Damià Ramis holds a degree in History from the University of the Balearic Islands, a doctorate in Prehistory, and the Extraordinary Doctorate Award of the UNED. He is a member of the Scientific Council of the Talayotic Menorca Agency. At the Mediterranean Institute of Advanced Studies, he specialised in Archaeozoology, writing his doctoral thesis on the Faunal study of the initial phases of the Prehistory of Mallorca. Since 2003 he has worked as an independent archaeologist, directing or co-directing 77 archaeological digs, all in the Balearic Islands and Sardinia. He is the author or co-author of 150 scientific publications in the field of archaeology.
Currently he is co-directing the Cornia Nou, Coll de Cala Morell and Sant Agustí Vell projects in Menorca; and s'Hospitalet Vell, Sa Ferradura and Las Atalayas de Can Jordi in Mallorca. He is also a member of the project team excavating the S'Urachi Nuragic settlement in Sardinia.
What first aroused your interest in archaeology?
I was keen on history and archaeology from a young age. When I began studying for my History degree in Palma a number of circumstances arose: first of all, there was a small group of us in the same year all with an interest in archaeology, and we would encourage one another as we went along. And also back then, in the mid-90s, the archaeological projects in Mallorca started up again, which gave us the chance to take part in plenty of digs as volunteers. We got to know archaeologists and also amateurs who had been involved in the digs for many years. Working with them and hearing their stories gave me an insight into a whole world which I found really appealing.
And what prompted you to choose to study the Talayotic culture?
I actually began at the opposite end of Balearic prehistory, studying aspects of the first settlers of the islands. I never particularly specialised in studying the Talayotic era, but for circumstantial reasons I have ended up spending more and more of my time working on this period. I joined existing excavation projects at Talayotic sites, and we started others, but we are still working on settlements from the previous era. I'm fascinated by this development of an initial autochthonous island culture, in the form of the naveta dwellings. Now, these villages end with the start of the Talayotic, which shows us that there is an ongoing strand linking the whole of Menorca's prehistory, and that only by seeing the bigger picture can we address the major topics. And the big question in this regard about the prehistory of Menorca and Mallorca is what brought about the crisis in the naveta settlements, which were then replaced by a culture focused on building monumental towers.
As a researcher, you have worked on archaeological projects throughout the Mediterranean, in particular in Mallorca and Menorca. What makes Menorca's Talayotic culture stand out from others of the same period?
Menorca's Talayotic culture doesn't reveal such monumental, rich or creative expressions as Sardinia's Nuragic culture, and furthermore exhibits very clear similarities with the Talayotic world of Mallorca. The Menorca Channel was always a transit route for people, objects and ideas between the two islands, but also served as a barrier. This tension between a shared origin and clear links to Mallorca, on the one hand, and a distinctive sense of island identity, on the other, can clearly be seen when looking at Talayotic cultural expressions. Menorca's Talayotic culture is in this regard original and unique, since it reflects the whole of the end part of the process of forging a distinctive identity on the part of a people who established themselves some four thousand years ago on a virgin island, and then suddenly disappeared, without leaving any element of continuity behind, shortly after the Roman conquest.
In your career as a researcher, which projects have made the biggest impression on you, or marked a turning point in your work?
That would undoubtedly be the first project, or set of projects, that I was involved in from 1998 onwards, over the course of a decade, and which involved reviewing the earliest human settlement of the Balearics. It was research that gave rise to debate, controversy and clashes. That was the context within which I came of age as a researcher and produced my doctoral thesis. It also made considerable waves internationally. That brought me into contact with archaeologists and other specialists from all round the world, some of whom I ended up working with later. It was Lluís Plantalamor himself who suggested that I come and work in Menorca.
On the Entre Illes Project you began excavating from scratch. Thanks to the efforts of your team, we now know that the population were farmers, who engaged in metalworking. What other singularities does the settlement, in such an inaccessible and inhospitable location, have to show us?
Our initial hypothesis, when we began our dig in 2011, was that Coll de Cala Morell was a settlement linked to sailing and overseas trade networks at the end of the Bronze Age. After twelve years of research, we have found no evidence of sailing, maritime trade or fishing. The sea was not a major factor in founding the settlement. Instead, as you said, this was a village inhabited by a farming community. It has two large tanks to collect rainwater, which leave no room for doubt as to the stable nature of this occupation. Nor is the chronology as initially presumed, since as with the other naveta settlements studied in Menorca, Coll de Cala Morell was abandoned around 1200 BC, coinciding with the earliest evidence of the construction of talayots on the island.
And so the most plausible interpretation based on the settlement's location is its inhabitants' defensive concerns. Bearing in mind that the enclosing wall protects access from terra firma, this all suggests that there was some degree of perhaps low-level conflict going on. It is a complex issue, because Coll de Cala Morell coexists with other nearby settlements, such as de Clariana, located on flat land without any visible defensive elements. In the Valley region, meanwhile, there are various naveta settlements standing on hills and with surrounding walls, such as Sa Bassa Verda.
The Cornia Nou project also arouses considerable interest, season after season. What advances has it brought about in our understanding of the Talayotic peoples? Are we any closer to being able to determine the function of the talayots?
Cornia Nou stands out in particular for its contributions to the initial phase of Talayotic culture, which were previously unknown, above all on the basis of the funerary sites. The digs over the past fifteen years have provided very valuable information about the farming community which lived there between 1000 and 500 BC. They have served to define the type of agriculture, livestock and the grazing strategies that they practised, within the context of a complex society, with a community-based means of organising labour within and around the excavated buildings. We have been able to determine that the large talayot at the site formed part, perhaps from its very conception, of an architectural complex with two large buildings abutting it, which were used to process and store agricultural and livestock produce.
Within this context, furthermore bearing in mind the substantial investment of labour in its construction, the talayot was clearly of social and symbolic significance. However, as to the specific activities which took place on the upper platform of the large, solid talayots, we remain in the realm of speculation, since unfortunately this floor has not been preserved. It is, however, likely that the talayots had a range of functions. In this regard, the small talayot at Cornia Nou is in truth the monumental gateway providing access to a fortified enclosure standing on a hill. Our aim over the coming years is to investigate this defensive wall linked to the talayot, which belongs to a point in time when one would not expect to come across a fortified settlement. Cornia Nou never ceases to surprise.
A date has now been scheduled for the World Heritage Committee in September. What challenges do you think that TM faces in achieving this international recognition?
My belief is that what has ultimately been defined as Talayotic Menorca needs to be seen as the representative part of a much larger reality, namely the archaeological heritage of the island as a whole. It may be that my vision regarding the overall motivations behind the nomination is incomplete or skewed, but I feel that the fundamental long-term aims must be the conservation and understanding of all this heritage. And these are the aspects which have attracted such huge effort over the years spent preparing the nomination. Fifteen years ago, no one would have imagined that we would now stand in such a favourable position. The knowledge, awareness and interest on the part of the population of Menorca has increased considerably, and there has also been greater dynamism in archaeological research. I think that the future challenges lie above all in consolidating and underpinning our achievements.
In terms of scientific research, it would be of interest to incorporate Menorca within work at the international level, such as studies into ancient human DNA, which have been offering some really significant and well-publicised results over recent years around the Mediterranean. And from the local perspective, there are specific topics that require more in-depth study in particular, such as what we refer to as the origin of Talayotic culture, and also its end. This latter aspect inevitably requires a more dynamic approach to the traditional archaeology of the era, serving to explain the process of romanisation of the island, and the disappearance of the whole previous substrate. All in good time.