Menorca stones were for healing

[Brian G Turner]

Mysterious T-shaped monuments scattered around the Mediterranean island of Menorca were most probably places of healing, says an archaeoastronomer who has studied the orientation of the Bronze Age monuments.

Each "taula" - named after the Catalan word for table - is formed by two massive stone blocks arranged in the shape of an upright "T". The taulas face an opening in a surrounding ring of stones, and all but one of the 30 structures on Menorca face roughly south.

"It has long been known that these taulas were sanctuaries," says University of Cambridge archaeoastronomer Michael Hoskin, citing the large number of bones from sacrificial animals that litter the sites.

But the sites were also home to a few intriguing bronze statues, including a bull, an Egyptian figurine with an inscription in hieroglyphics reading, "I am Imhotep the god of medicine" and horse hooves. The latter is particularly curious as there is no known horse god in ancient Mediterranean cultures.


More: http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994849

 

[Brian G Turner]

There's a completely different perspective in the BBC reporting of the same study:

Monuments built for stars:

Many Bronze Age monuments in Europe and Africa were erected with the Sun and other stars in mind, says Dr Michael Hoskin, a UK historian of astronomy.

In one survey of 2,000 tombs he has shown how many were built to face the rising Sun - a symbol of the afterlife.

A second study of stone structures in Menorca reveals they were set up to view the constellation of Centaurus. The Cambridge University researcher has discussed his work at the 2004 National Astronomy Meeting in Milton Keyes.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3592631.stm

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Oddly they both actually say the same thing - the NS article says that these were sanctuaries for healing and proves it by pointing out that the taulas would have been aligned with a constellation called Centaurus, which is associated with healing, while the BBC basically presents the alignment with the heavens first and then mentins the healing connection as a secondary point.


Strange how the exact same facts and conclusions can be presented so differently. It certainly does remind you how important how you write is, quite apart from what you write.

 

[Brian G Turner]

That's the thing - it's how the emphasis of the two reports is entirely different. I guess maybe Hoskin didn't present his findings too clearly, or else that the reporters weere pressed to make any story out of it.