Geospatial analysis of prehistoric settlement structures considering monumental architecture on Mallorca

This study examines the settlement development and the spatial organisation of settlements on the Balearic island of Mallorca between the beginning of stable settlements in the Copper Age about 2500 cal BC and the end in the Roman period. Based upon a dataset of settlement sites with monumental structures, and a Digital Elevation Model (DEM), we applied geospatial analysis techniques to quantitatively characterise settlement dynamics across four time slices and to identify spatial patterns of settlement arrangement. The results of this study show that the colonisation began on the northwest coast and spread rapidly into the interior of the island. The results reflect a considerable variation of site density reaching its maximum in the Talaiotic period. The visibility of sites in the Talaiotic period is neither determined randomly nor by topmost position in the local relief.