07/02/2012 Majorca Magazine | Art, Leisure & Culture | Mallorca;s Talyots

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Mallorca's TalayotsThe Christmas festivities of Majorca do extend for quite a few days, I admit I am usually itching to return to work!! so during this time Itook the opportunity to explore the Island, an adventure taken with my grand daughter Jasmine and grandson Harley, supported byCandace my daughter who packed the picnic and did the driving. Smallscale clambering around the rocky hillside which to the kids was huge

fun and a big adventure, appearing more like a mountain climb, I woresensible boots....which to anyone that knows me is an adventure initself.

Pleasantly surprised I have ventured twice in less than two weeks,andwithout pressure or a bar in sight,. the views here in Majorca are

stunning, the weather has been like spring this winter and a good deal offun has been had with the kids. Living here we can often take a lot for

granted and not make the most of this beautiful Island. One of the

adventures took us to two monuments of the Talaiotic period, myinterest in these compared with my memories of Stone Henge, ok I admit very small by comparison but the feeling of history and religious

intent behind the buildings were the same, to me. How do they build these things in the first place without mechanical help consideringthey are donkeys years old and very heavy??

Having researched the Talaiotic period since I still have a few more historic sights to get round on the Island to continue my adventures

and expand my knowledge with the kids of course as an excuse of being caught climbing and having child like fun. Worth a visit any timeof the year. I have added some Encylopaedia info to support the history, but the photos are from our fun day,

The Talaiotic Period in Majorca [An extract from Wikipedia]

The first great monuments on Majorca from this period are the Layered Tumuli ( Túmulos Escalonados ), which had a funerary purpose. Thedate of their construction dates from the end of the second millennium BC to the beginnings of the first millennium BC, and many of the Tumuliare associated with hypogea from the Bronze Age. The society of this era is called "Proto-Talaiotic," since many features of the subsequentTalaiotic society begin to appear at this time. These features include the clustering of the population into towns. It has been confirmed that insome of these Talaiotic towns naviform structures were dismantled in order to use the building material to build ordinary dwellings.

At the beginning of the first millennium BC, talaiots began to proliferate on Majorca, either appearing in an isolated fashion as a territorialboundary stone, or in towns, but mostly grouped together in ceremonial centers. In Majorca, these ceremonial centers were as abundant asthe towns themselves. Some of them consisted of small groups of stone structures (talaiots, tumuli), scattered across the island, andfrequently serving as boundary stones between the towns. Some of these ceremonial centers consisted of a line of up to seven stonestructures across a distance of more than half a kilometer. The abundance of these centers serves as evidence of their importance: most likelythey were where frequent disputes were resolved, and where various festivities were celebrated. The centers also served as a seasonal andeconomic calendar (economic activities such as sowing, harvests, hunting), in which the young of various towns could meet (thus guaranteeingsexual outbreeding!!).

Sanctuaries also existed on the island, recognizable because their two rear corners are rounded. Sanctuaries situated within the towns weresmall, and their interiors had only a single column, which was more or less centered. The sanctuaries in the countryside were much bigger (10-15 m.) and tended to have many pairs of columns.

The funerary monuments of Majorca were varied, a characteristic similar to the previous age: burials were made in natural caves and inhypogea. The Talaiotic hypogea were much bigger than those from the Bronze Age, sometimes with column excavated from the surroundingrock, and the enlargement of these columns provided a reason for enlarging the hypogea themselves. A large cemetery was also built, theNecropolis of Son Real, unique to Majorca and Menorca. The Necropolis served as a cemetery in which the tombs were similar to smalltalaiots, and were either circular or square-shaped. Small "navetas" can also be found in the Necropolis. Despite the Talaiotic preference forburials to occur in hypogea, during the time of the Talaiotic Culture a novelty was introduced: the burial of a body with lime.

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07/02/2012 Majorca Magazine | Art, Leisure & Culture | Mallorca;s Talyots

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