4 September 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Spanish Stonehenge re-emerges from the ‘Valdecañas reservoir’

Submerged by the Valdecañas reservoir for decades, the Guadalperal dolmen has been fully exposed as it was two summers ago. The historical miracle, called the Spanish Stonehenge, has only been seen four times so far.

Experts believe that the stunning circle of dozens of megalithic stones, officially called the Guadalperal Dolmens, has existed since 5000 BC.

Buried for more than half a century under the waters of the Valdecañas reservoir (Cáceres), the Dolmen of Guadalperal emerged as a result of severe drought in Spain.

The water level in the reservoir has reportedly dropped to 28% capacity as Spain experiences its worst drought in 60 years, according to officials.

The Dolmen of Guadalperal is a collection of 150 large granite stones arranged in a circular structure guarded by a menhir (standing stone) carved with snake and cup motifs. The term “dolmen” refers to an ancient structure in which standing stones support a large capstone to form a chamber—a structure often used for early Neolithic tombs.

The dolmen of Guadalperal, also known as the Spanish Stonehenge, is revealed due to the receding waters of the Valdecanas reservoir in the outskirts of El Gordo, Spain.

The Dolmen of Guadalperal likely once had a mounded top, and the chamber inside may have functioned as a tomb, a religious site, or a trading post along the Tagus River in southeastern Spain.

This ancient site was first discovered by German archaeologist Hugo Obermaier in 1926 before it became flooded in 1963 due to a rural development project under Francisco Franco’s dictatorship.

This ancient site was first discovered by German archaeologist Hugo Obermaier in 1926. In 1963, under the rule of Francisco Franco, the government flooded the area containing the Dolmen to create the Valdecañas Reservoir.

Until the last drought that hit Europe in the summer of 2019, only the tips of the largest megaliths were visible above the waterline, and this year we were able to see them again. With record low water levels, the Dolmen emerged in full.

The monument in 2019. (Photo: Pleonr via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)

According to a study published in the journal Nature Geoscience, the Iberian peninsula where the dolman lives is at its driest point in 1,200 years, and winter rains are predicted to become even less frequent.

More than 45,000 signatures were collected in 2019 for the relocation of the structure.

Cover Photo: The Dolmen of Guadalperal, known as the “Spanish Stonehenge.” (Photo: Pleonr via Wikimedia CommonsCC BY-SA 4.0)

Related Articles

Celtiberian Inscription Found at La Peña del Castro: One of the Earliest Examples of Alphabetic Writing in Northern Iberia

26 February 2025

26 February 2025

La Ercina, León, Spain – Archaeological research at the La Peña del Castro site has unveiled an important discovery that...

Scientists Find Aztec ‘Death Whistles’ do Weird Things to the Listeners’ Brains

18 November 2024

18 November 2024

New research reveals that one of the Aztecs’ most chilling artefacts, clay death whistles, which resemble a human skull and...

The First Dinosaurs Discovered in Japan From the Late Cretaceous Period

30 April 2021

30 April 2021

Yamatosaurus Izanagii, a new genus, and species of hadrosaur or duck-billed dinosaur have been discovered on one of Japan’s southern...

Rare ivory plaques from First Temple Period were discovered in Jerusalem

8 September 2022

8 September 2022

An extraordinary find was made in Jerusalem: an assemblage of ivory plaques from the First Temple period, one of only...

Scandinavia’s first farmers slaughtered the hunter-gatherer population, according to a new study

9 February 2024

9 February 2024

Following the arrival of the first farmers in Scandinavia 5,900 years ago, the hunter-gatherer population was wiped out within a...

Montenegro’s Unique Church With Two Altars is Disappearing

11 December 2023

11 December 2023

In the Spich plain, where the modern town of Sutomore in Bar, Montenegro is located, there were churches that served...

The World’s Oldest Mummies “Chile’s Ancient Mummies Older than Egypt’s”

20 February 2024

20 February 2024

At the beginning of the 20th century, mummies dating back 2000 years before the Egyptians were found in the Atacama...

1,600-year-old Hunnic double burial found in Poland

15 June 2024

15 June 2024

In 2018, archaeologists uncovered a 1,600-year-old double burial in the village of Czulice near Krakow, Poland, containing the remains of...

Archaeologists Found Probable Evidence of the Existence of Amazons in Azerbaijan

27 March 2024

27 March 2024

Archaeological research carried out in Azerbaijan recently likely confirmed the existence of Amazons, female warriors from Greek mythology. During excavations...

2,700-year-old Military Roman Port Found in Parion, Türkiye

18 July 2024

18 July 2024

Underwater studies in Parion, a 2,700-year-old port city from the Roman Empire in Kemer village of Biga district of Çanakkale...

Ancient coins surface with Lake Iznik’s withdrawal in Türkiye

2 May 2023

2 May 2023

With the withdrawal of Lake Iznik in the northwest of Türkiye, the ancient coins found at the bottom of the...

Researchers found similar descriptions in the Book of Revelation and ancient curse tablets

10 February 2023

10 February 2023

A research project headed by Dr. Michael Hölscher of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), has uncovered that the book of...

5,500-Year-Old ‘Polish Pyramids’ Discovered by Archaeologists in Western Poland

11 July 2025

11 July 2025

Archaeologists in western Poland have uncovered two massive prehistoric structures dubbed the “Poland pyramids,” offering a remarkable glimpse into one...

Ancient Mythical Castle “Sörby Borg” Discovered on Swedish Island Creates Archaeological Sensation

4 August 2021

4 August 2021

A text from the early 18th century mentions the castle, which has become a bit of a legend. It has...

4,500-year-old rare Canaanite goddess sculpture found by a farmer in Gaza Strip

25 April 2022

25 April 2022

A farmer in the city of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, found a rare 4,500-year-old stone sculpture while...