Geoarchaeology and Construction of the La Chabola de la Hechicera Megalithic Tomb, Elvillar, Northern Spain

Abstract

La Chabola de la Hechicera, a Neolithic collective tomb which was first used at ca. 3850 B.C., has been re-excavated for interpretation and stabilization. Information about the sources, handling, and placement of building materials allowed determination of the methods used to construct the dolmen monument. All of the rocks used in the structure are local Miocene sandstones, and the slabs were probably taken directly from the base of natural slopes near the monument. The chamber slabs were not carved, but some passage slabs were retouched to level the cover slabs. Fragments for the tumulus were obtained by mechanical fracturing. All of the slabs are imbricated, making it possible to determine the order in which they were placed. Thus, the identification of building materials and their mode of placement allows for the reconstruction of each stage of the building of the monument, providing unusually rich data for understanding the geoarchaeology and building archaeology of a dolmenic structure.