30 June 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Archaeologists discover a new megalithic monument in heart of Andalusia in southern Spain – 5,000-year-old secret

Archaeologists in Spain uncovered a previously overlooked tomb while investigating the formation of La Peña de los Enamorados, also known as the sleeping giant.

The Antequera archaeological site in southern Spain is home to a number of ancient structures dating back to the third and fourth millennia BC, including the Menga, Viera, and El Romeral megaliths.

According to a study that was published on April 15 in the journal Antiquity, the Antequera site contains both man-made and “natural monuments,” but is best known for its prehistoric megaliths.

The “natural monuments” at the site include La Peña de los Enamorados, a stone “sleeping giant” that towers about 2,900 feet above the ground, researchers said.

The Sleeping Giant had a 5000-year-old secret hidden in his chest: Piedras Blancas megalithic grave.

The rectangular stone structure was built at least 5,000 years ago, according to the study. It was used for millennia in three distinct phases before being abandoned between 1950 and 1180 B.C.

General view of the excavated Piedras Blancas tomb or megalithic grave from the east, with numbering of the stones. At the far end, the two ‘arrow-like’ slabs attached to the bedrock. Photo: M. Ángel Blanco de la Rubia and L. García Sanjuán / Antiquity Publications Ltd
General view of the excavated Piedras Blancas tomb or megalithic grave from the east, with numbering of the stones. At the far end, the two ‘arrow-like’ slabs attached to the bedrock. Photo: M. Ángel Blanco de la Rubia and L. García Sanjuán / Antiquity Publications Ltd

Lead author of the new paper, Leonardo García Sanjuán, a Professor in Prehistory at the University of Seville (Spain), said the location of the Piedras Blancas tomb was “carefully chosen.”

The tomb’s stone slabs were carefully arranged to coincide “with the summer solstice sunrise,” researchers said. Some of the “heavily engraved” slabs “appear to have been precisely placed to ‘funnel’ the light from the rising sun towards the back of the chamber at the summer solstice.”

In Antequera, the oldest megaliths date back to 3,000 BC, and this rectangular stone tomb was built at the same time. Researchers believe that bodies were spread out on a sizable flat stone platform at the time ceramic offerings were left in the tomb. Later, the decomposing corpses were pushed off the stone platform and into the surrounding area, where the researchers discovered “40 teeth and 95 bones.”

A skeleton buried in the added burial niches at the Piedras Blancas tomb. Photo: M. Ángel Blanco de la Rubia / Antiquity Publications Ltd
A skeleton buried in the added burial niches at the Piedras Blancas tomb. Photo: M. Ángel Blanco de la Rubia / Antiquity Publications Ltd

Furthermore, the archaeologists identified a “triangular, arrow-like stone” lodged into the floor, oriented in the direction of the rising sun.

The Piedras Blancas tomb was renovated around 2500 B.C., and niches for two burials were added, according to the study. Researchers believe these were high-status individuals, most likely a man and a woman. It’s unclear whether they were buried simultaneously or over the course of a century.

The tomb later “underwent another significant transformation,” according to researchers. Stones were placed at the entrance “as if to block or seal” it, and the bones of at least two children and three women were interred. According to the study, the tomb was abandoned and has remained untouched ever since.

Antiquity

Related Articles

1900 years old a Customs Inscription from the Lycian civilization reveals Anatolia’s strategic importance in maritime trade

16 September 2023

16 September 2023

A Customs Inscription from the Lycian civilization, located in Andriake port in the southern province of Antalya’s Demre district, tells...

45,000 years ago, Neanderthals in the Swabian Jura used complex tool-making techniques

13 September 2021

13 September 2021

Findings that will change our perception of Neanderthals’ sophistication A team from the University of Tübingen have proved that Middle...

Britain’s first Roman funerary bed is discovered in central London after 2,000 years

7 February 2024

7 February 2024

Archaeologists excavating a construction site in London have unearthed the first Roman “flat-packed” funerary furniture – a fully intact Roman...

Saudi Archaeologists have discovered a pre-Islamic Musnad inscription and a bronze bullhead

18 February 2023

18 February 2023

Saudi archaeologists have discovered the longest pre-Islamic Musnad inscription -of the ancient south Arabian script- and three gold rings and...

The marble head of God Apollo unearthed in an excavation at Philippi, Greece

29 March 2024

29 March 2024

The excavation, carried out by a group of students of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in the archaeological site of...

Archaeologists uncovered a kurgan tomb from a previously unknown culture

8 January 2023

8 January 2023

Archaeologists from the Siberian Federal University have unearthed a kurgan tomb and numerous bronze tools and artifacts from a previously...

2,000-year-old altar found in Alexandria Troas

9 October 2021

9 October 2021

A 2,000-year-old altar was unearthed during the ongoing excavations in the ancient city of Alexandria Troas, in a region close...

Nineteen Ancient Tombs from the 4th Century BC Unearthed in Padula, Campania

8 February 2025

8 February 2025

In Padula, located in the Campania region of southern Italy, authorities announced the remarkable discovery of nineteen ancient tombs during...

Archaeologists discovered an enigmatic complex of rooms, interiors of which covered with figural scenes unique to Christian art

7 April 2023

7 April 2023

Archaeologists of the Polish Center of Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of Warsaw discovered an enigmatic complex of rooms made...

Remains of painkillers were found in 4500-year-old vessels during excavations at Küllüoba Höyük in Turkey

20 September 2022

20 September 2022

In the excavations of the Early Bronze Age Küllüoba Höyük (Kulluoba Mound) in Eskişehir, where the first urbanization structure of...

Archaeologists Uncover 4,800-Year-Old Bronze Age Tombs in Başur Höyük, Türkiye, Where Teenage Girls Were Ritually Sacrificed

30 March 2025

30 March 2025

As the first civilizations began to emerge in Mesopotamia and Anatolia, significant transformations in social structure, economy, and culture took...

5000-year-old stoneware workshop found in Iran

24 January 2023

24 January 2023

Iranian archaeologists found the ruins of a stoneware workshop estimated to date back to the 3rd millennium BC, during their...

Remnants of ancient fire temple discovered in heart of Alborz mountains in Iran

26 June 2021

26 June 2021

An Iranian archaeology team has discovered relics of an ancient fire temple in Savadkuh county, located in the center of...

4 Aztec child burials unearthed in Mexico and dated to the Early Colonial period may be indicators of Aztec resistance

6 July 2022

6 July 2022

During an archaeological rescue effort in Mexico City’s historic central district of La Lagunilla, the remains of an Aztec house...

A beautiful Medieval key discovered in Claverham village, UK

11 October 2023

11 October 2023

Earlier this year the Kemble fieldwork team from Cotswold Archaeology undertook a small excavation for Newland Homes on the edge...