Light and Shadows over the Santa Inés Dolmen (Bernardos - Segovia)

The so-called Dolmen de Santa Inés, more properly a passage tomb, is the first such tomb

to have been excavated in the province of Segovia, Spain. There is evidence that the site underwent

two construction phases, perhaps during different periods, and it is here argued that this provides

the possible explanation for an unusual southeastward turn to its entrance passage that makes

this a unique case. This modification had the effect of changing the structure’s orientation from

towards sunrise in mid-autumn to sunrise at the winter solstice. In this paper we present the results

of several years of excavation work, during which we employed an archaeoastronomical approach.

We explain how our analysis confirms the winter solstice orientation, including an illumination

effect resulting from the particular positioning of the structure’s slate and quartz slabs. We also

speculate on the reason for the orientation change, which we hope to validate in future research.

Iberian Peninsula. Illumination. Megalithism. Meseta. Winter. Solstice.