Taulas *

The Taulas, on the island of Menorca in the Balearics, are one of a number of distinctive types of often enigmatic megalithic structures found on some of the islands of the Central and Western Mediterranean. Along with taulas^(a) we have the menhirs of Corsica^(b), the nuraghi of Sardinia^(c) and the temples of Malta^(d). It has been claimed^(e) that the Maltese temples were built by ancient Sicilians, a claim which raises an obvious question as to why, if that was the case, no comparable temples were built on Sicily, which does have its own collection of dolmens^(f).

A February 2023 BBC article noted that “Menorca has one of the highest concentrations of prehistoric sites in the world (a selection of which are being considered for inclusion in Unesco’s World Heritage list in 2023). If the island is granted World Heritage status this year, it will unlock more funding for much-needed research that may help answer some of the mysteries of the taulas. It would also be a boon for cultural tourism, encouraging new visitors to explore this beautiful island with its unique archaeological heritage.” ^(l)

Waldemar Fenn, a German archaeologist came to Menorca in the 1930s and began a study of the taulas and spent the rest of his life there. He concluded that the monuments had an astronomical use and that the ancient people of Minorca who created these taulas over 3,500 years ago used them to follow the moon and accurately predicted lunar eclipses^(k)!

Peter Hochsieder & Doris Knösel have published^[1064] an extensive study of the thirty-one taulas remaining, including an investigation of their possible archaeoastronomical significance. A recent study^(g) of Neolithic tombs in Monte Revincu, appears to confirm that these monuments had an astronomical orientation, supporting the opinions of Michael Hoskin⁽ⁱ⁾ as well as those of Hochsieder & Knösel^(h).>Other theories can be found on the larazzodeltempo.it website^(j).<

Taulas (which means ‘table’ in Catalan) are frequently found near talayots, which are earlier tower-like structures of which there are at least 274 on Majorca and Menorca.

>I have commented elsewhere that the shape of the taulas is remarkably like that of the monuments found at Göbekli Tepe! However, the two sites are not only separated by thousands of kilometers but by many thousands of years!<

^(a) https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-europe/taulas-menorca-mysterious-megaliths-talaiotic-people-002702

^(b) https://web.archive.org/web/20160918230516/https://www.roughguides.com/destinations/europe/france/corsica/sartène-sartè-around/megalithic-sites/

^(c) https://www.charmingsardinia.com/sardinia/su-nuraxi.html

^(d) https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/132

^(e) https://www.bestofsicily.com/mag/art294.htm

^(f) https://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=28149

^(g) https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00182769/document

^(h) https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/002182869002101504

(i) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3592631.stm 

^(j) The mysterious megaliths of Menorca – The Tapestry of Time (larazzodeltempo.it) 

^(k) https://www.historicmysteries.com/taulas-menorca/ *

^(l) https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20230205-menorcas-mysterious-tables-for-giants