Archaeology & History

Vast megalithic complex discovered in Spain

By T.K. Randall
August 19, 2022 ·  11 comments

Image Credit: Jose Antonio Linares-Catela et al., Trabajos de Prehistoria, 2022 The fascinating find, which is thought to be one of the largest megalithic complexes in Europe, spans an area of some 1,500 acres that had previously been earmarked for an avocado plantation.

If a survey hadn't been conducted in advance, the stones might never have been discovered.

Several different types of megalithic stones were identified, including standing stones, dolmens, stone enclosures, mounds and cists.

The standing stones, however, were by far the most numerous with 526 being counted overall."This is the biggest and most diverse collection of standing stones grouped together in the Iberian peninsula," said project director Jose Antonio Linares of Huelva University.

The stones were all in a remarkable state of preservation for their age, the researchers noted.

"Finding alignments and dolmens on one site is not very common," said project co-director Primitiva Bueno. "Here you find everything all together - alignments, cromlechs and dolmens."

"That is very striking."

A huge #megalithic complex of more than 500 standing stones across 1,500 acres has been discovered in S. Spain, perhaps one of the largest in Europe. Dating to c.5500- 4000 BC, many faced east, aligned on sunrise at the solstices and equinoxes. #prehistory https://t.co/OOifxT9eSO

— Prof Susan Oosthuizen (@DrSueOosthuizen) August 18, 2022

Source: The Guardian | Comments (11)

Tags: Megalithic, Stones