{{short description|Megalithic burial mound in Andalusia, Spain}} {{Infobox historic site | image = Dolmen and Torcal-008.jpg | caption = Dolmen of Menga entrance | coordinates = {{coord|37|01|28.51|N|4|32|46.65|W|region:ES-MA_type:landmark_source:dewiki|display=inline,title}} | designation1 = WHS | designation1_offname = Antequera Dolmens Site | designation1_date = 2016 <small>(40th session)</small> | designation1_type = Cultural | designation1_criteria = i, iii, iv | designation1_number = [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1501 1501] | designation1_free1name = Region | designation1_free1value = Europe and North America | built = {{circa|3700 BC}} | height = 3.5 meters | location = Antequera, Andalusia, Spain }}
{{Further information|Neolithic Iberia}} thumb|left|Interior of the dolmen, looking outwards The '''Dolmen of Menga''' ({{langx|es|Dolmen de Menga}}) is a megalithic burial mound called a tumulus, a long barrow form of dolmen, dating from the Neolithic period around 3750–3650 BCE. It is near Antequera, Málaga, Spain.
It is one of the largest known ancient megalithic structures in Europe.<ref name=Unesco2012>{{cite web|title=Antequera Dolmen Sites|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5668/|website=Unesco.org|publisher=UNESCO|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905232454/https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5668/|archive-date=September 5, 2015|date=January 27, 2012}}</ref><ref name="ScienceHistory1994">{{cite book|title=Journal for the History of Astronomy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1doSAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Dolmen%20de%20Menga%22|year=1994|publisher=Science History Publications|page=556}}</ref> It is {{convert|27.5|m}} long, {{convert|6|m}} wide and {{convert|3.5|m}} high, and was built with thirty-two megaliths, the largest weighing about {{convert|180|tonne}}.
After completion of the chamber (which probably served as a grave for the ruling families) and the path leading into the center, the stone structure was covered with soil and built up into the hill that can be seen today. When the grave was opened and examined in the 19th century, archaeologists found the skeletons of several hundred people inside.
The dolmen sits {{convert|70|m|ft}} from the Dolmen de Viera<ref name=nueva>[http://www.nuevaacropolismalaga.org/archives/malaga/dolmenes_de_antequera.php Dólmenes de Antequera], nuevaacropolismalaga.org. Accessed online 2010-01-23.</ref> and about {{convert|4|km|mi}} from another subterranean structure known as Tholos de El Romeral.<ref name=junta>[http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/cultura/web/servlet/descarga?up=34719 Conjunto Arqueológico Dólmenes de Antequera] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615072920/http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/cultura/web/servlet/descarga?up=34719 |date=June 15, 2011 }}, Consejería de Cultura, Junta de Andalucía. Accessed online 2010-01-23.</ref>
In 2016, the dolmens of Menga, Viera, and El Romeral were all inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site under the name Antequera Dolmens Site.
==Abrigo de Matacabras==
The Abrigo (shelter) of Matacabras, located at the foot of the northwest face of the Peña de los Enamorados, is closely linked with the Dolmen of Menga whose central axis points directly to it. The tomb is orientated to the northeast, north of the sunrise on the summer solstice, and is the only known tomb so oriented in Europe in this cultural context. {{fact|date=January 2026}}
In 2018, the '''ATLAS''' research group from the University of Seville published a study of the high resolution analysis of '''Abrigo de Matacabras''''s schematic style cave paintings. The small cave has both visual and symbolic links to the Menga dolmen, establishing landscape relationships that are possibly unique in European prehistory. The results confirmed the Neolithic chronology of the cave “probably, at least, at the beginning of the 4th millennium BC... and its importance as a place of reference for the Neolithic (and possibly even older) population of the region...” <ref>Crucial new data on the origin of the Dolmens of Antequera, a World Heritage Site https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180628120046.htm</ref>
==Gallery==
<gallery widths="150" heights="80"> File:Dolmen de Menga Antequera.JPG|Entrance File:Dolmen de Menga, vista interior desde la entrada.jpg|View inside from the entrance File:Dolmen de Menga 10.jpg|Back of the chamber with well File:Unidentified object in the Dolmen of Menga, Antequera, Spain.JPG|view inside the well File:Dolmen de Menga Antequera intérieur.JPG|Interior of the chamber File:Dolmen de Menga 20170412-114210-2959-6-a1b2c1.jpg|Panoramic view </gallery>
==See also== * List of megalithic sites * Antequera Dolmens Site * Dolmen de Viera * Dolmen de Soto
==References== {{Commons category|Dolmen de Menga|Dolmen of Menga}} {{Reflist}}
{{Antequera Dolmens Site}} {{European Standing Stones}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Dolmens in Spain Category:Buildings and structures in Antequera Category:Tourist attractions in Andalusia Category:World Heritage Sites in Spain Category:Bronze Age sites in Europe Category:Buildings and structures completed in the 4th millennium BC Category:Archaeological sites in Andalusia