Carija quarry

Research by the Mérida Institute of Archaeology, the CSIC and the Technological Institute of Ornamental Rock and Building Materials (INTROMAC) has identified Sierra Carija as one of the extraction areas that may have supplied stone (mainly limestone) to the Roman city. Other nearby quarries identified in the same study are Sierra Berrocal, Finca Royanejos, Finca Cuarto de la Charca and Finca Los Baldíos, which supplied mainly granite and diorite for building the city's theatre and amphitheatre, declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1993.

The name «Carija» may be connected with Publius Carisius, legate of the emperor Augustus, who played a decisive part in establishing Augusta Emerita. The quarry, which preserves evidence of historical working, remained active in later periods; a modern mining concession was declared inactive more than a decade ago. Secondary uranium-vanadium minerals (tyuyamunite), typical of the alteration of limestone, have been recorded on the site. (Location approximate.)