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The Talaiotic Culture

Note: Talaiotic may also be spelled "Talayotic."The first is Catalan and the second is Castilian.

The Talaiotic culture is native to Menorca and Mallorca, but it is not native to Ibiza, the third Balearic isle.There are many Mediterranean cultures who left remains on Menorca due to it's central location in the sea.These include cultures from North Africa, Italy, Spain, Greece, Egypt, and Ibiza.The vast majority of archaeological material found comes from Ibiza.The native Menorcans were not a marine culture, and they were very set within the bounds of their own island.

In 600 BC, Carthaginians from North Africa sought a new place to colonize.They decided on Ibiza, which is capable of great agricultural production and has many natural ports.The name Ibiza comes from "Ebesus," which means "island of the god Bes."Bes was an Egyptian deity adopted by the Ibizans.The Carthaginians in Ibiza sent out ambassadors to Menorca and Mallorca.Though Menorca has little in the way of natural resources, it was a desirable place to obtain mercenaries.Menorca was known for Balearic slingshot mercenaries who were very accurate.Ibiza and Carthage hoped to exchange goods for slaves from Menorca.

The first Menorcans came from Valencia, Spain.The first Talaiots on the island inhabited well-sheltered, rocky areas and caves with natural springs.The oldest human remains on Menorca date to 4700 BC.Their settlements progressed from caves to man-made caves to villages and small cities. With the development of a more complex society came social stratification, as evidenced in Talaiotic burials.The original burial sites were caves, but the people eventually built large necropolises, called navetas.Navetas are shaped like upside-down boats and have two stories.The dead would be left in the bottom story to desiccate.Once decomposed, the bones were taken upstairs to be sorted into piles.One naveta could house 800 bodies.

The Talaiotic people built monumental structures out of stone, but they were not very technologically advanced.They did not have an alphabet, numerical system, or produce their own coins.As a result, when they began trading with other areas, they probably got the raw end of the deal, being unable to use coins in place of goods.Their art, where there is any, is very simplistic, using only linear, non-representational decoration.

The evidence for Talaiotic religion comes from the large, open-air temples that they built.It is speculated that the temples were built in correlation with astronomy, but there is no evidence at this point to support that.At the center of the temple would be placed two large stones in a "T" shape.This altar was called a taula and would have been a massive centerpiece for Talaiotic rituals.