139879NB-I00, funded by the Minis-
terio de Ciencia e Innovación of the Government of Spain.The warrior stelae, also called southwestern stelae or western stelae, emerge as one of the most characteristic manifestations of the Bronze Age in Iberia. Since the earliest findings more than a century ago, these monoliths have received great attention from scholars, becoming the subject of an intense debate, without a consensus having been reached on their meaning and sense. A slow but steady trickle of new findings, as well as the implementation of new approaches to their study, has only enriched these discussions in recent years. One of the most successful lines has been the spatial analysis focused on the relationship of these monuments with routes, transit areas, and resources of great value. It is within this line that this article explores the potential relationship that the stelae may have had with a critical mineral resource: the tin ores distributed in western Iberia, which is the highest concentration of this mineral in Europe. To do this, a detailed spatial analysis has been conducted in order to explore if the uneven density of these monuments across western Iberia may be linked with the presence of tin ores or, alternatively, with the control of the routes that allowed the circulation of this mineral by land.Universidad de Sevilla/CBUASecretaría General de
Universidades, Investigación y Tecnología de la Junta de Andalucía EMERGIA20_00349Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación of the Government of Spain PID2022-139879NB-I0