MENORCA TALAYOTICA, A HISTORY OF STONE!

Menorca, a small island in the western Mediterranean with a surface area of some 700 square kilometres, has been inhabited, visited and dominated by different peoples from many different origins throughout history. The easternmost of the Balearic archipelago, its privileged enclave has for centuries been highly coveted by the different peoples who have inhabited and/or visited it. In this blog we will give a brief introduction to the origins of civilisation in Menorca, but rest assured that it will not be the last. Follow us and you will get to know our little paradise better... The historical and cultural richness of this island is almost endless! 

The island, from a geological point of view (an important condition as we will see later on) is divided into two distinct regions. The southern half of the island is made up of calcareous rocks from the Miocene, which are very porous and allow water to seep into the subsoil and create large freshwater deposits. The entire southern part of the island is very flat and is crossed by numerous ravines with their respective torrents which flow into the famous southern coves. These water reservoirs were an important source of natural resources and very fertile land for cultivation and livestock farming, which favoured the arrival of the first settlers on the island.

The other northern half of the island, geologically speaking, is made up of older Palaeozoic, Triassic and Jurassic materials, and is distinguished from the southern half because it retains water on the surface and forms a large number of wetlands during the wetter months. These circumstances together with the strong winds that constantly affect the area and the high salinity (especially near the coast) do not favour the development of livestock and agriculture, so we find less traces of human colonisation in the origins. This circumstance will change in the future, as humans learn how to cope with these circumstances.

Therefore, given the location of the island (due to its remoteness from the mainland) and its natural resources, the arrival of the first settlers and therefore their colonisation was delayed. The division of the island into two distinct geological halves meant that prehistoric human settlements were mostly concentrated in the southern half of the island, where the greatest natural resources facilitated these settlements. It is estimated that the first settlers arrived in Menorca approximately during the third millennium B.C., at the beginning of the Bronze Age. In future blogs we will tell you more about our ancestors!

Come to Ca s'Arader, www.casarader.com or reservas@casarader.com, we are waiting for you and it will be a pleasure to tell you more about our history, as well as to recommend you different places so that you can live it as if it were that time. See you soon!