It can be seen how some osseous raw materials played an important role in the manufacture of very particular objects. Based on the archeozoological analysis of the worked osseous material (54 items), the study of the raw material revealed a dominant use of bone (74%), followed by a less important exploitation of tooth (26%).įocusing on the worked bone assemblage, it is worth mentioning that most of the objects seem to have been used before becoming part of the funerary goods, based on the analysis of the object surfaces. Regarding the typology, the assemblage has been organized in three different groups: pointed tools, round objects (lids) and ornaments, being this last one the most abundant featured by V-perforated buttons. Nevertheless, the find material unearthed inside the cave displays a great amount and variety of material culture, including a significant number of objects made from hard osseous materials.Ī total amount of 54 objects made from osseous raw material have been recovered during four archaeological seasons (from 2014 to 2017). The current excavated area is not more than 10% of the total cave. Regarding the entrance to the cave, the first thing that strikes the observer is an impressive cyclopean stone gate made from large stone slabs reminiscent the entrance to some of the megaliths that we can still be seen today in the Iberian Peninsula and elsewhere in Europe as well.īased on the available data, it is presently thought that some inner areas might have been anthropically modified because the animal bone remains, wood fragments, tools and ornaments are mixed with a large number of disarticulated human bones, that nevertheless seem to display a certain sort of order within the apparent chaos. Biniadrís is a natural cave which has been scarcely modified by human activity and located 10 meters from the ground on brow of an overhanging cliff. The Biniadrís cave is located on the eastern edge of the ravine with the same name, which leads into the archaeological area of Calescoves, in the central part of the island.
At this time, a few small natural cavities where used as burial places since the end of the second millennium BC.
Based on the material culture, specially focusing on the pottery, and without available radiocarbon dates, it seems that the use of the Biniadrís cave as an important social and ritual place coincides with the Naviform Period in the island of Menorca (1740-1400 BC). Biniadrís, together with the caves of Mussol, Cárritx and Pas, is distinguished for the impressive conservation and very particular funerary rituals discovered within them. Around one hundred of cavities have been discovered, including the cave of Biniadrís, located on the side of a gorge around 2km far from the coastline. Here, several excavations and research work have been carried out since the decade of 1960s. An extraordinary example is the funerary landscape of Calescoves, located within the municipality of Alaior. Of special note are the caves that witnesses social and symbolic rituals within their walls around 3400 years ago. Hundreds of caves feature in the natural landscape of the island of Menorca (Spain). The cave of Biniadris (Menorca, Spain) and the worked osseous assemblages from the Bronze Age funerary record in the Balearic Islands
0 kommentar(er)
