He also said that it is likely the monument was oriented around the summer solstice, allowing the sun to shine upon the community’s buried ancestors. JMN/Cover/Getty Images Flourishing crops in the Cáceres province of Spain before the drought. The hallway would lead into a more spacious main chamber that was 16 feet across, where the dead were likely kept. Scientists believe that, though its current shape appears to be that of an open-air, unfinished circle, the monument was once entirely enclosed, complete with a roof on top.Īccording to Ramirez, people would have entered through a narrow hallway adorned with engravings and other decorations to access the original structure. It was meant as a burial place and a temple to worship the sun. The re-emergence of the Dolmen de Guadalperal has no doubt excited archaeologists, who believe that the stones in the structure were transported from three miles away on the banks of the Tagus River, the longest waterway in the Iberian Peninsula, sometime in the fifth millennium BC. “You couldn’t believe how many authentic archaeological and historic gems are submerged under Spain’s man-made lakes,” Ramirez said. Primitiva Bueno Ramirez, a specialist in prehistory at the University of Alcalá, explained that the importance of archaeological studies back then weren’t as appreciated as they are now, and there was no standard practice for creating environmental reports before such a massive project was greenlit. But back then, the dolmen’s flooding was simply accepted. If water were to drown an entire archaeological site today, there would most certainly be an immediate backlash from historians and researchers, which is currently happening with the soon-to-be flooded historical site of Hasankeyf. Archaeologists hope to get the ancient structure moved before it is flooded again. “It’s spectacular because you can appreciate the entire complex for the first time in decades.”ġ080 Wildlife Productions The Dolmen de Guadalperal from above. “I had seen parts of it peeking out from the water before, but this is the first time I’ve seen it in full,” said Angel Castaño, president of the local cultural association, as quoted in Atlas Obscura. Often referred to as the “Spanish Stonehenge” thanks to certain similarities with the original in England, this structure has now appeared for the first time in 50 years. Located in the province of Cáceres, this previously-underwater monument has now been completely exposed following the harsh drought that has hit the area. Take Spain’s 7,000-year-old Dolmen de Guadalperal, a megalithic monument made up of 144 standing stones - some up to six feet tall - arranged in a circular open space. But for archaeologists, these severe changes sometimes help them gain access to relics that were previously out of reach. Severe changes in weather, particularly across Europe, have been a curse for farmers whose crops are suffering and who are losing millions of euros because of it. Ruben Ortega Martin/Raices de Peraleda The Dolmen de Guadalperal, also known as the “Spanish Stonehenge,” has been completely exposed for the first time in 50 years following the drought.
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