The megalithic site of La Torre-La Janera (Huelva): Prehistoric monumentalities in the Lower Guadiana

Abstract

Research on the megalithic site of La Torre-La Janera, located in the Lower Guadiana (Huelva), has integrated several non-invasive techniques of sampling, analysis and documentation: prospections, geoarchaeology, geographic information technologies and photogrammetry. The most important results have been: a) the discovery of a large number of various types of megaliths (standing-stones, dolmens, mounds, cists and enclosures) from different chrono-cultural periods built in greywacke, some of which are new to the area; b) the presence of monuments integrating outcrops as architectural and symbolic elements; c) the probable synchrony between standing-stones and funerary structures. This research contributes to the advancement of the knowledge of the megalithism in the Iberian Peninsula, opening up future lines of study, new problems and other ways of interpreting the genesis and complexity of prehistoric monumentality.