| Dolmen de Viera | |
| Material: | earth and stone |
| Built: | 5,500 years BP |
| Archaeologists: | Antonio and José Viera |
| Public Access: | yes |
| Designation1: | WHS |
| Designation1 Date: | 2016 (40th session) |
| Designation1 Type: | Cultural |
| Designation1 Criteria: | i, iii, iv |
| Designation1 Number: | 1501 |
| Designation1 Free1name: | Region |
| Designation1 Free1value: | Europe and North America |
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.[1] It is located only 70m (230feet) from the Dolmen de Menga[1] and about 4km (02miles) from 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.[2]
Like the Dolmen de Menga, it is built with an orthostatic technique: large stones standing upright. It consists of a long corridor[2] [3] 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 (100inches) high and 180cm (70inches) wide,[4] while the corridor is 185cm (73inches) high and ranges from 130cm (50inches) wide at the entrance to 160cm (60inches) where it meets up with the chamber. The corridor is a bit over 21m (69feet) long. The stones range from 20cm (10inches) to 50cm (20inches) in thickness.
The dolmen is covered by a mound or tumulus 50m (160feet) 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.[5]
The left and right sides of the corridor appear to have consisted originally of sixteen slabs each; fourteen remain on the left and 15 on the right. Five larger slabs are intact in the roof, and there are fragments of two others; it would appear that three or four more have been entirely lost. The end of the corridor is a single large monolith with a square hole near its center. This and three other monoliths surround the chamber[6] There is a notable difference between the stones on the sides and those of the roof: the former is much more carefully worked and fit perfectly into the recesses made in the stones of the entrance and the floor.
The Dolmen de Viera was built in the Copper Age, 3510-3020 BCE approx. It has had the status of a National monument since 1923.
The site is owned by the Council of Culture of the Andalusian Autonomous Government, who manage it as part of the Conjunto Arqueológico Dólmenes de Antequera. The dolmen was restored recently, and is open for visits by the public.
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.