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Chronological Framework for the Early Talayotic Period in Menorca: The Settlement of Cornia Nou

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2016

Montserrat Anglada ,
Antoni Ferrer ,
Lluís Plantalamor ,
Damià Ramis ,
Mark van Strydonck  and
Guy De Mulder
Montserrat Anglada*
Affiliation:
Museu de Menorca, Avda. Dr. Guàrdia, s/n, 07701 Maó, Spain
Antoni Ferrer
Affiliation:
Museu de Menorca, Avda. Dr. Guàrdia, s/n, 07701 Maó, Spain
Lluís Plantalamor
Affiliation:
Museu de Menorca, Avda. Dr. Guàrdia, s/n, 07701 Maó, Spain
Damià Ramis
Affiliation:
Museu de Menorca, Avda. Dr. Guàrdia, s/n, 07701 Maó, Spain
Mark van Strydonck
Affiliation:
Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Jubelpark 1, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium
Guy De Mulder
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
*
4. Corresponding author: [email protected].
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Abstract

The prehistoric site of Cornia Nou (Menorca) features a number of well-preserved architectural structures belonging to the Talayotic culture. Over the last 6 yr, a team linked to the Museum of Menorca has conducted an archaeological excavation project of a large rectangular building attached to the south side of a substantial and massive talayot, which is considered the western talayot. The main objective of this paper is to present the chronological framework of this building, specifying the period of use and the time of abandonment of the building, as well as the dating of the different phases of its construction. A total of 27 14C analyses were obtained from samples of the stratigraphic layers and architectonic structures inside the South Building (SB). This research has provided new insights concerning the early stages of the Talayotic culture. The 14C dates allow us to place the first recorded occupation phase of the SB in an interval dated within 1100–900 BC (phase 4). A second phase in the occupation of the SB dates to ∼900–800 BC (phase 5). A final occupation phase could be situated between 800–600 BC (phase 6). However, this record provides evidence to suggest that the construction of the west talayot may pertain to a time before the beginning of the 1st millennium cal BC.

Type
Balearic Islands: New Data for an Old Story
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 56 , Issue 2 , 2014 , pp. 411 - 424
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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