Prehistoric Spanish people transported 2-ton stone by boat

A 2-ton Megalith in southern Spain was transported to its current rent by a hitherto-over-over-the-old seafarers over 5300 years ago.

The Matarrubilla stone is a solid plaster plaster approx. 1.7 meters long with 1.2 m wide that sits within a grave -like structure of the copper age of Valencina, near Seville.

It is auced within a circular chamber calls a tholos, with just enough space to stand around it. Given its unique composition and size, it is believed that the stone was used in rituals, but its origin has been a mystery unit now.

Luis Cáceres Puro at the University of Huelva in Spain and his colleagues performed chemical analysis on the record and stimulated optical luminescence dating – which last time light hit sediments – on the ground below it to better determine its and the place of origin.

The results suggest that Megalith was drawn to its current rent between 4544 and 3277 BC, which is hundreds of years – possibly even 1000 years – earlier than previously assumed. The new dates also suggest that the rock was moved to Valencina long before the tunnel structure was built around it.

The composition of the stone mostly matches a quarry 55 kilometers away on the other side of the Guadalquivir River. At that time there was a estuary between the two places, which suggested that the stone must have been transported by boat.

This is the first proof that a megalith stone transported by boat on the Iberian Peninsula, but large stones at other megaliths in Europe, such as Stonehenge in the UK and Carnac in France, are also believed to have been transported in this way.

“The 4th millennium BC so rapid development in coastal navigation,” says team member Leonardo García Sanjuán at the University of Sevilla. “Matarrubilla Stone Basin is a good piece of indirect evidence that, in our opinion, proves that these people had advanced rest, canoe or sailing technology.”

Archaeological discoveries from other places show that communities in the Mediterranean already built sophisticated, sought -after boats, he adds.

“The crossing of the trained existing sea with such a huge stone proves once again the technical know-how for the Matarrubilla builders,” says Ramón Fabregas Valcce at the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, which was not involved in the study.

Valencina is one of the major prehistoric places in Europe covering an area of ​​more than 460 ha. Among the rare objects of the site are materials imported from far -reaching regions, included Amber, Flint, Cinnabar, Ivory and ostrich eggs.

“” “[Valencina] Contains megalithic monuments, massive ditches, extensive burial plates and refined drug culture that reveal Revels over Iberia, North Africa and the Mediterranean, ”says Cáceres Puro.

Previous work in the area has found several details indicating the site historical significance, including a centuries long period from 2900 to 2650 BC, as women were largely governed by women.

“The current study adds exciting further details to one of Valencina’s biggest monuments,” says Alasdair Whittle at Cardiff University, UK.