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Drought Revealed the “Spanish Stonehenge,” the Dolmen of Guadalperal

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Dolmen of Guadalperal Spanish Stonehenge, Megalithic Stone Monument Spain

The Dolmen of Guadalperal, knwon as the “Spanish Stonehenge.” (Picture: Pleonr by means of Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.)

Megaliths are huge stones made use of by prehistoric peoples to create monuments or buildings. Potentially the most popular illustration of a megalithic construction is Stonehenge in England. However, historic (and usually mysterious) stone constructions can be uncovered across Europe. In 2019, an unusually dry summer time induced the waters of the Valdecañas Reservoir to recede, revealing a monument that has come to be referred to as the “Spanish Stonehenge.” NASA satellites captured pictures of the uncovered stones recognised as the Dolmen of Guadalperal, which experts suspect could have been constructed sometime in the next or 3rd millennium BCE.

The Dolmen of Guadalperal is a collection of 150 large granite stones arranged in a circular framework with what seems to be an entranceway guarded by a menhir (standing stone) carved with snake and cup motifs. The term dolmen is generally applied to explain an historic structure wherever standing stones aid a big capstone to produce a chamber—a framework usually used for early Neolithic tombs. The Dolmen of Guadalperal most likely once had a mounded top rated, and the chamber inside could have functioned as a tomb, a spiritual site, or a buying and selling submit together the Tagus River in southeastern Spain.

This historic site was found in 1926 by the German archaeologist Hugo Obermaier, who also uncovered artifacts from the suspected builders of the monument that advised they lived close by for the duration of its development. In 1963, underneath the rule of Francisco Franco, the federal government flooded the region containing the Dolmen to create the Valdecañas Reservoir. Only the suggestions of the major megaliths were noticeable over the waterline till the the latest drought that struck Europe in the summertime of 2019. With record minimal drinking water amounts, the Dolmen emerged in full for the to start with time in a long time.

The drastic adjust in h2o concentrations and the emergence of the monument have been witnessed by NASA’s Operational Land Imager satellites. In between 2013 and 2019, a wide change in the reservoir depth can be found. The Dolmen of Guadalperal—underwater for decades—was obvious when more. The monument’s engravings have eroded all through its time submerged the porous stones are not faring nicely. Some regional residents have been advocating moving the stones to recreate the monument in safer territory. This phase, they argue, would preserve the monument, boost tourism, and proudly screen Spain’s prehistoric historical past.

A megalithic stone monument identified as the “Spanish Stonehenge” is the Dolmen of Guadalpera.

Dolmen of Guadalperal Spanish Stonehenge, Megalithic Stone Monument Spain

The monument in 2019. (Image: Pleonr by using Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.)

Found out in 1929, it was afterwards submerged underwater by the generation of the Valdecañas Reservoir in 1963.

Dolmen of Guadalperal Spanish Stonehenge, Megalithic Stone Monument Spain

The Dolmen of Guadalperal in the summer months of 2012. (Photo: Pleonr by way of Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.)

The drought of the summer of 2019 brought on the water stages to slide to historic lows, exposing the Dolmen in full.

NASA Dolmen of Guadalperal Spanish Stonehenge, Megalithic Stone Monument Spain

The Valdecañas Reservoir on July 24, 2013. (Image: NASA Earth Observatory visuals by Lauren Dauphin, working with Landsat details from the U.S. Geological Study)

This rare event was captured by NASA satellites and has encouraged locals to advocate for the monument’s relocation absent from corrosive ailments.

NASA Dolmen of Guadalperal Spanish Stonehenge, Megalithic Stone Monument Spain

The Valdecañas Reservoir on July 25, 2019. (Photo: NASA Earth Observatory photos by Lauren Dauphin, working with Landsat information from the U.S. Geological Survey)

h/t: [Wikiwand, Newsweek]

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