The “Spanish Stonehenge” hidden under the waters of the reservoir reappears on the surface

Experts came to the site to study and preserve the rocky monument, which was flooded in 1963 by order of dictator Francisco Franco.

The Guadalperal dolmen, a rock complex between 5,000 and 7,000 years old located in the Valdecañas Reservoir, in the Spanish province of Cáceres, known as the ‘Spanish Stonehenge’, has recently emerged from the waters and archaeologists are taking advantage of this circumstance to conduct research and conservation tasks.

In the words of the Director-General of Fine Arts at the Ministry of Culture, Maria Dolores Jiménez, “It is a piece of great importance that must be carefully analyzed so that in the near future the unknowns that surround this dolmen can be clarified,” according to Date EFE.

In turn, archaeologist and professor of prehistory at the Complutense University of Madrid, Enrique Cirillo, specified that the work of experts means «Understand how this scene works from an archaeological point of viewHow did people live in this area 6000 years ago.

submerged by order of Franco

The 140-stone Guadalperal dolmen was discovered by German priest and archaeologist Hugo Obermaier in 1925, but in 1963 it was submerged due to the construction of the Valdecañas Reservoir by order of dictator Francisco Franco.

The memorial consists of an oval room with a diameter of five meters and a 21-meter access corridor located at its end Minhaer sculpted with a snake and various bowls. It is believed that at different times the structure was used for various purposes, from as a solar temple to a mass burial site.

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In 2019, a severe and prolonged drought with numerous discharges into neighboring Portugal caused the water level in the reservoir to drop until it left the dolmen at Discover Expose the damage done to the monument.

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