Mysterious Menga Dolmen: A New Very Old Monument Discovered

The path leading into the center, the stone structure was covered with soil and built up into the hill that we can see today. 

Menga was not oriented to sunrise, as is the case with 95 percent of the megalithic monuments located in southern Iberia. Rather it is slightly to the north of the summer solstice, towards La Peña de Los Enamorados, a mountain that stands out in the Antequera plain, where the archaeologists from the University of Seville have discovered a small cave with both visual and symbolic links, all leading to the Menga dolmen.

In the 19th century, archaeologists have been working in the area of Menga.  They opened the grave and examined; they also found the skeletons of several hundred people inside.

Now, a scientific team from the University of Seville led by Professor Leonardo Garcia Sanjuanhas found a very old megalithic monument thanks to its excavations at the Piedras Blancas site (Antequera, Málaga). The team will document the discovery to better determine the Neolithic activity in the area and collect samples that allow us to better understand society and the environment existing at the time Menga was built.

It is believed that the newly found monument would have played an important role as a part of a sacred space for the Neolithic people living in the area before the Menga Dolmen was built.

On the summer solstice, June 21, the morning sun shines above the top of the La Peña de Los Enamorados and straight along the mysterious Menga dolmen’s entrance corridor.

It is likely that Menga Dolmen was used as a refuge, dwelling, or even animal pen but materials on this subject have never been the subject of any detailed scientific research. A recent study focuses on understanding the importance of the Antequera megaliths in prehistory and obtaining data on the site of Piedras Blancas, the neighboring site of Menga Dolmen.

Written by Conny Waters – MessageToEagle.com – AncientPages.com Staff Writer

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