Researchers shed light on the construction techniques of a giant prehistoric stone tomb, revealing a unique example of ingenuity and early science in a Neolithic community.
Discovery published in journal Science Advances reveals that the builders of the Menga dolmens in southern Spain possessed advanced technical knowledge far beyond what was previously understood. The discovery challenges the traditional view that Neolithic construction techniques were primitive in nature, Newsweek Instead, the study points to a relatively sophisticated understanding of physics, geology, architecture and engineering nearly 6,000 years ago.
The Menga Dolmen, located in the Antequera province of southern Spain, is one of the largest and most important megalithic structures from the Stone Age. A dolmen is a prehistoric single-chamber tomb constructed of large stones called megaliths.
Built around 3600-3800 BC, around 1,000 years before the oldest pyramid in Egypt, the Menga dolmen consists of 32 large stones forming the roof, walls and pillars, with a total weight of 1,140 tons. Menga, the oldest of the large dolmens on the Iberian Peninsula, has long fascinated archaeologists and historians due to its massive size and complexity.
In a study that combined analysis from multiple fields, including archaeology, team leader José Antonio Lozano RodrÃguez of the Canary Islands Oceanographic Center, Spain, and colleagues found evidence of a complex construction method that required understanding of simple but essential scientific concepts such as friction and geometry.
The study shows how the large stones that make up the tomb were positioned, revealing a clever construction process that defies previous notions of how the tomb was constructed. For example, it was previously thought that the vertical shape of the tomb, due to the large stones used to build the megalithic walls, was placed from the outside of the tomb by sliding down a slope in the ground. But the new study shows that the structure was built from the inside without using any slopes.
Researchers observed that the keystones in the dome of the stone tomb were composed of soft to moderately soft stones that required careful handling to avoid damage during transport. To do this, the masons likely used a specialized path designed to minimize friction and preserve the integrity of the stones.
The fragile stones were transported by cart, with the ground carefully prepared to reduce unnecessary movement. Among the keystones for the arch was a 150-ton block, the heaviest stone ever found in a prehistoric stone tomb.
In addition, the team found that the supporting stones of the wall were placed with millimeter precision, creating a trapezoidal effect that increased the stability of the structure. Many of the wall stones were placed alternately across the cross-section. Both the wall stones and the pillars were embedded in the bedrock, thereby increasing the stability of the tomb. The findings led the team to conclude that the Menga tomb builders used primitive scientific knowledge in their efforts to construct the structure.