Spain.info
Posted on 12/08/2023 7:25:02 AM PST by SunkenCiv
Located near Antequera in Malaga (Andalucia, Spain), Menga is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site consisting of three dolmens constructed between 3800 – 3600 BC. It is one of the largest megalithic structures in Europe and was built on the top of a hill with giant rocks. It is renowned for its enormous orthostats or vertical stones, one of which weighs nearly 150 tons...
Using petrographic and stratigraphic analysis techniques, the researchers discovered most of the stones were calcarenites... The researchers write in their paper that moving and building a dolmen from such large, massive but fragile stones would require careful planning and very complex engineering work. This is especially true of the keystone, that is, that large rock that was somehow placed on top of the chamber and still serves as the roof of the dolmen.
Calculations made it clear that it weighs about 150 tons. Scientists say lifting it and placing it on top of the camera would require scaffolding and strong cables. To transport such blocks without damaging them, very smooth roads would be required, which would have been difficult to imagine 5,700 years ago.
Furthermore, modern scientists have concluded that ancient engineers developed a method that allowed smaller stones to be installed along the edges of the chamber. It is assumed that they reliably protected the dolmen from sewage and prevented erosion.
In addition to pinpointing the origin of the Cerro de la Cruz quarries and tracking the logistics of transportation, the study sheds light on the extensive planning, labor coordination, technical expertise, and calculations that went into building Menga.
(Excerpt) Read more at arkeonews.net ...
Interior of the dolmen.Photo Angel M. Felicísimo on Wikimedia Commons
Looks very Frank Lloyd Wright-ish................
Wow, that is astonishing.
I’m always amazed that hunter-gatherers had enough surplus food to release the labor needed to construct such things.
Designed by giants,
made by Giants...Occam’s Razor...
Just like the pyramids ...The most logical simplest solution is usually the true solution.
The original ‘Fixer-Upper’.................
These were actually quite commmon in Bedrock.
Quite so. The Yabbadabbadoo era of the Neolithic was probably the most important to posterity.
4th millennium BC would be Neolithic (agriculturalists) not Paleolithic (hunter-gatherers).
No, it’s not, since internal space of megalithic structures are barely adequate for modern humans, and therefore — by Occam’s Razor — wouldn’t have been appropriate for giants. The architect of the Great Pyramid was buried on the Giza Plateau, and the tomb isn’t giant sized.
FLW never saw a good idea that he didn’t steal. ;^)
OK, I stand corrected.
But my point remains. Was agriculture productive enough to release all that labor needed to build such a structure?
No, not hunter-gatherers. By then, agriculture was in full swing across Europe.
Yes it was. That part of Europe is very fertile and always has been.
I’ve visited Malaga, Spain. It’s a beautiful area, but southern Spain has a Mediterranean climate with mild, relatively rainy winters and hot, sunny summers. I wouldn’t think it would be very conducive to agriculture (at least without irrigation).
The daily average temperature ranges from 55 °F in January to 80 °F in August. Precipitation is not abundant hence not conducive to crops. Annual rainfall is 21 inches per year, but it follows the Mediterranean pattern where most rainfall occurs from October to March. Summers are arid and it almost never rains. The wettest months are November and December, with 4 in.
It’s a lot like the San Francisco Bay Area climate.
There is only evidence that they used them - that they built them is an assumption.
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