Long before the Romans came to the Balearic Islands, there were settlers in Mallorca building tall towers and large settlements during the Megalithic period, possibly as long ago as 1400 B. C. No-one quite knows who they were or where they came from, but one can find similar prehistoric monuments in Menorca and in Sardinia.

Commonly, one refers to these buildings as Talaiots, possibly deriving from the word Atalaya, meaning watchtower. The largest Talaiotic settlement in the Mediterranean area is said to be that of Capocorb Vell, some 12 km south of Llucmajor, not far from Cala Pi.

Capocorb Vell holds the remains of five Talaiot towers, three of them round and two of them square, plus some 31 buildings. One assumes that up to 500 people may have lived there at the time. It is probably safe to say that Capocorb Vell was bigger than New York, 3,400 years ago.

This prehistoric site is open for visits, daily from 10h00 to 17h00, except Thursday. The entry fee is 2 €.

The photo was taken near the village of Llucmajor, Mallorca, Spain. The date: November 18th, 2007. The time was 15:50:32.