ISSN 0142-7253

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Archaeoastronomy
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suppiementto Journal for the History ofAstronomy
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H
JUAN ANTONIO BELMONTE on
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Z Orientations of Egyptian Pyramids
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VICTORIA R. BRICKER on

Dating Almanacs in the Borgia Codex

MICHAEL HOSKIN and colleagues on

Tombs of Portugal and Southwest Spain

2 CÉSAR ESTEBAN and colleagues on

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Pre-Islamic Temples of Northwest África

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Supplement to
Number 26 Volume 32 2001
554 Michael Hoskin and colleagues 2001

C: MEGALITHIC TOMBS OF SO THERN CADIZ

J. CARLOS VERA RODRiGUEZ. University of Huelva. and

MARTi MAS CORNELLA.
Univcrsidad Naciolll.ll de Educacion a Distancia

Geographically. the south of lhe province of Ci.ldiz constitutes the extreme

southcrJlll1ost tip of the continent of Europe. at the place where the Mediterranean
meets the Atlantic. In recent years onc of its outstanding features has been the lake
called Laguna de La Janda. which today is artificially drained.
Between the shores or the lake and the sierras Momia. Blanquilla and El
Niiio that lie to the north and the cast. two megalithic necropoliscsCI have been
known since the early years of the twentieth century: Tajo de las Figuras. with
ten megalithic lombs. and La Aciscar/Purenque·Larraez. with eleven. To these
must bc added the isolated monument of Los Charcones. which is associated
with the settlement or the same name that dates from the end of the Ncolithic
and the high Copper Age.
The tombs of both necropolises display westerly orientations that are anomalous
in the context not only of the south of the Iberian peninsula but indeed of the
peninsula as a whole: but our investigations had sadly to be limited to La Aciscar.
for Tajo de las Figuras has been almost totally destroyed.
Nearly all the monuments of La Aciscar <Ire uniform in structure: galleries. each
with a backstone of considerable width (somctimes extending far beyond the sides
or the gallery) and roughly parallel sides or differing sizes and heights, the whole
being originally covered by one or Illorc capstones. Exceptions are a tomb that
uses a natural outcrop as onc of its sides, and another in which the corridor turns
sharply to the right (that is. to the north).
The remains of the tUllluli are or modest height and diameter. with rings of
retaining stones. and it is not possible to be sure whether these tUllluli were
originally greater in height than the orthostats so that they actually covered

T,'1II1 Cl. Orienlalion~ or 6 megalithic ,epukhre.'> in the province or C:.'idiz.

A7. All. Lal. Dec. Tomb

32 36.3 +43~ 1..0, Charconc.'>. Iknalllp

:1:1-1 I 36.1 -t1! Tomb lE. L:lgulla de La J:lIld:l. ~ledin:1 Sidoni:1
116 I 36.2 . . . W! Tomb 3G. Laguna de La J:ll1da. t\lcdina Sidonia
231 I 36.2 -30 Tomb 2F. Laguna de La Janda. ~lcdin;l Sidoni:1
23-1 0 36.2 -2R! Tomb C. LagulI:l de La J:lmb. ~lcdina Sidonia
250 I 36.2 -15! Tomb ·HI. L:lguna de La Janda, ~1cdilla Sidonia

Lellers according la C. de Mergclina. "Los rocu~ dollllcnico.'> de la Lagulla de La Janda", M('III(),.i{/.~ lIe III
Sodu/m! E\1/wio/a lit' Anl/1I/lOlo,s:lfl, EI"ogmjta y P,.f'1lisw";a. iii (192-1). 97-126: numbcf.'> according 10 I-I.
Breuil and W. Werner. "I)ccollverte dc dell,>; \:entre.'> dollllCni(lllC~ .'>lIr Ic.'> bord.'> de la Laguna de Ll Janda
(Cadi,>;)".IJIIII('lil1l1i~pl",il/ll('.xix (1917).157-88.
2001 SrI/dies ill Iberiall Archaeoasl/Vl/OIllY S55

FIG. C I. The orient at ions of 5 megalithic sepulchres

at la Lagun<l de La Janda.

w<-- +

ts
the monuments.
Grave goods have been recovered from just two of the monuments, and of these
only onc hem is of help in dating the tombs: a short bronze dagger with rivets. This
implies that the tomb was in use at the beginning of the Bronze Age, in the first
half of the second millenniulll B.C.
We visited the area in July 2000 in company with 1. M. Recio and his group of
geomorphologists of Seville University who have been researching the lake, and
the measures wc look are listed in Table C I and shown in Figure C I. They arc of
exceptional interest. The very unusual northern orientation of Los Charcones is
discussed in Section E, where the writers consider the possibility that the tomb
may have faced the rising of ArclLlrlls. The tombs of La Laguna face westerly, and
they are the only Iberian group to do so outside of Cataluiia. Here and there in the
peninsula we find an isolated LOmb that faces westerly, but at La Laguna all the
five we measured are oriented between 214° and 250°, and the massive backstones
leave no room for doubt on this poinl.
What motivated the builders to chosc wcstcrly orientations is a mystery: thc
monuments are quite unlike anything else in the region, not only in orientation
but in structure, and one is tempted to look for a link with the Moroccan coast not
far away. But nothing of the sort is so far known from Morocco. c2 The lambs face
downhill, but the slope is gentle, and downhill sites were available nearby that
would have resulted in quite different orientations. There is no obviolls horizon
feature to which the orientations might be directed, and only onc of the [lve faced
within the range of sunset. Yet the orientations fall into a clear pattern, and perhaps
they faced the sun while it was descending or setting.