Landscape distribution of talaiotic monuments as markers of social space

Centred in the largest island of the Balearie archipelago, Mallorca, during the Talaiotie period (between ca. 850 and 550 BCE), a research aiming at determining the organization of the social space is presented. The principal source of information is the most emblematic and well defined chronologically material evidence of this time frame: the tower-like talaiotic monuments. These buildings are the basic structural unit of talaiotic settlements around which the daily life of the community was developed. Viewing talaiotic monuments as an expression of sociat activity, their architectonic characteristics were investigated and the work investment in their construction was quantified. This type of estimate allowed for a•territorial mapping of the social work associated with each structure. The intensity distribution of sodal activity was correlated with geographical, environmental, and archaeologieal variables. This research line permitted to obtain a better insight into settlement pattern, demographic aspects, socio-economic and political relationships among settlements, and the role played by monumentality during the Talaiotic period.