Main view of the monument of Ca Na Costa, the most important archaeological discovery in Formentera.


     The most important archaeological site in Formentera is, without a doubt, the megalithic monument located in Ca Na Costa that dates from between 2,000 B.C. and 1,600 B.C. In 1956 the archaeologist Mañá de Angulo published an explanation of the nineteen archaeological sites in Formentera. A large part of the objects discovered since 1904, the year from which there is written information, have been broken and have disappeared. In Ibiza and Formentera the mere searching for treasures was substituted by Roman y Calvet and his successors for the beginnings of archaeological science. Precisely the first of the sites described in Mañá´s article was that of the discovery of bronze axes: "...in 1910, on the tongue of land that separates the two lakes, two bronze axes and two bronze disc-shaped ingots were discovered. Both axes and one of the discs, which correspond to the end of the Bronze Age, are on exhibition in the Archaeological Museum of Ibiza. The other ingot is part of the collection belonging to P. Antonio Vives Escudero whose exact location is not known.

Bronze axes discovered in Formentera.

     The first person to write seriously about this discovery was Jorge H. Fernández, who published two successive articles. In the first article he related the axes and ingots discovered to others of similar material that appeared in Ibiza where a total of eight axes, two ingots, and one dagger were discovered. In the second article, in which he confirmed his thesis of a prepunic population, he related a similar discovery in Formentera: José Escandell, owner of the country house "C´an Mariano Gallet", was preparing the land for planting when he discovered eight bronze axes.

     In May 1954 Friedrïch Oedl and his companion, Rudolf Huber, were staying in Formentera for a short time with the intention of visiting some of the caves of the island. In the cave of "d´es Riuets" in La Mola, which is one the caves that constitutes a group called "Ses Mamelles", they discovered local pattery fragments that dated from the middle of the second millennium B.C., and they also found an imported piece of pottery of undetermined origin. In the judgement of Jorge H. Fernández, "Es Riuets" could be related to what he thinks was a fortified area that will be discussed later. The archaeologists Trias and Roca, referring to the discoveries in the cave, commented in their articles that "it is difficult to believe that this site was an isolated place of inhabitants in this sector of La Mola. Also, beneath the cave along the coast, we found some round fragments of indigenous pottery which could be related to a possible settlement." Returning to the group of caves and to a location almost on the edge of the cliffs of La Mola, to the north of the country house "Can Ferrer" where Jorge H. Fernández believed there was a fortified area, we must remember that it also could have been a burial ground. Today the entire area has been torn apart and many of the covering slabstones have been used to enclose the surrounding fields. But around 1960, the first time that the apparent wall was seen, it seemed evident to the common eye that there were the remains of rooms.

     In 1974 the excavation and first studies of Ca Na Costa were begun. In 1979 the same procedure was applied to the "Castellum de Can Pins" which dates from the Roman Ages and is located in the area of Es Caló.

     Another important discovery, called "The Circle of Es Cap", was made of some very interesting stone monuments and constructions although the archaeologists were not able to save them in time. There are some oral accounts that give the name of "es Palaus" (the palaces) to these monuments but this only tells of the admiration that the modern day Formenteran feels for such remains. The available information is that various circles of stone existed in the surrounding area, but today they have been completely destroyed. One of the circles that did not disappear is located in a flat area and has a diameter of 13 meters. Jorge H Fernández describes it like this: "in the interior of the circle you can observe divisions or compartments of oval shape and of a reduced size. The entrance is on the south side and apparently formed an angle but this might be due to the fact that some of the stones have been moved. On the north side a whole section is missing because the stones were used by the local people who dissolved pieces in water to make liquid lime to paint their houses. It seems improbable that this could have been a place to live in due to the scarce number of fragments found in the excavation." About 400 m. northeast of the circle is located a settlement that is the last prehistoric site that has been investigated up until now in Formentera. It apparently occupies an area of about 650 square meters. The visible part of the settlement brings to mind a settlement that exists in "Sant Lorenç" in Majorca although the one in Formentera is much smaller in size.