The Power of Neolithic Engineering

The entrance to Dolmen of Menga

Post Author - Ellis Nolan

When we think of the origins of science, mathematics, and engineering, names like Ptolemy and Archimedes might come to mind, but what if the principles they would be credited with discovering were used thousands of years before those men were even born? A recent study on one of the earliest human structures on Earth suggests just that.

The subject of this claim is the 6,000-year-old limestone monument known as The Dolmen of Menga. Located in southern Spain, “Menga,” as it is referred to by the authors, belongs to a category of massive prehistoric structures known as “megaliths.” Stonehenge in the United Kingdom and the Carnac Stones in France are other notable examples.

Menga’s assembly includes 32 limestone blocks weighing over 1,140 tons. The heaviest of the bunch weighs in at a whopping 150 tons, making it “one of the largest stones ever moved in Europe’s prehistory.” Scientists say such a feat would have been impossible without an advanced knowledge of physics and geometry.

A support beam inside the structure 

In their analysis, the authors of the study concluded that the Dolmen of Menga represents a “unique example of creative genius and early science among Neolithic societies” due to a variety of factors. By examining footage from past archaeological excavations and studies, the authors were able to deduce the order in which the stones were placed to construct the monument, revealing a highly strategic and precise process that resulted in each stone connecting with and thereby supporting the weight of its neighbors. Not only that, but the scientists found that a third of the height of each of the walls is buried beneath the surface into the bedrock.

Perhaps most astonishingly, the 150-ton “ceiling” stone was shaped such that its weight would be held mostly by the sides of the structure, representing possibly the first-ever architectural instance of an arch. Other archaeologists have noted that not everything can be attributed to the knowledge of prehistoric peoples: one has argued that similar shaping of stones in other megaliths has been due to erosion. Much around these awe-inspiring structures still remains a mystery, but one thing seems more and more clear: whoever was wearing the prehistoric hard-hat certainly also had on their thinking cap.

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