Cornia Nou

Main article: Prehistory and history of the Balearic Islands: Menorca

Chronology

Talaiotic I (1400-1000 BC)

Cornia Nou was founded on top of a rocky hill, of which many stones have been extracted to be used in the construction of buildings. The village of Cornia Nou possesses many structures, but the most remarkable are two talaiots, both have a circular plan and a shape of a truncated cone. The western talaiot is of a great size, while the eastern talaiot is incorporated into a defensive wall and lies next to two connected water reservoirs excavated in the rock. There is a nearby hill of 4.000 m² surrounded by a wall of cyclopean masonry, which still preserves a gate composed of polylithic pillars and a monolithic lintel, now fallen. Also included in the village is a sanctuary and several hypogaea that are part of a necropolis. Many artefacts have been recovered during the excavations. The objects that have been found are a bronze dagger, Talaiotic, Punic Roman, Iberian and Arabic ceramics, mortar, a deer antler, and hand mills.

The western talaiot

Dimensions

Structure: 26 m (length) × 22 m (width) × 10 m (height)

This solid talaiot is the largest of the two talaiots of the village, with an imposing stair reaching to the top. The recent excavations have uncovered an apsidal-shaped structure which leads to a tunnel into a precinct. This tunnel in turn connects to an external platform that leads to the steep stair of the talaiot. Besides this tunnel, two other steep stairs have been discovered, one to the southeast and another one to the west. On top of the talaiot there used to be a precinct.