Dolmen of Menga (Antequera)
An Andalusian dolmen whose capstone weighs 150 tonnes — the heaviest ever moved in Iberia. The only one in Europe to carry interior pillars, it does not target the sun like the others, but a mountain shaped like a face.
- Location
- Spain · Europe
- Civilisation
- Neolithic
- Period
- ~3800 → ~3600 BC
- Technique
- Passage-covered dolmen, limestone slabs, interior pillars
- Studies
- Extensively studied (García Sanjuán, U. Seville): multi-method dating 2023, stone provenance 2023, engineering 2024.
the state of research converges — open to revision. A revisable snapshot of the state of research, never a judgement.
→ Show on the mapThe elements of the site
Where the site is
37.025° N, 4.545° W · satellite view
What science says
A gallery chamber 24.9 m long, 5.7 m wide, rising to 3.45 m at the rear, formed of 32 stones weighing ~1,140 t in total. Three interior pillars aligned on the axis (a probable fourth originally) — an arrangement unique in Europe.
The C-5 capstone weighs ~149.6 ± 9.2 t: the heaviest ever moved in Iberian megalithism, 2nd in Europe after the Grand Menhir Brisé at Locmariaquer. The limestone comes from the Cerro de la Cruz quarry, ~850 m away, with a descending elevation drop of ~50 m (Scientific Reports 2023).
Dated to ~3800–3600 BC by a concordant multi-method approach (12 AMS C14 dates + 11 OSL + 6 U-Th, Bayesian modeling; García Sanjuán et al. 2023). Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2016 (no. 1501, criteria i, iii, iv) together with Viera, El Romeral and the Peña de los Enamorados.
What remains unexplained
Related to
Studies & sources
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