Brief Summary
Located on the island of Menorca, the second largest of the Balearic Islands in the western Mediterranean, a series of nine constituent elements of the Migjorn and Tramuntana regions of Menorca surround a dense set of archaeological sites with cyclopean structures dating back to the of the Bronze. . (1600 BC) until the end of the Iron Age (123 BC). The agro-pastoral landscapes recall the island’s profession through prehistoric communities in settlements and cemeteries scattered across the dry plateau to the south and on the steep hills that emerge. To the north.
Cyclopean architecture, composed of structures constructed from gigantic blocks of mortarless stone, illustrates in a wide diversity of typologies the evolution of the island’s dry stone structure practices. Characteristic structures include hypogea (man-made caves), talayots (giant, cone-shaped, regularly truncated structures), taula enclosures (religious structures with a central T-shaped structure formed through a giant oblong stone slab and an inverted truncated pyramidal capital), navetas (which feature an inverted shipping shape, and, in some cases, rounded floors), circular houses and hypostyles (roofs supported by pillars).
The evolution of the spatial organization of these prehistoric structures suggests the emergence of a hierarchical society. The various visual interconnections between archaeological sites signify social media lifestyles, and astronomical orientations signify imaginable cosmological meanings. Together, this series of ancient stone settlements and their landscapes provide a window into the prehistoric island cultures of this region.
Criterion (iii): The high density of prehistoric sites on Menorca and their unusual level of preservation represent an outstanding demonstration of prehistoric dry stone building techniques. The structures unique to this island such as the burial navetas, circular houses and taulas, together with talayots and other dry-stone structures associated with the spatial organisation and occupation of the landscape by prehistoric communities in a challenging island environment, are an exceptional testimony to a tradition of cyclopean architecture and its evolution over a period of approximately 1,500 years.
Criterion (iv): Talayotic Menorca is a remarkable ensemble of prehistoric cyclopean architecture that demonstrates the organization and practices of communities from the Bronze Age to the end of the Iron Age. Navetas, talayots, taulas and circular houses in the interior of the nine parts of the island illustrate the evolution of the profession on the island and constitute a vital source of knowledge about life in this period. The distribution of prehistoric sites in Menorca’s agropastoral landscape illustrates a spatial organization that, thanks to the preservation of a gigantic amount of evidence, is still largely legible, showing the visual interconnections between cyclopean structures, as well as the sacred, symbolic potentials and political connotations.
Integrity
Within the barriers of the serial goods are all the elements to explain the Outstanding Universal Value of Talayotic Menorca, adding prehistoric cyclopean architecture in a wide diversity of typologies that illustrate the evolution of the cyclopean construction practices of the island for some 1,500 years since the Bronze Age. Age to the end of the Iron Age. Its barriers adequately ensure the complete representation of the characteristics and processes that convey the importance of assets. Assets do not unduly suffer the negative effects of progression and/or neglect.
Authenticity
Serial assets meet authenticity situations. Its cultural values are truthfully and credibly expressed through a variety of attributes, including places and settings, bureaucracy and designs, and the structure and substance of archaeological remains, most of which have a high degree of authenticity. The sites of the prehistoric cyclopean structures and settlements are authentic, while their environments, represented through the agro-pastoral landscapes included within the barriers of the assets as well as the buffer zones, have evolved but are believed to evoke eras previous. The archaeological sites have been well documented and the data resources on the sites and excavations are credible.
Protection and management requirements
Serial heritage is carried out through a built-in formula of environmental, cultural, landscape and territorial coverage regimes under the auspices of the Menorca Island Council. All prehistoric archaeological structures are covered by Law 12/1998 on the Historical Heritage of the Balearic Islands, most of which are also designated as Assets of Cultural Interest (BIC), which is the maximum point of coverage for cultural assets. in accordance with Spanish legislation, regulated by Law 16/1985, on Spanish Historical Heritage. Menorca’s Island Development Plan (2020) provides extra protection for the nine constituent elements of serial heritage as areas of landscape interest. Special coverage to the night sky is also offered.
The Consell Insular de Menorca is responsible for the control of serial assets, the application of all legislation on asset coverage and the implementation of the instruments for drawing up plans. He created the Talayotic Agency of Menorca to coordinate and implement the programs established in the Management Plan, which includes conservation, restoration, monitoring, visitor control, communication and research. Master plans will be prepared for each of the key archaeological sites considered to be the most vital and visited. The Universal Value of the assets over time would derive advantages from each key archaeological site having a Master Plan and establishing express control objectives for each of its parts in relation to the conservation of the attributes that the Universal Value Outstanding Value.