Celebrating the Talaiotic winter solstice: the solar hierophany of So na Caçana

The Menorca Talaiòtica Agency and Nurarq organize an activity to observe the solar hierophany of So na Caçana during the midday of the winter solstice on the 21st, 22nd and 23rd of December. Tickets to attend the archaeo-astronomical event will be allocated through a draw open to all citizens

The Menorca Talaiòtica Agency and Nurarq are organizing three guided tours of the western table area of So na Caçana on December 21, 22 and 23, days when a very special archaeo-astronomical event will take place that could indicate that the sun was one of the deities of the talaiotic pantheon. The activity will recreate the original internal atmosphere of the sanctuary, during the midday of the winter solstice. Due to the small size of the venue, the number of participants is limited and tickets will be allocated by lottery. The deadline to participate begins on December 5th and ends on the 12th.

On these dates, the sun’s rays enter the building through a small window and illuminate a special place inside this table enclosure where the figures of the deities were located. This fact would represent, for the Menorcans of the Talaiotic period, a hierophany. That is to say, that the sun would constitute one of the main deities of the Talayotic pantheon and that the penetration of its rays into the table enclosure would represent a manifestation of this divine entity.
Once the participants enter the table area, a detailed explanation of the phenomenon will be given, and its development will be observed accompanied by the explanations of one of the team members who discovered and documented this fact. It will also explain what a table enclosure is, what rituals have been documented inside it and the latest research and hypotheses about the symbolic world of the final Talayotic.

During the course of the activity, we will have the opportunity to taste the winning cake of the “El dolç Talaiòtic” contest, inspired by the natural environment of Menorca Talaiòtica.

Scientific study
At the beginning of this year, a team of researchers from Menorca published a scientific article on this phenomenon in Spal. Magazine of History and Archaeology, of the University of Seville. The study describes this archaeo-astronomical event in the west table site of So na Caçana, a phenomenon that had not been detected until now.

The authors of this study are Irene Riudavets González (doctoral student at the University of Barcelona/Nurarq SC/Institut Menorquí d’Estudis), Antoni Ferrer Rotger (director of the Menorca Talaiòtica Agency), Sebastià Barceló Forteza (Dept. of Theoretical Physics and Cosmology of the University of Granada), Gerard Remolins Zamora (Università di Bari/ReGiraRocs SLU), Antoni Cladera Barceló (PhotoPills SL) and Cristina Bravo Asensio (Institut Menorquí d’Estudis/Nurarq SC).

The phenomenon was recorded by the photographer Antoni Cladera:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bO4HPCFiwE

How to enter the draw
Tickets to attend the archaeo-astronomical event of So na Caçana will be allocated through a draw open to all citizens. Those interested in participating must send an email to the address solsticitalaiotic@gmail.com indicating the day they prefer to attend the activity and very briefly explaining the reason. The deadline to participate begins on December 5th and ends on the 12th at 00:00.

Only one participation request per person will be accepted and each winner will have two tickets available. Important: applications that do not indicate a day and reason will not be entered into the draw.

The draw will take place in a public event at the headquarters of the Insular Council of Menorca, at Plaça Biosfera, 5, on December 13 at 12 noon. There will be three separate draws, one for each day. Each participant will be assigned a number, which will be communicated by email. If a winner is unable to attend, the next person on the draw list will be notified.