How Did The ANCIENTS Build The DOLMEN OF MENGA?

The Dolmen of Menga is one of the most magnificent megalithic structures in Europe. Dating back more than 5,000 years, the ancient builders of this burial monument transported and placed enormous megaliths including one weighing approximately 150 tons. Unlike other Iberian monuments it was not oriented to the solstices, but towards a natural land formation where a cave full of Neolithic art has been found.

A new study has analysed the logistical and engineering complexities that would have gone into the construction of the Menga Dolmen and has found that the ancient megalith builders were incredibly sophisticated. Furthermore, these Neolithic engineers appear to have been innovators since there don't seem to be simpler versions of the dolmen in the area that would show a gradual improvement in construction skills over time.

#ancienthistory #megalithic #neolithic

✨ IN THIS EPISODE

00:00 Introduction
00:47 The Antequera Megalithic Site
05:00 The Dolmen of Menga

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✨ REFERENCES

García Sanjuán L, Medialdea A, Balsera Nieto V, et al. A multimethod approach to the genesis of Menga, a World Heritage megalith. Quaternary Research. 2023;111:1-20. doi:10.1017/qua.2022.33

García Sanjuán, L., Montero Artús, R. and Mora Molina, C., 2021. Waterscapes through time. The Menga well as a unique hydraulic resource in its geographic and historical context. Human Made Environments.

✨ PHOTOGRAPH CREDITS

Images about the Dolmen of Menga dating research, credit: García Sanjuán L, et al., in the paper referenced above.

Dolmen of Menga entrance and area in front of it, credit: Pedro J Pacheco
Alignment towards La Peña de los Enamorados, credit: Malopez 21

Dolmen of Menga entrance, credit: Grez
Carnac alignments, credit: Pinpin
Newgrange, credit: Ingo Winkler
Well inside the Dolmen of Menga, credit: Juan de Vojníkov

Dolmen of Menga pillars, credit: Ángel M. Felicísimo 

Public domain
Cromeleque dos Almendres

[bartcharlow]

I visited the extant dolmens at Antequera in 1971. Was astonished at the size of them, having visited megalithic monuments in several other European countries. None of those other dolmens were of this extraordinary interior scale, though one menhir that had fallen in Carnac was huge also. I thought I could have driven my VW bus inside! At least that was my initial impression. Nice to get all this new information on those. Thanks.

[billmiller]

The well is really something special. Imagine digging a shaft almost 20 meters deep with only stone age tools. I understand that wells in dolmens are very rare (cough, Sardinia, cough). Must have been some extraordinary background story. We definitely need a time machine.

[oxigenarian]

We must never underestimate the ingenuity of humans, even ancient ones!

[davidcreager]

What they accomplished is nothing short of Amazing ! Thanks for this awesome update !

[newman]

Some of these dolmen are mind boggling, the ancients were more capable then we give them credit for .

[barrywalser]

The thing that strikes me is that the dolman building seems to have begun when the cave had to be abandoned. It seems like they were trying to recreate the cave. Was the one photo of the Cromlech of Almendres, Portugal? It looked very much like it. Thanks Laura! Always wonderful information.

[laurence]

Excellent. I was just reading some rather far-fetched things about this monument so I'm particularly glad to have so much real info. It sounds as if knowledge of what happened at the el Toro cave had permeated their memories, and someone, or ones, came up with a series of solutions to reassure the people. Must have been quite a job convincing everyone.
But what do I know? It could have been a kit, with illustrated instructions, from the Martian Ikea.

[floydriebe]

hiya, Laura! was kayakin' the river, so missed the blankety blank wifi decided to go on vacation for the weekend....Labor Day, ya know...still out😡 had to wait til i got to the clinic today, to watch....

sssooo, another great video, of course! and, some cool pics of an amazing ancient structure. those guys really had it big and built so well, i can, kinda, understand how some folks could think it was done with higher tech or help from aliens(note: i said KINDA) people back then were every bit as smart as we, just not as technologically blessed. their ability to create such magnificence is know i could NOT do so....even with modern tools!

thoroughly enjoyable, Laura! thanks be to ye! forsooth! i go now to another vid i missed....til next we meet, m'lady⚔

[DavidMaurand]

I look at these structures and cannot imagine the gruesome injuries many must have endured.

[Stonecutter]

A more interesting question might be why are dolmens found literally around the world? Considering they’re so difficult to build, why did people around the world feel the need to create these?
What was their purpose? Academics, predictably say tombs and just as predictably we never find ancient remains in them.

[JorgeStolfi]

Elaborate structures built over and around natural springs are known around the world. The nuraghi in Sardinia often have a well inside. The Osirion in Egypt seems to have been mainly a reservoir dug down to the water table under the Giza plateau. The "communal rooms" at Göbekli Tepe and Karahan Tepe look more like water cisterns than anything else.
So, unless hard dating says otherwise, I would guess that the well was dug first, for the simple purpose of providing water all year round. That made it a focal point for people in a few km radius. The well would surely have some permanent cover to keep the water clean etc. Thus when those people decided to build the dolmen, for religious or whatever reasons, building it over the well was a natural decision

[dnavid]

I hope you have been there, although the industrial park that surrounds it is a tad unsettling. The orientation towards the human profile mountain makes it a very special, a very human as a opposed to solar place, as if they had had an "enlightenment" period and it's more an artistic statement than other structures oriented to the sun etc.

[vulpesvulpes]

Good to see Laura. Sorry I split from the live chat. The yaks decided that to jump the fence.

So. Those guys had to know what they were doing. Too elaborate. Too complex. Even for such a simple structure.

Fox out

[dominicmcauley]

For once I'm not familiar with the subject of one of you videos so I'm quite looking forward to this.

[scottzema]

I've developed a theory of general megalithic design and for that matter ancient Neolithic building. And that is that these monuments as well as those in Southeastern Turkey and in non-literate cultures in general one sees an expected ad hoc system of measurements and constructions without necessarily evidence of apriori detailed planning before construction. In other words the products of Neolithic culture are not the precise products of scientific industry and design one might see in later cultures or in our own culture, but are less precise in character and the products of the skilled builder or craftsman rather than the architectural team. They are extremely impressive nevertheless but have a less developed feel relative to our own engineered monuments.

So In the case of Gobekli Tepe for instance one sees almost hivelike and ad hoc agglomerations of residential units surrounding the main buildings. Dimensions are generally approximate and shapes and buildings happen with need or construction was done with an overall idea of the eventual product certainly but without the presence of plans or documents. It is also a characteristic of Native American cultural artifacts and structures. This to be sure did not reflect some form of incompetence and for any 'imprecision and approximation' one sees in the physical products of these cultures they have certainly important cultural viability and utility and impressive presence still, and of course limited tools such as stone tools inhibited easy construction and design.

For architecture the change comes with literacy and the ability to make documents and plan out larger and more complex constructions. The architect and engineer supplemented the skilled builder. With that capability come the the more regular features of monumental architecture, for instance, with which we are familiar from later cultures and eras. The Egyptians for instance required papyrus, ink, and the ability to work out on paper precise mathematical calculations to plan and build structures such as complex pyramids. SZ

[storkythepunk]

Unusual that the doorway doesn't point to sunrise, do you suppose that it was built at a time when the sun rose in a slightly different location, like maybe prior to a Polar shift, say more than 12000 years ago?

[louisgiokas]

Of course, the real answer to how these things came about is aliens. It's always aliens.

[jesperandersson]

they're stoned and have lasers with water levelling and stardom

[cynthiarowley]

Well, it came first, water first, the well came next, then everything else. Who controls the water controls civilizations.

[colinpyke]

They got giants to build them for them.