page_title: Talaiotic culture
section_title: The Talaiotic Period in Menorca
hierarchical_section_title: Talaiotic culture / The Talaiotic Period in Menorca
caption_attribution_description: English: This is a taula from the archaeological site Talatì de Dalt. The site is about 4km west of Maó on the island of Menorca.
context_page_description: The Talaiotic Culture or Talaiotic Period is the name used to describe the society that existed on the Gymnesian Islands during the Iron Age. Its origins date from the end of the second millennium BC, when the inaccurately named Pre-Talaiotic Culture underwent a crisis and evolved into the Talaiotic Culture. Its name is derived from the talaiots, which are the most abundant and emblematic structures from the prehistoric period of the Balearic Islands.
context_section_description: The reorganization of Menorcan society into chieftainships and towns occurred on similar lines to societal changes on Mallorca, although some Menorcan towns were much larger than Majorcan ones, indicating, perhaps, the existence of stronger social changes or tensions.  The variety of monuments on Menorca (besides talaiots) constructed from the end of the Bronze Age and throughout the Iron Age, surpasses that found on Mallorca.  At the end of the 2nd millennium BC, there appeared tombs known as “navetas.”   They were built with Talaiotic techniques, but were also drawn from a very ancient tradition that contains many similarities to the tradition of the construction of dolmens going back a previous millennium. 
  The construction known as the Taula is considered the most emblematic ceremonial monument of Menorca.  It served as a sanctuary, and its enclosure had a horseshoe form, similar to those found on Mallorca but unlike the Majorcan variety, had a great central structure resembling a table (“taula” means “table” in the Catalan language).  The exact construction date of these sanctuaries is not known, although the enclosures could have existed throughout the Talaiotic, and the central monuments could belong to any date throughout the first millennium.
  The first author who wrote about the Talayotic monuments of Menorca was Juan Ramis in his book Celtic antiques on the island of Menorca, which was edited 1818, being the first book in Spanish language entirely devoted to Prehistory.
caption: The Taula of Talatí de Dalt, near Maó, Menorca.
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