Free Republic

A group of experts has discovered proof that people during the Bronze Age used drugs in their ceremonies. By examining hair strands from a burial location in Menorca, Spain, researchers have learned that our ancestors took in hallucinogenic drugs derived from plants. This new information presents the initial clear evidence of drug use in olden Europe. These drugs may have been an important part of their traditional events and practices, according to the researchers. The scientists identified three specific substances, scopolamine, ephedrine, and atropine, in three separate hair samples that they replicated. The researchers noted that due to the dangerous...

Archaeologists conducting excavations at the prehistoric settlement of Son Catlar, on the Spanish Balearic Island of Menorca have discovered a deposit of Roman military equipment and weapons, complete with surgical tools.Occupation at Son Catlar dates from around 2000/1200 BC, and continued until the late Roman period. The site is the only Talayot settlement in Menorca that has a closed, preserved Cyclopean wall, measuring 870 metres in length, and enclosing a 2.4-acre stone settlement.These types of structures became an architectural feature of many Punic sites, also functioning as a defensive wall during the Roman conquest of Menorca.Excavations were conducted by the...

Archaeologists have recently begun revealing the features of an ancient prehistoric stone structure on the Mediterranean island of Menorca in the Balearic Islands, an archipelago near the eastern coast of Spain. Beginning in 2015, under the direction of archaeologists Montserrat Anglada, Irene Riudavets, and Cristina Bravo, an archaeological team began excavating a newly opened structure at the site, known as Sa Cudia Cremada, a site that is composed of distinctive Iron Age (part of Spain's prehistoric period) stone structures such as talayots -- truncated tower-shaped constructions. The builders were members of the mysterious Talayotic culture, a people who left no...

After nearly 30 years, a team of archaeologists will be returning once again to the site of So na Cacana on the island of Menorca, Balearic Islands, Spain, to renew investigations of a prehistoric sanctuary complex that archaeologists believe represented the remains of the Talaiotic Culture , a prehistoric culture that flourished, particularly on the islands of Majorca and Menorca, during the 1st Millenium BCE... The ancient settlement remains are located about six km away from the municipality of Alaior. The site features a tower-like monument resembling a large rectangular talaiot (Bronze Age megalithic structure) at the highest point of...

The Cape of Cavalleria on the northern coast of Menorca provides a natural shelter for the port of Sanitja from the northern and northeastern winds. This natural port was first occupied as a military camp during the Roman conquest of the Balearic Islands by General Metelus between 123 and 121 BCE, and the harbour settlement grew over the following centuries. In 1996 the formal study of this area began, revealing one of the most important archaeological sites on the island of Menorca. The initial work between 1996 and 2008, revealed that the military camp had an unexpectedly long occupation of...