Conny Waters – AncientPages.com – The Menga Dolmen, located in Antequera, Málaga, Spain, has lengthy been a topic of scientific inquiry resulting from its outstanding dimension and antiquity amongst European megalithic constructions.
Megalithic constructions are the oldest type of monumental stone structure. The primary European megalithic chambers appeared in France within the fifth millennium B.C. Menga, the oldest nice dolmen in Iberia, dates from 3800-3600 B.C. Its 150-ton capstone is the biggest transported megalithic stone in Iberia and one of many largest in Europe.
Menga Dolmen. Credit score: Adobe Stock – José L. Hidalgo
This Neolithic monument, situated on the Piedras Blancas web site, is classed as a tumulus, particularly a protracted barrow type of dolmen. Its entrance is characterised by an imposing trilith, and carbon courting locations its building between roughly 3750 and 3650 B.C.
Earlier analysis has established the Menga Dolmen as one of the most significant engineering accomplishments of the Neolithic period. Nevertheless, the strategies employed in its building have remained a subject of debate. Not too long ago, a multidisciplinary crew comprising historians, geologists, physicists, and archaeologists from varied Spanish establishments has proposed a speculation to elucidate how a Neolithic tradition may have erected this historical construction, incorporating stones weighing as much as 150 metric tons.
Earlier analysis has proven that Neolithic builders of the monument possessed important engineering abilities. These abilities had been important for transporting and positioning large stones, enabling the construction to endure for millennia in near-original situation.
The dolmen includes stone partitions and a ceiling supported by stone pillars, all bigger than these utilized in Stonehenge. All through historical past, many theories have tried to elucidate how a primitive society may erect such a monumental and sophisticated construction. Researchers recommend that staff extracted stones from a web site about one kilometer away and transported them on sledges alongside a wood trackway. After excavating a part of the hill, staff moved the rocks to the development web site to type partitions, anchoring every stone into the bedrock utilizing counterweights and ramps.
(A) Panoramic view of the town of Antequera, with the placement of the Cerro de la Cruz quarry, the Viera and Menga dolmens, the Tholos of El Romeral, and the Piedras Blancas at La Peña de los Enamorados. (B) Entrance to Menga. (C) Inside of the dolmen from the second pillar. (D) Inside of Menga, and three pillars presently preserved. (E) Dolmen chamber. Credit: (A) and (B) correspond to the primary writer; (C) and (E) had been offered by the Antequera Dolmens Archaeological Website on behalf of the Andalusian Regional Authorities (Miguel Ángel Blanca de la Rubia); (D). Credit score: Science Advances (2024). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adp1295
Employees used levers to place the stones barely inwardly, lowering the roof’s dimension and giving the monument a trapezoidal form. They then put in pillar stones utilizing an identical technique. The development concluded with inserting large stones atop the construction to function a roof.
The researchers famous that constructing the monument required excessive precision to appropriately align and match all elements. The stones had been interlocked to make sure long-term stability and sturdiness.
“In Prehistoric Europe, the development of huge megaliths represents an period of nice technological innovation, because it incorporates advanced types of engineering and unparalleled artistic genius.
It’s inconceivable to grasp how a monument as subtle as Menga was constructed between 3800 and 3600 BCE with out resorting to a notion of “early science,” particularly contemplating that, to this date, no precedents have been present in Iberia suggesting a gradual, regular enhance within the growth of engineering experience via trial and error.
On the idea of the proof at hand, Menga is without doubt one of the first nice monumental buildings ever engineered with colossal stones. Not solely no precedents existed in Iberia for such a monument when Menga was constructed but additionally no comparable monument was later made all through all of Late Prehistory. Or not less than, we now have no file left,” the scientists write within the research.
The research was revealed within the journal Science Advances
Written by Conny Waters – AncientPages.com Workers Author
