Introduction to Menorca and the First Few Days of Field School

Menorca is the upper most (closest to mainland Spain) of the three Balearic Islands. The other two islands are the well known Mallorca (sometimes written as Majorca) and the lesser known Ibiza. Menorca was declared a Biosphere Reserve site in 1993 by Unesco. It has more archaeological sites spread across it than both of the other islands combined and the government is in the process of getting it declared a World Heritage Site as well.

The island host two main languages, Castilian and Catalan, but many of the inhabitants speak their own variant, Menorca, which is a dialect of Catalan and kind of like listening to the difference between someone from the Bronx taking to someone from Fargo. The languages also come with spelling differences and a few additional letters that make it hard to even attempt to read the language unless you’re at least a little familiar with it. The good thing though, is that the island is a main tourist destination for not only mainland Spaniards, but also tour ships and residents from other European countries. This adds up to a very multicultural place where many people understand a variety of languages or at least are used to charades.

Menorca has been constantly changing hands from the pre-Talayotic civilization’s inception (in the late second millennium BC) when it was believe to have first been settled. First there were the Talayotica, who built megalithic (large rock) structures called talayots (from which the group’s name comes). Then came the Phoenicians, the Greeks, the Carthaginians, the Romans, the Vandals, the Byzantine empire, the Normans, the Arabs, the Crown of Aragon, the Ottomans, the British, the French, the British again, and finally the Spanish. I think that there were a few other cultures that held the island during it’s long history, but the gist is the same; there were a lot of hands in the cookie jar and they all left evidence of having been there. The multitude of conquerors residing on the island all left their different archaeological remains that help us to tell the story of their occupations.

Citudella, my home for the next 20 days, is the capital of Menorca and contains a plethora of historic buildings that are more than happy to collect a few Euros from each passing tourist in exchange for entrance. The city is field with cobble-stone streets and mini cars that vie for the limited parking and honk at the throngs of pedestrians that don’t like to wait for traffic signals to change. There is a definite European feel to the place and also a sense of peace and relaxation. The city adheres to a strict siesta in the afternoon, where everyone closes down their shops during the heat of the afternoon and then opens them again late into the evening. It’s neat to walk around at 11pm and see whole families out for a stroll, eating gelato (which is everywhere) and listening to music in the walkways to the harbor.

The sites that the group I’m working with, Ecomuseu Cap de Cavalleria, are a mix between Talayotic and Roman. There are currently four different projects that are being worked on. There is a Roman City dig, a necropolis (cemetery), a funerary cave, and an underwater excavation (shipwrecks and such). Each of the students that opt for this field school have the option to sign up for either two weeks working in just one of the four areas (with the exception of the underwater program where that’s the only thing they can work on), or one week in one area and one week in another area. I’ve chosen to work one week in the cave and one week in the necropolis.

The cave we’re excavating is one of a series of 12 that have been located to date on the North side of the island. These caves are dated from the Bronze Age (roughly 2000 to 1350 BC) and only one of the caves has fully been excavated previously, and even that was done in a hurried manner that left a lot to be desired. Many of the caves though have been looted (supposedly by the same person, who was later caught). This is the first year that the Ecomuseu has been working at the caves.

There are seven students (including me) in the mixed cave/necropolis group. On our third day at the museum and in the field school, but the first real day in the field, Maria, our instructor, took us on a tour of all twelve caves. The eight of us went on a nature hike that would freak out many others. We climbed over rock walls, through the overgrowth that hides the caves from the random passerby, bouldered across rock faces that overlooked the beaches below, hiked up a mountain, down a few thorny rabbit holes, and through a meadow. Armed with notebooks, cameras, and a sense of adventure, we explored and saw sites that very few people have seen in the last 2500 years. Just that thought itself is amazing.

Today was our fist day working at the cave itself. Maria broke us up into two different groups. One group was set up at two separate units outside the entrance to the cave, where they were to excavate the human remains that had been unceremoniously dumped from their original resting places when looters dug for funerary goods that may have been left with the bodies. The other group, consisting of Darcy, Alex, and me, were sent up the hill to another cave to create an archaeological drawing of the interior before excavation could be started. Excavations of this higher cave probably won’t start though for at least another season or two, as there’s much to do on the previous cave.

The set up for the field school consist of waking at 6 am (or sooner as a bunch of my roommates like to rise around 5:30 or 5:45 am), a quick breakfast of corn flakes, a 45 minutes drive to the site, excavating for a few hours, a drive back to Citudella and the lab, a few hours cleaning and examining the remains that we pulled from the site, lunch, and then free time. It’s a pretty easy-going schedule that leaves plenty of room for exploration of the city and surrounding areas. We get two days off every 7 and I’m planning on renting a car with some fellow students and exploring as many of the island ruins as we can get to.

That folks is the first brief history lesson of the trip with a few other tidbits thrown in for good measure. Here are a few humorous stories for those that had the patience to wade through the “Scholarly Professor” part above:

I decided to go see the Castle of Saint Nicholas which sits on the end of the island and peers out over the Mediterranean. The Castle is really just a watch tower that is dedicated to an American Admiral that is the “Adopted Son of Menorca,” but I wanted to see it regardless. I knew it was at the end of the city, but not precisely how to get there, so I walked the opposite direct to get to the waterfront so that I could then follow that back down and around to the point. I was dragging three of my fellow field school mates: Alex, MJ, and Ted with me. After a mile and half meander, we made it around to the Castle to find that it was closed permanently. I made the boys do a jumping picture with the Castle in the background and then we continued to walk along the edge of the island. A short distance later we were greeted with the pale ass of a completely naked and otherwise tan guy running around the cliffs looking for a place to jump in. Not what we were expecting. Deciding that this wasn’t really a sight that we needed to view, we turned inland and started walking towards the direction we believed our residence to be. Four blocks away we’re looking around and realizing that we’re right by the dorms. We essentially walked half way the wrong way across the city to get to the Castle when we only needed to go a few blocks south. But we did get to explore the city some more and I got to watch how fast three boys can turn beet red and change direction.

Ted, originally from San Francisco, but now residing in Chicago, walks into the main room of the dorm wearing red lip stick across the whole bottom half of his face and talking like the Dark Knight. He was doing a pretty good job of impersonating Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the character. Apparently, he had grabbed a colored lip chap from home thinking it was lip balm and upon using it this evening and realizing that it tasted really good, he ventured to the mirror and saw that he might as well be putting on lipstick. It was good for a few laughs and Ted has promised to go out to the bar wearing the lip chap on the last night of the dig.