The face of the earth has changed dramatically over time, and most people know that once
the whole world was one single supercontinent- pangea.
Yet what might surprise you is just how much the earth has changed in the time that humanity
has been around, a relative blink of the eye in geologic time scales.
While that's not enough time for massive continental shifts, it is more than enough time for weather
and natural events to dramatically change territory that today seems familiar, but a
hundred thousand years ago may have been completely alien to you.
Humans too though are capable of dramatically changing our environment, and many coastlines
today look nothing like they did before humans starting expanding landmasses through dredging.
The same goes for many of the world's lakes and rivers, with some rivers having been completely
re-routed from the routes they once flowed for millions of years!
Many lakes and reservoirs now dot the landscape that would not exist naturally, and in Spain,
one such reservoir has kept a long-hidden secret safely sunken away from prying eyes
under dozens of feet of water.
Yet mankind is also changing the environment in another way- global warming.
With temperatures rising, water levels in many natural and unnatural lakes and even
rivers have begun plummeting, while global oceans rise.
After years of record-setting high temperatures in Europe, Spain has suffered a severe drought
which has ravaged the nation economically- but recently, it has also revealed a stunning
archaeological secret hidden for over fifty years.
Spain's interior is no stranger to droughts, and much of its heartland is made up of very
arid territory.
In order to help farmers provide water for their crops and expand farmable land into
the interior of the nation, the Valdecanas Reservoir was built in 1963.
The quickly growing reservoir of water however soon swallowed up an archaeological site known
as the Dolmen de Guadalperal- or “treasure of Guadalperal”.
Internationally it was known as the Spanish Stonehenge, and it was discovered by German
archaeologist Hugo Obermaier, though at the time of its discovery it received very little
fanfare.
It wasn't until the reservoir covered the site that Obermaier's study of the site was
actually published.
And thus the ancient monument lay forgotten, with only the very tops of the tallest stones
poking above the water line when water levels fluctuated.
That all changed however as global warming intensified the effects of drought, and now
the monument lies entirely bare, allowing archaeologists to study it once more.
A circular monument made up of 150 large granite stones known as orthostats, the resemblance
to Stonehenge is rather uncanny.
Unlike Stonehenge though, many scientists believe that this formation once was enclosed
with a roof.
The main part of the monument is an ovoid chamber five meters in diameter, with an access
corridor that's 21 meters long and 1.4 meters wide.
At the entrance to the main chamber stands an elaborate stone two meters high that is
adorned with a snake carved on it and several cups, where it's assumed that ritualistic
fluids would have been poured or held in reserve.
The snake figure may have been some form of protective figurehead, guarding the site and
possibly of religious importance to its builders.
The main chamber itself is known to have been built by the inhabitants of the Iberian peninsula
around 2000 to 3000 BC, as it resembles the same type of construction as found at other
sites west of the Iberian peninsula.
Around the entire structure stood another circular ring of stones, with the inner part
of the monument buried under dirt and gravel.
Scientists believe that the site could have been a solar temple, dedicated to the worship
of a sun god type figure.
It was also likely used as a burial chamber, perhaps for figures considered noble or important
to the tribal society that built the site.
Modern archaeologists also discovered plenty of evidence however that they were not the
first archaeologists to visit the site, with the discovery of many Roman implements indicating
that their Roman predecessors had also excavated the monument.
The roman excavators however may have been more looters and less archaeologists, as scientists
found 11 axes, various ceramics, flint knives, and a copper punch in a nearby Roman trash
heap- clearly discarded for not being valuable.
Sadly all the years spent submerged have not been kind to the site, and the water has severely
eroded many of the stones.
Runes and other engravings on the stones themselves are all but illegible now, only deepening
the mystery of who built this structure and why.
Luckily German archaeologist Hugo Obermaier and his team had made reproductions of some
of the engravings, and today a Spanish archaeological society has requested the reproductions for
study.
The future of Spanish Stonehenge however is up in the air, as it's expected that the site
will eventually flood again as the drought recedes.
Many spanish archaeologists have requested for the site to be protected, though that
would likely require it be physically moved from its current location and placed on higher
ground- something that's unlikely to happen.
If the effects of global warming are not addressed, then the reservoir will likely remain so low
that archaeologists will not have to worry about the monument being lost forever under
the waves.
Who do you think built the Spanish Stonehenge?
Should this site and others threatened by climate change be moved for their protection?
Let us know in the comments!
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