Navetas...boats and bones

I recently had the opportunity to learn about a unique treatment of human remains from the island of Menorca. Through periods of Menorca history the island has been fairly isolated from outside contact. This isolation gave rise to some unique practices, as outside cultural influences were not at play. A very interesting burial practice occurred on the island during the pre-Talaiotic period. From 1200 and 750 BC a funerary practice of the people living on Menorca involved building megalithic stone burial chambers called Navetas.

 

Naveta des Tudons (http://www.menorcaweb.com/reports/archaeological-sites/naveta-des-tudons/)

The name comes from modern scholars, due to their appearance of an upturned boat. We do not know what the local people called them as we have found no written language from this period on the island. These structures contained two chambers an upper and a lower chamber. The deceased individuals were first wrapped in a shroud with a bone button and placed in the lower chamber. When this chamber began to fill up the bodies that had skeletonized were moved to the upper chamber. So far this sounds like many other cultures burial practices right? Megalithic funerary monuments, collective burials, and secondary burials are all funerary practices seen in a variety of different culture; here is where it gets weird. When the skeletonized remains were moved to the upper chamber they were distributed into piles according to body part such as skulls in one location, long bones in another, pelves in another, etc. The distribution of remains in this manner is as far as I know unique to this culture (although if anyone has other information I would be pleased to hear it!). Scholars have no idea why the pre-Talaiotic people separated remains in this manner and we likely will never know why but it certainly is interesting to ponder on.