Naveta des Tudons
| Naveta des Tudons | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Naveta des Tudons |
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Location in Menorca |
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| Coordinates | |||
| place | Ciutadella , Balearic Islands , Spain | ||
| Emergence | around 970 BC Chr. | ||
| Dimensions | 14 m | ||
| height | 51 m | ||
The Naveta des Tudons is a prehistoric grave conditioning in Ciutadella on the Spanish Balearic island of Menorca . The naveta , built in megalithic construction in the late Bronze Age , is considered to be the most important building in Menorcan prehistory.
location
The Naveta des Tudons is located about four kilometers east of Ciutadella, not far from the island's main road Me-1 to Maó . The building can be easily reached on foot from the signposted parking lot on the street. For several years now, for safety reasons and to protect the system, you have not been allowed to enter the interior of the Naveta.
Excavation history
The Naveta des Tudons has long been known. Pedro Riudavets y Tudury (1804-1891) described them for example in 1883 in his History of the Island of Menorca . In November and December 1959, the Naveta was excavated by Lluís Pericot (1899–1978) and Maria Lluïsa Serra (1911–1967). Inside, the bones of around a hundred people were found, as well as grave goods and bronze jewelry , which are now exhibited in the Museu de Menorca in Maó. In 1960 the Naveta, whose apse was badly damaged, was extensively reconstructed.
description
From the outside, the Naveta resembles an upturned hull with the outline of an elongated horseshoe . The "bow" is rounded in the shape of an apse, while the stern is formed by a flat facade . The "keel" consists of horizontally laid stone slabs. The structure was built from large stones without the use of mortar .
A central opening in the west-facing facade leads to a short corridor via a step . This leads into a room that is divided into two superimposed chambers by large stone slabs reaching from one wall to the other. Since the cover plates have weathered over time and have numerous holes, light falls into the interior of the Naveta.
Dimensions
Ferran Lagarda i Mata gives the dimensions as follows:
- External length: 13.60 m
- Length of the corridor: 1.37 m
- Length of the lower chamber: 7.25 m
- Length of the upper chamber: 7.10 m
- maximum width outside: 6.40 m
- Width of the facade: 5.85 m
- Width of the corridor: 1.27 m
- Width of the lower chamber: 1.87 m
- Width of the upper chamber: 1.90 m
- Height outside: 4.50 m
- Corridor height: 3.35 m
- Height of the lower chamber: 2.25 m
- Height of the upper chamber: 0.85 m
function
Through the excavation of 1959, the Naveta des Tudons could be clearly identified as a collective grave complex. The bones were not found in the anatomical network, i.e. as skeletons. This suggests that the naveta had more of the function of an ossuary in which secondary burials were carried out. The grave goods found, bronze bracelets, beads from necklaces, hallmarks , weapons and ceramic vessels are typical of the talayot culture . A triangular bony button indicates, however, that the first burials could already have been made in pretalayotic times. Radiocarbon dating of the bones found in the naveta indicate a period of use from about 970 to 840 BC. Chr.
Legend
According to legend, many thousands of years ago, when there were still giants in Menorca, there was a beautiful girl who could not decide which of two applicants to marry. So both were given a task. Whoever fulfills them first should bring the bride home. One of the giants began to build a well, the other the naveta. As he was about to put the last stone on the building after many months, he heard his rival's cry of joy, who had finally hit water. In anger, he threw the stone, which is still missing from the facade of the Naveta, into the well and killed his rival. He then ran away and was no longer seen. The giant girl remained unmarried.
Monument protection
The Naveta des Tudons has been protected as an archaeological monument (Monument arqueològic) since 1931 . It is registered with the Spanish Ministry of Culture under number RI-51-0003442. The Naveta is one of the 32 archaeological sites that Spain officially proposed on January 14, 2016 as " Talayotic Culture of Menorca " for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List . The World Heritage Committee postponed the application at its 41st meeting in July 2017 and requested improvements.
See also
Web links
- Es Tudons naveta on the Menorca Talayótica website
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tomàs Vibot: Archaeological Tour of Menorca . El Gall Editor, Pollença 2006, ISBN 978-84-96608-30-6 , pp. 55f
- ↑ Pedro Riudavets y Tudury: Historia de la isla de Menorca . Al Thor, Mahón 1882-83
- ^ Joana M. Gual: Prehistoria de Menorca. Breve síntesis (PDF file; 1.6 MB). In: Vicenç M. Rosselló, Joan J. Fornós, Lluís Gómez-Pujol (eds.): Introducción a la Geografía Física de Menorca . Ciutat de Mallorca 2003, pp. 189-202. ISBN 84-7632-823-0
- ↑ Ferran Lagarda i Mata: Es Tudons (Navetas) on the website www.arqueoguia.com (English), accessed on December 20, 2016.
- ↑ Sa Naveta des Tudons ( Memento from June 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Monica de Cet, Vicente Lull, Rafael Micó, Cristina Rihuete, Roberto Risch: Migration and integration during the Bronze and Iron Ages: the case of Menorca . In: Harald Meller, Falko Daim, Johannes Krause, Roberto Risch (eds.): Migration and Integration from Prehistory to the Middle Ages , Central German Archaeological Day from October 20 to 22, 2016 in Halle (Saale), (= conferences of the State Museum for Prehistory Halle (Saale) . Volume 17, 2017), pp. 145–167 (English).
- ^ Kristiane Albert: Menorca . DuMont, Cologne 1998, p. 192f ISBN 3-7701-3273-4
- ↑ Cultural heritage database at the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport (note: search for “Delimitación entorno de la naveta des Tudons”), accessed on October 23, 2014
- ↑ Talayotic Culture of Minorca , on the Spanish tentative list at UNESCO (English), accessed on October 28, 2017.
- ↑ World Heritage Committee (Ed.): List of nominations received by February 1, 2016 and for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 41st session (2017) . (English, unesco.org [PDF; 427 kB ]).
- ↑ World Heritage Committee (Ed.): Decisions adopted during the 41st session of the World Heritage Committee (Krakow, 2017) . (English, unesco.org [PDF; 4.5 MB ]).