Abstract:We present the results of our analysis of two singular Neolithic monuments and two prominent megalithic groups in Galicia. The two singular monuments are the dolmen of Dombate (Baio, Coruña county), perhaps the largest megalithic chamber in Galicia (or at least the most investigated and well-known) that houses an elaborate decorative program with engravings and paintings, and Forno dos Mouros (Bocelo mountains, Coruña county), also housing paintings and belonging to a bigger group aligned along an historical p… Show more
“…We could reject this null hypothesis if there were other cases with similar characteristics. In the case of Galicia, we have shown that the orientation towards WSSR is the most common one (González-García et al 2017). Among them, there are other passage graves where a decorative programme similar to that of Dombate appears in a WSSR-oriented chamber.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 95%
“…In this respect, the discussion of the astronomical significance of Dombate has been limited, until now, to the analysis of the orientation of its chamber and passage towards winter solstice sunrise (WSSR here after) for the epoch (Hoskin 2001, 235; see Table 1), but little research has been conducted to comprehend the possible implications of this orientation, one of the most common in Galicia (Fig. 4; González-García et al 2017). Figure 4.Orientation diagram for 62 passage graves in Galicia.…”
Section: Illumination Event and Paintingsmentioning
Research on the Neolithic monuments and dwellings of Atlantic Europe has shown that plays of light and colour were tools for the social and symbolic construction of the world. The integration of the architectures into the surrounding landscape and the incorporation of the surrounding landscape into the architectures were an essential part of this logic. In this context, recent research in the megalithic passage grave of Dombate has evidenced an unusual physical manifestation of sunlight, which interacts with the decorated back stone. The light-and-shadow phenomenon occurs at sunrise during the period of winter solstice. In this paper we discuss the particulars of this phenomenon and we argue that sunlight when it penetrates the passage and chamber at sunrise on these dates may have dictated how the art was located and applied to the structural stone. Such differentiation seems to have had important cultural and ritual significance and encoded/embedded meaning for the tomb builders and may have implications for the consideration of the symbolic dimension of similar architectures in Atlantic Europe.
“…We could reject this null hypothesis if there were other cases with similar characteristics. In the case of Galicia, we have shown that the orientation towards WSSR is the most common one (González-García et al 2017). Among them, there are other passage graves where a decorative programme similar to that of Dombate appears in a WSSR-oriented chamber.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 95%
“…In this respect, the discussion of the astronomical significance of Dombate has been limited, until now, to the analysis of the orientation of its chamber and passage towards winter solstice sunrise (WSSR here after) for the epoch (Hoskin 2001, 235; see Table 1), but little research has been conducted to comprehend the possible implications of this orientation, one of the most common in Galicia (Fig. 4; González-García et al 2017). Figure 4.Orientation diagram for 62 passage graves in Galicia.…”
Section: Illumination Event and Paintingsmentioning
Research on the Neolithic monuments and dwellings of Atlantic Europe has shown that plays of light and colour were tools for the social and symbolic construction of the world. The integration of the architectures into the surrounding landscape and the incorporation of the surrounding landscape into the architectures were an essential part of this logic. In this context, recent research in the megalithic passage grave of Dombate has evidenced an unusual physical manifestation of sunlight, which interacts with the decorated back stone. The light-and-shadow phenomenon occurs at sunrise during the period of winter solstice. In this paper we discuss the particulars of this phenomenon and we argue that sunlight when it penetrates the passage and chamber at sunrise on these dates may have dictated how the art was located and applied to the structural stone. Such differentiation seems to have had important cultural and ritual significance and encoded/embedded meaning for the tomb builders and may have implications for the consideration of the symbolic dimension of similar architectures in Atlantic Europe.
“…Also, if we consider the outcomes of past orientation studies of Iberian dolmens, many have concluded some interest in a one or two celestial bodies or a single phenomenon, but every study does not share the same target(s) with all of the others (e.g. González García et al 2017;Silva 2014;. This supports, at the very least) an interest in more than one major phenomenon by the dolmen builders of Iberia.…”
“…For the past 30 years, archaeologists have extensively studied the "megalithic phenomenon" in the Barbanza region [25][26][27][28]. This wealth of field data on the location of numerous burial mounds makes Barbanza an ideal case study to evaluate our integrated AI, remote sensing, and fieldwork validation approach.…”
The increasing relevance of remote sensing and artificial intelligence (AI) for archaeological research and cultural heritage management is undeniable. However, there is a critical gap in this field. Many studies conclude with identifying hundreds or even thousands of potential sites, but very few follow through with crucial fieldwork validation to confirm their existence. This research addresses this gap by proposing and implementing a fieldwork validation pipeline. In northern Portugal’s Alto Minho region, we employed this pipeline to verify 237 potential burial mounds identified by an AI-powered algorithm. Fieldwork provided valuable information on the optimal conditions for burial mounds and the specific factors that led the algorithm to err. Based on these insights, we implemented two key improvements to the algorithm. First, we incorporated a slope map derived from LiDAR-generated terrain models to eliminate potential burial mound inferences in areas with high slopes. Second, we trained a Vision Transformer model using digital orthophotos of both confirmed burial mounds and previously identified False Positives. This further refines the algorithm’s ability to distinguish genuine sites. The improved algorithm was then tested in two areas: the original Alto Minho validation region and the Barbanza region in Spain, where the location of burial mounds was well established through prior field work.
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