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The construction materials of the Santalla de Bóveda Monument, one of the most studied buildings in Galicia (Spain), are analysed to date the mortars and bricks of walls and vaults by combining three dating techniques: optically stimulated luminescence, radiocarbon and thermoluminescence. Petrological characterisation of the mortars themselves is carried out. Until now, the paintings on the vault have been interpreted as Roman, early Christian or pre-Romanesque, depending on the interpretative framework used by the researcher who studied them. There is also no consensus on their functionality. A total of 21 samples were collected and 39 datings were made. The results are conclusive: the original building dates from the second half of the 4th century AD, the paintings date from the beginning of the 7th century or the upper floor from the 10th-12th centuries. These results make it necessary to review the history of Galician architecture between Late Antiquity and the Early Medieval Ages.

A glyptographic analysis of São Tiago de Folhadela Church (Portugal) has been carried out, which comprised petrologic, mason's marks and walls stratigraphy studies. The construction phases of the church were determined. Petrographic thin sections, XRD, XRF and SEM were used for the determination of the origin of the main building granite spots. The speckles were produced by creation of secondary phases such as goethite and other iron oxides-hydroxides and clay minerals. Its brown spots are produced by oxidation of pyrite to goethite and by release, migration and iron retention by sericite.