Dolmen de Viera

Historia

The Dolmen de Viera or Dolmen de los Hermanos Viera is a dolmen—a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb—located in Antequera, province of Málaga, Andalusia, Spain. It is located only 70m from the Dolmen de Menga and about 4km of another structure known as Tholos de El Romeral. It was discovered between 1903 and 1905 by brothers Antonio and José Viera from Antequera, who also discovered El Romeral.DescriptionLike the Dolmen de Menga, it is built with an orthostatic technique: large stones standing upright. It consists of a long corridor formed by twenty-seven stones, leading to a rectangular chamber. This is presumed to be a burial chamber, although only silica and bone tools and ceramics were discovered there. The burial chamber has different dimensions than the corridor: a little over 200cm high and 180cm wide, while the corridor is 185cm high and ranges from 130cm wide at the entrance to 160cm where it meets up with the chamber. The corridor is a bit over 21m long. The stones range from 20cm to 50cm in thickness.The dolmen is covered by a mound or tumulus 50m in diameter. Like most Iberian tombs, it is oriented slightly south of east (96°), situated precisely so that at the summer solstices the sunlight at daybreak illuminates the burial chamber.