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Viera Dolmen

The Viera dolmen is a Chalcolithic megalithic tomb, dated between 3510 and 3020 BC, located about 70 metres from the Menga dolmen within the same Dolmens Site, a World Heritage Site since 2016. It was discovered in February 1903 by the brothers José and Antonio Viera Fuentes, who gave the monument its name; it was previously known as Cueva Chica. It consists of a 21-metre corridor built with vertical slabs that ends in a square chamber 2.10 metres high and 1.80 wide. Some orthostats in the northern outer section preserve engraved cup marks, and inside there are traces of reddish paint on the stone. Unlike Menga, its axis follows an astronomical orientation: at the spring and autumn equinoxes, the light of the rising sun enters through the corridor as far as the edge of the final chamber. The mound covering the structure is 50 metres in diameter.

Things to do at Viera Dolmen: 4 missions

• Compare Viera with MengaWalk the 70 metres between Viera and Menga and compare the size of the stones: at Viera they are smaller and vertical, as opposed to Menga's large horizontal blocks.
• Look for the engraved cup marksOn the orthostats of the northern outer section of the corridor, look for the cup marks, small circular hollows engraved in the stone.
• Walk the corridor to the chamberWalk the 21 metres of the corridor formed by vertical slabs to the final square chamber, and notice how it gradually narrows.
• Look for traces of reddish paintInside the final chamber, examine the stones to find traces of reddish paint or oxide still preserved on the rock.

Near Viera Dolmen

Source: Web oficial - Museos de Andalucía (Conjunto Arqueológico Dólmenes de Antequera)