Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
megalithic funerary monuments, but the island was certainly not at the epicentre of ad-
vanced ancient civilisation. (In Egypt they were creating the pyramids at this time.)
Things were shaken up with the arrival of warrior tribes in Mallorca and Menorca
around 1200 BC, probably from Asia Minor, which overwhelmed the local populace.
They are known today as the Talayotic people, because of the buildings and villages they
left behind. The
talayots
are their call sign to posterity. The circular (and sometimes
square-based or ship's hull-shaped) stone edifices are testimony to an organised and
hierarchical society. The most common were the circular
talayots,
which could reach a
height of 6m and had two floors. Their purpose is a matter of conjecture. Were they sym-
bolic of the power of local chieftains, or burial places for them? Were they used for stor-
age or defence? Were they religious sites? There were at least 200 Talayotic villages
across the island. Simple ceramics, along with artefacts in bronze (swords, axes, neck-
laces), have been found on these sites.
The ancients knew Mallorca and Menorca as the Gymnesias Islands, from a word
meaning 'naked' (it appears that at least some of the islanders got about with a minimum
of covering). Talayotic society seems to have been divided into a ruling elite, a broad
subsistence farming underclass and slaves. It is not known if they had a written language.
Contact with the outside world came through Greek and Phoenician traders. The
Carthaginians attempted to establish a foothold in Mallorca but failed. They did,
however, enrol Mallorquins as mercenaries. Balearic men were gifted with slingshots.
These Mallorquin and Menorcan slingshot warriors (
foners
in Catalan) called themselves
Balears (possibly derived from an ancient Greek word meaning 'to throw'), and so their
island homes also came to be known as the Balearics. These men weren't averse to pay-
ment and developed a reputation as slings for hire. In Carthaginian armies, they would
launch salvos of 4cm to 6cm oval-shaped projectiles on the enemy before the infantry
went in. They also carried daggers or short swords for hand-to-hand combat but wore
virtually no protection. They were present in the Carthaginian victory over the Greeks in
Sicily in the 5th century BC and again in the Punic Wars against Rome.
One way in which Mallorquins have asserted their fidelity to their roots and cultural inde-
pendence is through language: Mallorquin, a dialect of Catalan, has evolved since the
conquest in 1229. Their tongue was edged out of the public realm under Franco, but it
has returned as a badge of pride for many Mallorquins.
Romans, Vandals & Byzantines
When the Roman Consul Quintus Cecilius Metelus approached the shores of Mallorca in
123 BC, possibly around Platja des Trenc in the south, he did not come unprepared.
