Early science and colossal stone engineering in Menga, a Neolithic dolmen (Antequera, Spain) Lozano Rodríguez, José Antonio García Sanjuan, Leonardo Jiménez-Espejo, Francisco José Álvarez Valero, Antonio Miguel Arrieta, Jesús María Fraile Nuez, Eugenio García-Alix Daroca, Antonio Montero Artús, Raquel Martínez-Sevilla, Francisco Megaliths represent the earliest form of monumental stone architecture. The earliest megalithic chambers in Europe appeared in France in the fifth millennium BCE. Menga is the oldest of the great dolmens in Iberia (approximately 3800 to 3600 BCE). Menga’s capstone #5 weighing 150 tons is the largest stone ever moved in Iberia as part of the megalithic phenomenon and one of the largest in Europe. The research presented here proposes a completely innovative interpretation of how this colossal monument was built. It comprises a geoarchaeological analysis encompassing three major components: (i) the angles of the planes of each stone, (ii) the stratigraphic polarity of each structural element, and (iii) the depth of the foundations. Our results show that Menga is a unique example of creative genius and early science among Neolithic societies. It was designed as a completely original engineering project, for which we know of no precedents in Iberia. 2024-09-11T11:11:04Z 2024-09-11T11:11:04Z 2024-08-23 journal article José Antonio Lozano Rodríguez et al. , Early science and colossal stone engineering in Menga, a Neolithic dolmen (Antequera, Spain).Sci. Adv.10,eadp1295(2024).DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adp1295 https://hdl.handle.net/10481/94351 10.1126/sciadv.adp1295 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ open access Atribución-NoComercial 4.0 Internacional American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)