Drouhgt is a nightmare for farmers…
But sometimes it is gold worth for archeology!
While mystical water lagoons are drying up in the jungle of Mexico, leaving entire ecosystems and Indios in misery, a circle of megalithic standing stones emerged from the deep as a drinking water reservoir outside Peraleda de la Mata in Cáceres has almost completely disappeared.
The menhirs date back from the second and third millennium BC and form the site of a sun temple on the banks of the River Tagus.
They were last seen by locals six decades ago before the area was flooded to create a reservoir.
The collection of 144 stones, some of which reach two metres high and have engravings of serpents, are arranged in circles, but like Stonehenge, it is unclear exactly who put them there and for what purpose.
“The site would have been created over thousands of years, using granite transported from kilometres away,” explained Castaño, who is part of the Raíces de Peralêda cultural association fighting to save the stones.
“Like Stonehenge, they formed a sun temple and burial ground. They seemed to have a religious but also economic purpose, being at one of the few points of the river where it was possible to cross, so it was a sort of trading hub.”
The stones began to emerge from the receding waters earlier this summer and now stand on dry land, for now.
There certainly may have been treasures buried beneath the stones once upon a time, but for us now, the treasures are the stones themselves. Yes, the stones have to be protected right now. Officials may move them within weeks to a nearby site.
Locals grew up hearing about the legend of a treasure hidden beneath the lake and now they finally get to see it! Awesome, no?
Read more: https://www.thelocal.es/20190822/drought-reveals-long-lost-spanish-stone-henge-in-cacares-reservoir
