Talayotic Menorca participated with great success in the
Tarraco Viva historical reenactment festival from May 24 to 26. The Menorcan delegation carried out various activities to raise awareness of Menorca's prehistoric World Heritage, attracting more than 1,700 people, including historical re-enactments, the presentation of the book
Talayotic Menorca, World Heritage. An island cyclopean odyssey and the sling workshop.
The Talayotic Menorca stand at the Fira dels Museus registered a constant influx of visitors, providing information about the island's prehistoric heritage, the incorporation of Talayotic Menorca into the UNESCO World Heritage List, and the discovery of the statuette of Imhotep, as it is 50 years since its discovery in Torre d'en Galmés. In addition, this stand was a sales point for books from the Sitjot collection, Talayotic ceramic replicas, slingshots and Talaiòtica beer, among other promotional materials.
The three performances of the historical re-enactment ‘Funditoras Baleares, The warriors of the Balearic Islands’ that took place on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 filled the Camp de Mart theatre auditorium, with the attendance of around 1,700 people in total. Organised by Amics del Museu de Menorca and Honderos de la Menor, the stage was set up with a replica of a domestic space from Torre d'en Galmés and the taula de Torralba d'en Salort, with a taula of the same dimensions as the original.
Archaeologist Borja Corral put the audience in the context of the late Talayotic period, while a Talayotic family and the slingers performed actions to ‘illustrate’ some of the domestic tasks or rituals that could have been carried out during that time: spinning wool, grinding cereal grain with a molon, making a sling or cooking.
For its part, the sling-making workshop led by Lluís Pons Livermore of Honderos de la Menor, with a limit of 10 places, was sold out on both Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday's presentation of the book
Talayotic Menorca, World Heritage. An island cyclopean odyssey by archaeologist Joaquim Pons, co-author with Cipriano Marín, also attracted a large group of people. The activity ended with a tasting of Talaiòtica beer by Roger Vila, master brewer of Grahame Pearce.
Tarraco Viva is a festival of historical recreation that was born in 1999 as an activity to support the candidacy of the city of Tarragona to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. It is currently a benchmark for festivals on this theme in Spain.