The Talayotic settlement of Cornia Nou is one of the most impressive of its kind in Menorca, with excavations performed on the western talayot and the southern building revealing invaluable information to better understand Talayotic Menorca.
The western talayot is over 10 meters tall and has an imposing stairway that ascends to the upper level. Attached to its façade is another building, whose access is through a lintelled doorway. There is yet another attached building to the west that is currently being excavated. This complex has been the object of archaeological excavation since 2008 by the archaeological team from the Museum of Menorca, which has unearthed numerous tools used for food processing. These discoveries speak of a relatively complex society that even included a certain level of hierarchisation. During the Talayot period, this building may have been the site of centralised food production for the entire settlement.
Schedule: October to April: Saturdays from 10 am to 7 pm.
May to September: Saturdays from 10 am to 9 pm.
Price: Free
Open: Yes
Access: The settlement is located at km 2.5 of the road from Maó to Sant Climent, between the industrial park of Maó and the road to the airport. Access is on foot along the Camí Vell de Sant Climent, 400 metres from Maó’s industrial park.
Road signs are posted.
Car Park: Parking is in the industrial park of Maó, on Curniola Road, next to the Camí Vell de Sant Climent path.
Guided tours: Visitor information panels are posted.
Contact:
Services: No
Access for individuals with reduced mobility: No
More information See map
More information: The larger western talayot, with its circular layout and truncated cone-shaped profile, is built from stones arranged in horizontal courses. Carbon-14 dating carried out during excavation of the talayot date its construction from between 1200 and 1100 BC. Excavations around the base revealed the presence of an apsidal structure, the inside of which led to an enclosure that preserves its stone roof. The interior of this second space leads to an external platform that in turn takes us to a steep stone stairway that climbs to the top of the talayot. Outside the talayot, and facing virtually southeast, we see an entrance that leads to another quite steep set of stairs that also accesses the top, making use of the outer face of one of the filling layers typical of Talayotic construction techniques. Another similar conduit emerges from the western side of the monument, also leading to the top. These corridors and ramps were discovered during excavations carried out in 2014.
The structure found to the south of this talayot has a highly complex internal structure. The doorway opens onto a corridor where a combustion structure used for toasting and separating grain was discovered. In the side rooms, a significant number of objects associated with food production and processing were found: ceramics, handmills, mortars, hammerstones, awls, etc. This led researches to conclude that this building was the central site of the settlement’s food production.
There is also a second talayot, smaller in size, attached to a pre-existent outer wall. It is made up of two sections interconnected by a sort of passageway. At the base of the talayot are two large cisterns dug out from the rock, also connected to one another.
Also within this archaeological area is a necropolis composed of five funerary hypogea.