Wooden beams from Talayot 1 of Sant Agustí Vell (Menorca): Taxonomical identification and radiocarbon dating

Abstract A truncated conical-shaped building constructed using the cyclopean technique, called Talayot 1 or East Talayot, is conserved in the Talayotic settlement of Sant Agustí Vell. The monument has an internal chamber with two polylithic columns and a pilaster that helps holding up a roof made of large stone slabs, below which three well-conserved wooden beams can be seen, as well as the remains of two other beams, only one end of each is conserved. The study of a sample of each of these beams extracted from the outer rings of the trunks enable us to determine that all the beams come from the Olea europea L. (olive tree) species. The radiocarbon dating of the samples suggest that the trees from which the trunks come were felled between 1259–1123 cal BC. It was the first time that construction elements of a Menorcan talayot could be dated.