It is said that the area of Felanitx in Mallorca’s South East has been populated for about 4,000 years by now. Historians claim that two pre-Talayotic settlements were established here during the Bronze Age (approximately 2000 B. C.), one below the Castell de Santueri or in near-by caves, and the other in the Puig de sa Mola area and its prevailing caves there. At around 1500 B. C., two more Talayotic settlements were established near Felanitx, one in Son Maiol (near Son Mesquida) and one in Els Closos de Can Gaià (near Portocolom).
The caves of Puig de sa Mola are natural caves (one is shown in my photo), and were occupied by prehistoric people as a refuge and as habitations. At a later stage, additional man-made caves were excavated by them from the soft rocks of sa Mola. In total, there are 16 caves dating from the pre-Talayotic period in this area, amongst them the largest habitable caves of all of Mallorca.
Some of these caves at the Puig de sa Mola were also used to bury the dead. One speaks of the Necropolis de Sa Mola.
The Puig de sa Mola caves were first investigated with an academic approach in 1897 by an extranjero, Émile Cartailhac, a pre-historian from France. Mes compliments, monsieur.
The access to the cave shown above is rather difficult. Rock-climbing abilities would be required in my humble opinion.
The photo was taken near Felanitx, Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: May 14th, 2009. The time was 19:55:26.
