Naveta
Encyclopedia
Chamber tomb
A chamber tomb is a tomb for burial used in many different cultures. In the case of individual burials, the chamber is thought to signify a higher status for the interree than a simple grave. Built from rock or sometimes wood, the chambers could also serve as places for storage of the dead from one...
unique to the Balearic
Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...
island of Minorca
Minorca
Min Orca or Menorca is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. It takes its name from being smaller than the nearby island of Majorca....
. It dates to the early Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
.
It has two vertical and two corbelled walls giving it the form of an upturned boat which is where the name comes from.
The largest example is the Naveta des Tudons
Naveta des Tudons
The Naveta des Tudons is the most famous megalithic chamber tomb in Minorca. It was used between 1200 and 750 BC. It is a collective tomb which contained, when it was discovered in 1975 at list 100 men and different objects like bronze bracelets or bone and ceramic buttons.The most usual shape for...
which is around 4m high, 14m long and 6.4m wide.