Excavation area

This year the excavation campaign began in the month of April, thanks to finance granted by the UE, the Balearic Islands Government and Calvia Town Hall by means of funds from FEDER, even although at the moment it still isn't finished,

The longer duration of the excavation campaign has allowed us to finalize the excavation in the areas that were still outstanding from previous campaigns.  Overall, the areas excavated during this campaign have been the following:

Area at the entrance of the cave:

During the campaign of 2000, research found the existence of a gap in the rock and  the entrance to a cave situated under the tumulus structure in the SE part of the tumulus (Sector 16 A). Owing to the complexity of this kind of excavation, it was decided to postpone the excavation until more time was available to carry it out in better conditions. This campaign will proceed with a systematic excavation, using a mixed system of grids and digital photography in order to document  all the materials that appear. Basically it can be confirmed that the entrance to the cave has two different areas: on the one hand there is an area where a large amount of ceramic material has been uncovered,  which could be part of a ritual post-funeral meal, on the other hand the existence of another area has been documented, nearer to  entrance of the cave, where a vast amount of bone remains have been found, probably human, which could indicate that it was an area of ritual burials. In any event, both areas are in the process of excavation and studio, so we can only talk of a hypothetical situation.

Superior area of the tumulus:
In the first excavation campaign (year 2001) the upper part of the tumulus was excavated, documenting the existence of  an age of modern period, as web as a series of square structures which are still difficult to specify.  On the following campaign an exploration was carried out in the upper part of the tumulus to try to establish how it was built and its internal composition.  Finally, in this campaign it was decided to completely excavate the upper platform of the tumulus to see the composition of the square structures that would subsequently be consolidated and restored.

Exterior rings of the tumulus:
This work is very much in relation to the previous paragraph, as the excavation of these stone rings also have the aim of establishing the building system of the tumulus. After cleaning and excavation, a series of stone rings covering the north and south area of the tumulus were uncovered. As far as other areas are concerned, in the eastern area the ring dont follow the same pattern and the  western area it is difficult to establish any existence at all. Owing to the large amount of fallen stones. In this area, it was decided to empty the area between the superior ring and the inferior, to try to see the building technique, finally arriving to a fossil dune.

Inferior area west of the tumulus:
After the three previous excavation campaigns, this area was the only one that was left to be finished. During this campaign it has been cleaned and excavated, which has allowed us to verify how the structure of the tumulus stands on the fossil dune.  At the same time we have been able to document the existence of a series of walls ( one of them made with stones of a considerable size) which unfortunately hasnt been totally conserved as it has been partially destroyed by the wall of a neighbouring house.