Bull horns, bronze, Post-Talayotic culture, 5th 3rd century BC, Mallorca.
Photos: Füsun Kavrakoğlu, National Archaeological Museum, Madrid, 2026.
The advent of the Talayotic period (900 BC) ushered in new burial rituals. In Mallorca the dead were buried in rock shelters and manmade caves, but collective inhumations were now joined by collective cremation burials and the use of quicklime to cover buried corpses.
In Menorca, the early Talayotic period was characterized by navetas or collective cemeteries used exclusively for inhumations, although manmade caves such as those at Cales Coves were also used. Collective inhumations and individual cists remained in use in the third and second centuries.
The two islands preserved their specific characteristics during the post-Talayotic period. The large necropolises of Mallorca with inhumations in quicklime in single tombs endured alongside hypogea with collective inhumations. There were also burials in wooden sarcophagi, such as the Late Talayotic example at Cometa del Morts, one of the few burials of this type that has survived.
Bull’s ears, bronze, Post-Talayotic culture, 5th 3rd century BC, Mallorca.
Religious activities were conducted in shrines situated inside or on the edge of the settlements or in a more remote location: taulas in Menorca and square or horseshoe-plan structures in Mallorca. These sites have yielded containers for beverages or libations (pouring out a liquid as an offering to a deity, spirit or in memory of the dead), abundant remains of sacrificed animals, and figures of bulls and warriors. The traces of fires found inside the shrines suggest that they had no roof.
One of the most important shrines in Mallorca is Son Corro, used from the fifth century BC until the Roman conquest. It is a rectangular structure with one-meter-high monolithic pillars randomly distributed inside. Three bronze sculptures presided over the ceremonies: two bulls’ head and one calf’s head, which may once have sat on top of the column shafts. The offerings found include bronze objects, such as bull horns and ears, and various pottery items.
In Menorca the Talayots built taulas, T-shaped stone monuments in the middle of horseshoe-plan enclosures. In front of them it is common to find ashes mixed with offerings of animal remains, Talayotic pottery and other vessels imported from Iberia and Ibiza.
Cast using the lost wax method and hollow inside, with cold-etched details including the eyebrows, eyes and hairs on the forehead, created with chiseled incisions. The ears and horns were cast separately and riveted to the head. In some cases the eyes were filled with vitreous paste.
The bulls are interpreted as images of a deity rather than as evidence of bull worship.
Bronze. Post Talayotic Culture. 5th-3rd century BC. Son Corro sanctuary, Costitx, Majorca.
Information panels of National Archaeological Museum, Madrid.
Costitx Bulls, Alicia Rodero Riaza, National Archaeological Museum, pp. 50.
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