Architecture, Use and Chronology of the Late Bronze Age Stepped Monuments in Mallorca*
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TRABAJOS DE PREHISTORIA 75, N.º 1, enero-junio 2018, pp. 128-145, ISSN: 0082-5638 https://doi.org/10.3989/tp.2018.12207 Updating knowledge: architecture, use and chronology of the Late Bronze Age stepped monuments in Mallorca* Actualizando el conocimiento: arquitectura, uso y cronología de los monumentos escalonados en Mallorca Maria Gelabert Olivera, Jordi Hernández-Gaschb y Antoni Puig Palermc ABSTRACT radiocarbónicas relacionadas con el yacimiento de Mestre Ramon ha permitido situar el momento de construcción de The ongoing excavation of a stepped monument at the los monumentos escalonados en el período Prototalayótico Mestre Ramon settlement in the island of Mallorca provided (ca. 1100/1000-850 cal a.n.e.). Este encuadre cronológico ha new chronological and architectural information motivating sido la base del análisis de las características arquitectónicas an analytical review of known Mallorcan stepped monuments. de dichos monumentos y su relación con otras estructuras. El The combination of the already existing chronological infor- trabajo que se presenta ofrece una caracterización prelimi- mation and the new radiocarbon dates for Mestre Ramon place nar, pero detallada, de las peculiaridades materiales de los the construction of stepped monuments within the Prototalai- monumentos escalonados y de su dimensión social dentro de otic period (ca. 1100/1000-850 cal BCE). This chronology los procesos de transformación social que se desarrollaron constitutes the basis for an analysis of the architectural char- durante el final de la Edad de Bronce en Mallorca. acteristics of the monuments and of their relationships with other structures. This study offers a preliminary, but detailed, Key words: Balearic Bronze Age; Monumentality; Stepped characterisation of the material features of stepped monuments structures; Ritual practices; Chronology. and their social dimension within the process of social transfor- mation that occurred during the Late Bronze Age in Mallorca. Palabras clave: Edad de Bronce Balear; Monumentalidad; Estructuras escalonadas; Prácticas rituales; Cronología. RESUMEN 1. INTRODUCTION La excavación en curso de un monumento escalonado en el yacimiento de Mestre Ramon en la isla de Mallorca ha apor- tado nueva información cronológica y arquitectónica que ha Monumental structures, such as naviforms, talaiots motivado una revisión analítica de las estructuras conocidas and settlement walls, are the most emblematic material como monumentos escalonados en Mallorca. La combinación expressions of the late prehistory of the island of Ma- de la información cronológica existente con nuevas dataciones llorca (Fig. 1) 1. These monuments are still a part of the * Archaeological research project at the Mestre Ramon archaeological site (2013-2017). Funding institutions: Son Servera Council and Washington University (through the Washington University Study Abroad program: Landscape, Encounters, and Identity Archaeology Project). a Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte. Graduate School Human Development in Landscapes at Kiel University. Johanna-Mestorf-Straße 2-6. 24118 Kiel. Germany. E-mail: [email protected] https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5904-0996 b Institut Català d’Arqueologia Clàssica. Pl. d’en Rovellat s/n. 43003 Tarragona. Spain. E-mail: [email protected] https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9626-1904 c Independent researcher. Apartat de Correus 122. 07500 Manacor. Spain. E-mail: [email protected] https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2289-874X Recibido 28-II-2017; aceptado 11-VIII-2017. 1 Since there is still not unanimous agreement of the different research groups about the periodization of the prehistory of Mallorca, it seems appropriate to clarify that in this article we use the periodization proposed by the research team of the University Autonomous of Barcelona (Lull et al. 1999, 2008; Micó 2005), although the period that starts in the VI century cal BC (designated by them as Post-talaiotic) is denoted here as Bale- aric, and its conclusion is not pinpointed to 123 BC —the official date of the Roman Conquest of the Balearic Islands— but rather to the change of era. The periods used will be: Naviform ca. 1600-1100/1000 cal BCE, Prototalaiotic ca. 1100/1000-850 cal BCE, Talaiotic ca. 850-550 cal BCE and Balearic ca. 550 cal BCE-1 arch AD. Copyright: © 2018 CSIC. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License. Updating knowledge: architecture, use and chronology of the Late Bronze Age stepped monuments in Mallorca 129 Monumental Period Chronology architecture Naviform ca. 1600–1100/1000 cal BCE Naviforms Fig. 1. Above: Mallorca within the western Medi- terranean and location of studied Mallorcan stepped Naviforms and first Prototalaiotic ca. 1100/1000–850 cal BCE monuments: Mestre Ramon (1), Son Oms (2), Pula tower-like monuments (3), Son Ferrer (4), Can Sec I and Can Sec II (5), Son Mas des Potecari (6), Sa Gruta (7), and Es Figueral Talaiotic ca. 850–550 cal BCE Talaiots de Son Real (8). Right: Periodization of the late pre- Balearic ca. 550 cal BCE–1 arch AD Settlement walls history of Mallorca. landscape of the island today, being the object of many The stepped profile was the basic feature that distin- publications, and they structure the chrono-cultural se- guishes these structures from the talaiots of Mallorca. quence of the prehistory of Mallorca. The talaiots are However, there are further characteristics that also differ. the most numerous of these monuments, and in the For instance, these monuments are solid structures that social imaginary, they represent the prehistory and the do not have a chamber or a column and were probably archaeology of the island. Talaiots are tower-like build- not roofed. Nevertheless, these stepped monuments were ings with circular or rectangular floor plans. They have still classified as talaiots, while specifying their particu- walls with a tripartite structure (including an external larities (Rosselló-Bordoy 1965a, 1979). and an internal wall separated by a filling), an access Aramburu-Zabala (1998) established a typology for passage, and an internal chamber, which usually has the monuments of the late prehistory of Mallorca in a column in the central part that supports the roof. which the structures that have a stepped profile were dis- The excavation of the Son Oms complex presented a tinguished from the “classical talaiots”. 117 monuments new category of monument for the prehistory of Mallor- with a stepped profile were inventoried and classified ca: the stepped monument or tumulus (Rosselló-Bordoy according to three types: the stepped talaiots (e.g., Pula), 1963a, 1965b). Very soon, many structures were asso- the stepped tumulus (e.g., Son Oms), and the stepped ciated with the Son Oms monument since these also platforms (e.g., Puig des Diners). According to this present a stepped profile, for example, Son Mas des Po- classification, the stepped talaiots have a circular floor tecari, Sa Gruta, Sa Sínia Nova (Rosselló-Bordoy 1963b: plan, while the stepped tumulus have a circular or oval 66) and subsequently Pula (Rosselló-Bordoy 1992: 424). floor plan and they culminate in a rectangular structure; Trab. Prehist., 75, N.º 1, enero-junio 2018, pp. 128-145, ISSN: 0082-5638 https://doi.org/10.3989/tp.2018.12207 130 Maria Gelabert Oliver, Jordi Hernández-Gasch y Antoni Puig Palerm the stepped platforms are stepped tumuli placed on an central tower-like monument (referred to by the author elevated area on a border of a cliff, so that they do not as Sant Jordi). The cleaning campaign of 2012, carried present a symmetric and “complete” floor plan. out by A. Puig —which constituted the beginning of Since 2000, the excavation of four stepped monu- the ongoing research project— focused on a section ments (Son Ferrer, Can Sec I, Can Sec II, and Mestre of the settlement wall of the Balearic period and on Ramon) has amplified evidence for these structures. the tower-like monument. The latter was identified and Their systematic excavation applied more accurate sci- described as a stepped monument (Hernández-Gasch entific methods, provided new architectonical, chrono- et al. 2015). During following campaigns, two more logical, and contextual information, and made com- structures were identified: enclosure 1 to the south of parisons between stepped monuments possible. Thus, the stepped monument and enclosure 2 to the south- the study of these four structures, together with the east. In other parts of the settlement some stone align- ones excavated earlier (such as Son Oms and Pula), ments and structures were recognized, but further in- enables us to undertake a preliminary definition of the tervention is required to investigate their architecture. material characteristics of the stepped monuments and Of all these structures, only the stepped monument is their social significance in the prehistory of Mallorca. described in detail in this article with special attention This article puts special emphasis on the Mestre to the radiocarbon dates that are published for the first Ramon monument; unpublished information is present- time. A general description of the settlement and the ed, since it is the ongoing excavations at that site that research project, developed together with the Univer- motivated the writing of this state of the art analysis sity of Washington, was published recently (Hernán- of the stepped structures in Mallorca. dez-Gasch et al. 2015). The stepped monument at Mestre Ramon is located on the top of a hill, ca. 40 m above sea level and it 2. STUDIED STEPPED MONUMENTS is composed of two structures: a central platform and a surrounding step placed at a lower level (Figs. 2 2.1. The Mestre Ramon monument and 3). The step is not a solid structure over which the platform is placed, but a concentric construction The Mestre Ramon complex was classified by Aram- attached to the platform. Each structure consists of a buru-Zabala (1998: 249) as a talaiotic settlement with a bipartite wall, including a perimeter wall with larger Fig.