Radiocarbon research places people in Mallorca by about 2200 BC, over 1,000 years earlier than the old chronology, though some official chronologies still list later dates. Human remains are scarce in Talayotic settlement areas, but not absent from the wider prehistoric record: Cova des Camp del Bisbe contains human bones and pottery, and Menorca navetas document bones from earlier interments. The video argues that excarnated bones may have been stored separately in caves, then mixed with later remains or lost. That is a proposed explanation, not an established finding. The revised start date alone does not prove 2,000 years of continuous Talayotic settlement, and substantial traces—talayots, tools, pottery and burials—survive.
Why human bones are scarce in Mallorca’s Talayotic settlements
Site mentioned
📍 Mallorca
Key facts
- Radiocarbon research places human presence in Mallorca at about 2200 BC, more than 1,000 years earlier than the previously accepted date.
- The revised start date does not establish 2,000 years of continuous Talayotic settlement.
- Human remains are uncommon in excavated Talayotic settlement contexts, but they are known from prehistoric burial contexts such as Cova des Camp del Bisbe.
- In Menorca, later burials in a naveta could push bones from earlier interments toward the rear wall, creating chaotic mixed deposits.
- The excarnation-and-cave-storage explanation is the video’s proposed account; the cited results do not establish it as a researcher consensus.
- Substantial evidence survives, including talayots, bone anvils, pottery and burial assemblages.
Sources
Ses Paisses, Arta - Mallorcaseemallorca.com
This Bronze-Age talaiotic settlement near Arta is a significant site and a link with Mallorcans of 3,000 years ago. Most impressive of all is ...
Ses Païsses - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
Ses Païsses is a Bronze Age talayotic settlement on the southeastern outskirts of Artà in northeastern Majorca. ... bone, talayotic ceramics and charcoal.
Discover Mallorca's Talayotic culture - Único hotelsunicohotels.com
Mallorca's Talayotic culture is a true historical treasure that provides a temporary window into the way of life of the island's first settlers.
(PDF) Chronology of the S'Hospitalet Vell Naveta Villageresearchgate.net
This study aims to outline a chronology for Balearic Bronze Age villages, based on the case study of S'Hospitalet Vell (Manacor). A wide ...
Tour of the archaeological sites of Mallorca - Hotel Predi Son Jaumellhotelsonjaumell.com
In the east of Mallorca, near Felanitx, we find the site of Closos de Can Gaià. This Bronze Age settlement is known for its navetas, boat ...
archaeological and ethnographic insights on the ...academia.edu
This study documents 16 new bone anvils from Mallorca, enhancing our understanding of their geographic and temporal scope. Bone anvils primarily utilized equid ...
New study indicates humans were in Mallorca over 1000 ...news.unm.edu
New study indicates humans were in Mallorca over 1,000 years earlier than thought ... A new study led by interdisciplinary team researchers at the ...
The island's prehistoric periodmenorcatalayotica.info
When an individual was buried, the bones of those previously buried were pushed toward the back walls of the naveta, eventually leading to a chaotic store of ...
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