The Taulas of Menorca
On the island of Menorca stand giant T-shaped stone monuments, one stone balanced on another, inside horseshoe-shaped walls. No one knows what they were for.
What was reported
A taula, Catalan for 'table', is a monument found only on the island of Menorca: a huge stone slab standing upright, with a second flat stone laid across its top, forming a giant T up to about 4 metres high. Each stands inside a horseshoe-shaped enclosure of stones.
Local legends said they were built by giants. Researchers have suggested they were altars, symbols of a god, a support for a roof, or astronomical markers.
Explanations offered
They were built by the Talayotic culture of the Balearic Islands, roughly between 1000 and 100 BC. Excavations around some have found offerings and statues, including an Egyptian figure, suggesting they were religious sites, but their exact purpose is unknown.
- When
- Built about 1000–100 BC
- Where
- Torralba d'en Salord, Menorca, Spain
- Witnesses
- Archaeologists and visitors
- Status
- Purpose unknown
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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