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The Dolmen of Menga () is a

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 burial mound called a

tumulus A tumulus (: tumuli) is a mound of Soil, earth and Rock (geology), stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, mounds, howes, or in Siberia and Central Asia as ''kurgans'', and may be found through ...

, a

long barrow Long barrows are a style of monument constructed across Western Europe in the fifth and fourth millennia BCE, during the Early Neolithic period. Typically constructed from earth and either timber or stone, those using the latter material repres ...

form of

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 ...

, dating from around 3750–3650 BCE. It is near

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 ...

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

, Spain. It is one of the largest known ancient megalithic structures in Europe. It is long, wide and high, and was built with thirty-two

s, the largest weighing about . After completion of the chamber (which probably served as a grave for the ruling families) and the path leading into the center, the stone structure was covered with soil and built up into the hill that can be seen today. When the grave was opened and examined in the 19th century, archaeologists found the skeletons of several hundred people inside. The dolmen sits from the

Dolmen de Viera The Dolmen de Viera or Dolmen de los Hermanos Viera is a dolmen—a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb—located in Antequera, Provinces of Spain, province of Province of Málaga, Málaga, Andalusia, Spain.Dólmenes de Antequera
nuevaacropolismalaga.org. Accessed online 2010-01-23. and about from another subterranean structure known as

Tholos de El Romeral Tholos de El Romeral, situated north east of the town of Antequera (Andalusia), is one of the most important examples of early Bronze Age architecture in southern Europe. Tholos de El Romeral, also known as ''Cueva de Romeral'' (Cave of Romeral) ...

.Conjunto Arqueológico Dólmenes de Antequera
, Consejería de Cultura,

Junta de Andalucía The Regional Government of Andalusia () is the government of the Autonomous Community of Andalusia. It consists of the Parliament, the President of the Regional Government and the Government Council. The 2011 budget was 31.7 billion euros. It emp ...

. Accessed online 2010-01-23. In 2016, the dolmens of Menga, Viera, and El Romeral were all inscribed as a

UNESCO 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 ...

under the name

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

Abrigo de Matacabras

The Abrigo (shelter) of Matacabras, located at the foot of the northwest face of the Peña de los Enamorados, is closely linked with the Dolmen of Menga whose central axis points directly to it. The tomb is orientated to the northeast, north of the sunrise on the summer solstice, and is the only known tomb so oriented in Europe in this cultural context. In 2018, the ATLAS research group from the

University of Seville The University of Seville (''Universidad de Sevilla'') is a university in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. Founded under the name of ''Colegio Santa María de Jesús'' in 1505, in 2022 it has a student body of 57,214,U-Ranking Universidades español ...

published a study of the high resolution analysis of Abrigo de Matacabras's schematic style cave paintings. The small cave has both visual and symbolic links to the Menga dolmen, establishing landscape relationships that are possibly unique in European prehistory. The results confirmed 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 ...

chronology Chronology (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , , ; and , ''wikt:-logia, -logia'') is the science of arranging events in their order of occurrence in time. Consider, for example, the use of a timeline or sequence of events. It is also "the deter ...

of the cave “probably, at least, at the beginning of the 4th millennium BC... and its importance as a place of reference for the Neolithic (and possibly even older) population of the region...” Crucial new data on the origin of the Dolmens of Antequera, a World Heritage Site https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180628120046.htm

Gallery

File:Dolmen de Menga Antequera.JPG, Entrance File:Dolmen de Menga, vista interior desde la entrada.jpg, View inside from the entrance File:Dolmen de Menga 10.jpg, Back of the chamber with well File:Unidentified object in the Dolmen of Menga, Antequera, Spain.JPG, view inside the well File:Dolmen de Menga 20170412-114210-2959-6-a1b2c1.jpg, Panoramic view

References

{{Authority control Dolmens in Spain Buildings and structures in Antequera Tourist attractions in Andalusia World Heritage Sites in Spain Bronze Age sites in Europe Buildings and structures completed in the 4th millennium BC Archaeological sites in Andalusia

Abrigo de Matacabras

Gallery

See also

References