Talayotic settlement

Wall of the Talaiotic settlement of Ses Païsses (Artá).

Talayotic settlement is a type of construction developed on the Spanish islands of Mallorca, Menorca, and Balearic Islands around the first millennium BCE. The structures originated during the Talaiotic period, although some are located in areas that were already inhabited during the Pre-talaiotic period. The peak of their development occurred during the Post-talaiotic period, especially in Menorca.

During this period, settlements often featured walls constructed from Cyclopean stone blocks. Within these enclosures, one or more talayots, alongside various other structures, were typically present. These sites functioned as centers for economic and social activity while defending against potential threats. Fortified settlements in Menorca generally cover larger areas than those documented on Mallorca.

Recent archaeological and DNA studies suggest that the Talayotic people had mixed ancestry with genetic links to Bronze Age populations of Iberia and the Mediterranean, including Sardinia and possibly North Africa.

The Construction Techniques of the Walls

Aerial view of the Talayotic settlement of Torre d'en Galmés (Alayor, Menorca).

Three different construction techniques are observed in the building of the walls of Talayotic fortified settlements:

• Orthostatic Wall: Large, flat but irregular slabs (called orthostats) placed vertically on a base of horizontal stones. Above these orthostats, irregular stones of decreasing size were placed dry to increase the height of the wall.
• Wall of Regular Pieces: Made with rows of regularly shaped stones, worked and placed directly on the foundation or the ground, without orthostats.
• Mixed Wall: Orthostats similar to the ones mentioned above, but crowned with medium-sized, more or less rectangular regular stones, placed in rows, also dry.

It is not certain if the different techniques correspond to distinct chronological periods. Their construction can be dated to around 800 BCE, as this is the date of the wall in the settlement of Ses Païsses (Artá), the only one that has been dated. It is plausible that the upper part of the wall was crowned with irregular stones and later with Punico-Roman architectural influences. Some parts of the wall may have been restored with rows of regular ashlar stones. It is known that there were more than 250 settlements in Mallorca during the Talayotic period, suggesting a high population density for the period.

Talayotic Settlements in Menorca

In Menorca, the settlements, in addition to the talayots, also feature typical structures from the Menorcan Post-Talayotic period: the taula enclosures, Post-Talayotic habitation circles, hypostyle halls, and water collection systems.

As for the walls, there are few settlements in Menorca where these have been identified. Some only have walls in certain sections, and many show no trace of walls. Sometimes, the more peripheral houses in the settlements have thick outer walls that could have served as defensive walls, and even some habitation circles are attached or built against wall structures. It appears that Menorcan walls are generally more recent than those on Mallorca, with most dating to the final centuries of the first millennium BCE, whereas the majority of Mallorcan walls date back to the beginning of the first millennium BCE. However, this remains a topic of debate, as the striking similarities between the walls on both islands make it difficult to accept a significant temporal gap. At the settlement of Son Catlar in Menorca, sections of the walls feature orthostats, while other areas exhibit more regular construction with a tendency toward horizontal rows. Additionally, rectangular defensive bastions attached to the exterior of the walls demonstrate classical influence, constructed from rectangular stones arranged in orderly rows. These reforms can be dated to the late 3rd century BCE, in the context of the Second Punic War, and subsequently, to around the 2nd century BCE, in connection with the Roman conquest of the island. Torre d'en Galmés is a Talayotic settlement notable for its scale and complexity compared to other sites in the Balearic Islands.

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Talayotic Menorca was put on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2023. The area consists of a series of archaeological sites that testify to a prehistoric island culture characterized by its association with the sky. The island buildings depict a tradition of cyclopean architecture over a period of approximately 1500 years. Preserved monuments on the island include funerary navetas, circular houses, taula sanctuaries, and talayots.

Menorca has over 1500 archaeological sites on the 700 km² (270 mi²) island, which equates to two sites per square kilometer.

This area is divided into nine zones covering archaeological sites and associated landscapes, with a chronology ranging from the emergence of cyclopean construction around 1600 BCE to the Romanization in 123 BCE.