Alejandra Galmés holds a degree in History from the University of the Balearic Islands (2013) and a master's degree in Prehistoric Archaeology from the Complutense University of Madrid (2014). She is currently a Juan de la Cierva postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Heritage Sciences (INCIPIT) of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), and is part of the ArqueoUIB research group (University of the Balearic Islands).
Her interests focus on landscape archaeology, the use of geographic information systems in archaeology and archaeological theory, subjects that she applied to her thesis ‘Stones that link communities and landscapes. A study of architecture and visibility on the island of Mallorca during the Iron Age (850-123 BC)’.
She has carried out research stays at the universities of Cambridge (2017) and Leicester (2018). She has also participated in archaeological excavations, both in Spain and abroad, in a wide chronological arc, from the Neolithic to contemporary times. He contributed to the preparation of the dossier for the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Talayotic Menorca.
Let's start by getting to know a little about your background. Why did you choose archaeology?
Honestly, I don't know. I've always liked it. I started with an interest in history when I was very young, and at the age of 15 I took part as a volunteer in my first archaeological excavation in Son Fornés. Since then I have always said that I wanted to be an archaeologist, and here we are. But I don't remember a moment that sparked my interest, possibly because it was when I was very young. I know that when I was 12 years old I came to Menorca with my school and due to time constraints we couldn't visit the Naveta des Tudons even though it was on the itinerary, and I came home with a big disappointment. So from then on I already liked it!
How did you get to know the Talayotic culture, and what sparked your interest in this period of prehistory?
From the beginning I was involved in excavations of the Talayotic culture, so I would say that it was something natural. It has always intrigued me to see how archaeology was so present in the landscape through constructions such as navetas and talayots, although they are not always given the role they deserve, especially in Mallorca.
When I began my History degree at the UIB, the subjects in the Prehistory Area were the ones that attracted me most, and I began to collaborate in the laboratory and in projects such as Closos de Can Gaià.
Your contributions on the study and analysis of the territory were an important chapter in the dossier for Talayotic Menorca's candidacy for World Heritage status. What are the most unique features of Talayotic Menorca in this area?
I believe that Menorca is unique both for the conservation of the island's prehistoric heritage, and for its valuation and management. Talayotic Menorca is a case study that opens up many possibilities for research given that it is an island, that is, an area of analysis defined in itself, with a very homogeneous conservation, which allows us to carry out landscape studies that are not possible in other places due to the lack of data.
Furthermore, the dimensions and monumentality of the Talayotic constructions are another element of interest, as they show how the island's inhabitants wanted to make these monuments visible. The question we ask ourselves is why they did this and what implications it had.
Your study ‘The island of talayots. Visibility and visual connections on the island of Menorca during the Talayotic period’ explores the island's monumental landscape more extensively. What are the main conclusions?
This project, funded by the Institut Menorquí d'Estudis, made it possible to analyse various aspects of the location of the talayots. For example, the calculation of the visual prominence of the places where the talayots are located, i.e., whether they are located in particularly visible places with respect to their surroundings. The results were that most of them did seem to choose prominent places, but not always. And it is this variation that is most interesting and that allows us to pursue further questions.
Are there any indications as to why the Talayotic people needed to build such monumental constructions?
We currently have several hypotheses about the reason for the height of these constructions, but it is a line we are working on, and we hope to have some answers soon!
And what are the differences between the talayots of Mallorca and Menorca?
The difference in size of the talayots on the two islands has always been emphasised. That is why we are now working on comparing them and finding out whether, from a landscape point of view, the height of the talayot allows for different things, or not. For example, if the height would be related to seeing more settlements or being seen in a particular way when walking around. But to answer these questions, more work needs to be done!
Just this week you gave a talk on networks and visibility between monuments together with Tom Brughmans, one of the world's leading specialists in the application of network analysis in archaeology. What can these new study methodologies contribute?
Network analysis is a methodology that allows us to explore the connections between settlements. That is, it allows us to go from looking at each site in itself to being able to establish relationships between them. This means that we can go from seeing talayots as monuments within the landscape to seeing them as nodes of connection within this landscape.
You made a comparison between monuments in the Himalayas, the Caribbean and Talayotic Menorca. What parallels are there between these distant places?
Tom Brughmans has worked on sites in the Caribbean and the Himalayas and has developed visibilities-based network analysis methodologies. Inspired by these methodologies, I applied them to Menorca. Each site is a very different case study but the visual network analysis methodology allows us to establish relationships between settlements and to propose discourses on the occupation of the landscape and the importance of these relationships. For example, to be able to contrast different networks of buildings related to visual control and to see different ways in which they connect to create a communication network.
You have also been part of the Rafal Rubí study team. What did this study consist of and what were your contributions?
Rafal Rubí was a very interesting project, as the funerary navetas are not located in particularly prominent spaces, as we have seen with the talayots. For this reason, the study explored several variables to understand whether the navetas were located in a place with a certain impact on the surrounding landscape. That is, if they were easily visible, since they are located in a kind of visual corridor, an area without too many visual elevations where the navetas would have stood out. The idea is to soon be able to contrast these results with other funerary navetas from the island, in order to continue adding layers to the understanding of the landscape of Talayotic Menorca.