The Antequera Dolmens Site is a cultural heritage ensemble comprising three cultural monuments (the Dolmen of Menga, Dolmen of Viera and Tholos of El Romeral) and 2 natural mountain features (the Peña de los Enamorados and El Torcal) in and near the city of

Antequera Antequera () is a city and municipality in the Comarca de Antequera, province of Málaga, part of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is known as "the heart of Andalusia" (''el corazón de An ...

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. The cultural institution responsible for its protection is the CADA (, Archeological Ensemble Dolmens of Antequera). It was declared a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

in 2016.

Outstanding Universal Value

For something to be declared World Heritage Site, it must demonstrate exceptional universal value; that is, an extraordinary importance transcending national borders and of interest to present and future generations of all humanity.

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

requires justification of at least one of the six criteria set for the cultural heritage by the ''Convention on the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage'' (1972) to demonstrate the exceptional universal value of the site. The proposal of the Antequera Dolmens Site is based on one of them (i); the International Council on Monuments and Sites in its final report incorporates other two (iii, iv). * Criterion (i): "represent a masterpiece of the human creative genius" The

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

Dolmen of Menga represents one of the most important masterpiece of

megalith A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. More than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging geographically f ...

ic architecture (Atlantic tradition) based on post-and-lintel construction with an earthen covering, notable for its enormous dimensions that push the size possible in a corridor sepulcher by incorporating the unprecedented solution of intermediate pillars; likewise, the later,

Chalcolithic The Chalcolithic ( ) (also called the Copper Age and Eneolithic) was an archaeological period characterized by the increasing use of smelted copper. It followed the Neolithic and preceded the Bronze Age. It occurred at different periods in di ...

tholos (beehive tomb) of El Romeral complements the two dolmens with its corridor and false dome of drystone masonry (Mediterranean tradition). * Criterion (iii): "provide a unique testimony, or at least exceptional, on a cultural tradition or a living or dead civilization" Both the Dolmen of Menga and the Tholos of El Romeral have anomalous orientations. The archaeoastronomer Michael Hoskin, who studied the site, noted that, whereas the axes of almost all

dolmen A dolmen, () or portal tomb, is a type of single-chamber Megalith#Tombs, megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the Late Neolithic period (4000 ...

s around the Mediterranean are oriented to a celestial feature, such as sunrise at dawn on the

equinox A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun appears directly above the equator, rather than to its north or south. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise directly east and set directly west. This occurs twice each year, arou ...

es (as occurs in the Dolmen of Viera), the Dolmen of Menga points to the striking nearby peak called the Peña de los Enamorados. This rises abruptly from the plain and contains the contemporaneous rock shelter of Matacabras, in which cave paintings are found.
Decree 245/2011 of 12 July, which is enroll into the General Catalogue of the Andalusian Historical Heritage as Bien de Interés Cultural, with the typology of archaeological site, the Archaeological site of Peña de los Enamorados, in the municipality of Antequera (Andalusia). BOJA nº150 de 02/08/2011
' Meanwhile, the Tholos of El Romeral is oriented to the mountains of El Torcal, containing the Cave of the Bull (terrestrial orientation), as well as to the noon sun on the winter

solstice A solstice is the time when the Sun reaches its most northerly or southerly sun path, excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around 20–22 June and 20–22 December. In many countries ...

(celestial orientation). El Torcal is noted for the extensive, otherworldly

karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

landscape at its summit. In addition, the Tholos of El Romeral lies along an axis from the Dolmen of Menga to the Peña de los Enamorados. Thus, the Dolmens of Antequera construct a unique megalithic landscape by their relationship with the surrounding natural elements. * Criterion (iv): "be an outstanding example of a type of building or architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates one or several significant periods of human history" The three megalithic monuments reflect a stage of human history in which the first ceremonial monuments in

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

were built, according to the two major building traditions of

megalithic art Megalithic art refers to art either painted or carved onto megaliths in prehistoric Europe and found on the structural elements, like the kerbstones, orthostats, or capstones of megalithic tombs, but recent investigations have included decorati ...

( lintel and

beehive A beehive is an enclosed structure which houses honey bees, subgenus '' Apis.'' Honey bees live in the beehive, raising their young and producing honey as part of their seasonal cycle. Though the word ''beehive'' is used to describe the nest of ...

). This is an unusual proposal on the List of World Heritage Sites as it is not being put forward as a mixed heritage site, in which its cultural value would be added to its natural value, but as an integration and close dialogue between the megalithic architecture and the

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...

. A phenomenon of "landscape monumentalization" has occurred here by which the natural landmarks acquire the value of monuments while the manmade constructs present the appearance of a natural landscape. Finally, the authenticity of the megaliths is well established, with the Dolmen of Menga dating to the

and the Tholos of El Romeral to the

, and the structures retain high integrity, being in good condition and well maintained.

Gallery

File:Dolmen de Menga 01.jpg, Dolmen of Menga File:Tholos de El Romeral 06.jpg, Tholos of El Romeral File:Peña de los Enamorados Antequera.jpg, Peña de los Enamorados File:Dolmen de Viera 07.jpg, Dolmen of Viera File:El Torcal in January.jpg, El Torcal

References

Bibliography

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External links

Antequera Dolmens Site on the List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Antequera Dolmens Site
UNESCO Collection on Google Arts and Culture
Declaration as World Heritage Site in the 40th World Heritage Committee of UNESCO. Friday afternoon session July 15, 2016

Presentation of the Antequera Dolmens Site on the website of the Ministry of Culture Junta de Andalucía (Regional Government of Andalusia)
{{European Standing Stones World Heritage Sites in Spain Prehistoric art Megalithic monuments in Spain Dolmens in Spain Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in the Province of Málaga Antequera

Outstanding Universal Value

Gallery

See also

References

Bibliography

External links