@misc{10481/91565,
year = {2023},
month = {12},
url = {https://hdl.handle.net/10481/91565},
abstract = {The technical and intellectual capabilities of past societies are reflected in the monuments they
were able to build. Tracking the provenance of the stones utilised to build prehistoric megalithic
monuments, through geological studies, is of utmost interest for interpreting ancient architectures
as well as to contribute to their protection. According to the scarce information available, most
stones used in European prehistoric megaliths originate from locations near the construction sites,
which would have made transport easier. The Menga dolmen (Antequera, Malaga, Spain), listed in
UNESCO World Heritage since July 2016, was designed and built with stones weighting up to nearly
150 tons, thus becoming the most colossal stone monument built in its time in Europe (c. 3800–3600
BC). Our study (based on high-resolution geological mapping as well as petrographic and stratigraphic
analyses) reveals key geological and archaeological evidence to establish the precise provenance of
the massive stones used in the construction of this monument. These stones are mostly calcarenites, a
poorly cemented detrital sedimentary rock comparable to those known as ’soft stones’ in modern civil
engineering. They were quarried from a rocky outcrop located at a distance of approximately 1 km. In
this study, it can be inferred the use of soft stone in Menga reveals the human application of new wood
and stone technologies enabling the construction of a monument of unprecedented magnitude and
complexity.},
organization = {Spanish Government (MICINN) project: Biografías Megalíticas: El Paisaje
Monumental de Antequera en su Contexto Temporal y Espacial (HAR2017-87481-P) 2018-2021},
organization = {Dirección
General de Investigación},
organization = {Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Secretaría General de Investigación},
organization = {Plan
Nacional I+D},
organization = {Playas Ricas en Olivino de Tenerife: Efectos sobre el ciclo del carbono e influencia sobre los
organismos marinos (2022CLISA30) Caja Canarias Fundación y Fundación "La Caixa"},
organization = {Proyectos Intramurales
Especiales CSIC: GRANULO (2022301209)},
publisher = {Nature Publishing Group},
title = {The provenance of the stones in the Menga dolmen reveals one of the greatest engineering feats of the Neolithic},
doi = {10.1038/s41598-023-47423-y},
author = {Lozano Rodríguez, José Antonio and García Sanjuan, Leonardo and Álvarez Valero, Antonio Miguel and Jiménez-Espejo, Francisco José and Arrieta, Jesús María and Fraile Nuez, Eugenio and Montero Artús, Raquel and Cultrone, Giuseppe V. and Muñoz Carballeda, Fernando Alonso and Martínez-Sevilla, Francisco},
}