1 June 2023 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

Banner
Related Post

A 2,000-year-old ancient “mirror” throws light on aristocratic life in China

17 May 2022

17 May 2022

Archeologists in Beijing have successfully reconstructed a 2,000-year-ago dressing mirror once cherished by the high nobility during the Han Dynasty....

2,500-Year-Old Tombs Uncovered Of Unknown Persons With Gold Tongues in Egypt

6 December 2021

6 December 2021

The remains of two unknown persons with golden tongues were found inside tombs, dating back to the Saite Dynasty (664...

Uncovering the ritual past of ancient mustatils: Cult, herding, and ‘pilgrimage’ in the Late Neolithic of north-west Arabia

16 March 2023

16 March 2023

Mustatils—stone monuments from the Late Neolithic period thought to have been used for ritual purposes—have been the subject of new...

Göbeklitepe Monolith will be Exhibited in the United Nations

15 May 2021

15 May 2021

A copy of one of the famous ruins of Göbeklitepe, known as the oldest temple in the world, will be...

A carved Hand Imprint unearthed in a 1,000-year-old Jerusalem defensive moat

26 January 2023

26 January 2023

The Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Wednesday that archaeologists discovered the remains of a moat and a mysterious hand imprint...

As a result of an operation in western Turkey, 4 skulls belonging to the Jivaro tribe of South American origin were seized

14 December 2021

14 December 2021

In the operation held in the Aliağa district of İzmir, 400 historical artifacts belonging to various periods were seized, including...

Traces of fossilized crabs in the Zagros Mountains, Iran which may hint at a hotbed of biodiversity dating from 15 million years

18 April 2022

18 April 2022

A group of paleontologists from the  University of Tehran has discovered traces of fossilized crabs in the Iranian which may...

Silver coins found near the ruins of the medieval monastery in Holy island

10 November 2021

10 November 2021

Archaeologists have discovered a silver coin on Lindisfarne, known as Holy Island, in the northeast of England. Dig Ventures is...

Cave paintings discovered in western Turkey carry the region’s past back to prehistory

18 December 2021

18 December 2021

During the archaeological survey carried out in and around the ancient city of Alinda in Aydın province in western Turkey,...

The Entire Genome Of 35,000-Year-Old Skull From Romania Sequenced “Peştera Muierii 1”

24 May 2021

24 May 2021

Researchers have successfully sequenced the whole genome from the skull of Peştera Muierii 1, women who lived in today’s Romania...

Underwater excavations start at 1,700-year-old ancient Black Sea port Kerpe

20 September 2021

20 September 2021

The traces of the ancient harbor on the Black Sea coast of Kerpe, in Kocaeli’s Kandıra district, are being brought...

World’s Oldest Pants was Made through Three Weaving Techniques

26 February 2022

26 February 2022

Back in 2014, a group of archaeologists discovered in China a pair of wool pants dating back to around 3,300...

1,600-year-old fragment Of Enigmatic Roman Artifact Discovered In Belgium

17 February 2023

17 February 2023

A metal detectorist in Belgium discovered a piece of a mysterious bronze artifact known as a Roman dodecahedron, which is...

This summer, a 2,000-year-old “thermopolium” fast-food restaurant in Pompeii will reopen to the public

8 August 2021

8 August 2021

Archaeologists excavated a 2000-year-old fast food and drink counter “termopolium” on the streets of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii...

3 mummified skeletons were found in Iznik, western Turkey

8 October 2021

8 October 2021

Archaeologists discovered mummified skeletons dating from the 2nd century A.D. within two sarcophagi at the Hisardere Necropolis in Bursa’s Iznik...

Comments
Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *