Biniparratxet
Description
One of the interesting things about the Biniparratxet monument is that in 1995 it was moved and rebuilt because of runway extension work at Menorca airport. The project was promoted and sponsored by AENA, the Spanish airport authority. The monument originally stood in the Talayotic settlement of Biniparratxet Petit in the south-eastern side of the island, near the town of Sant Lluís. It is currently open to visitors in the gardens of the airport complex.
Biniparratxet is a typical post-Talayotic dwelling in a good state of preservation and dating from the last stage of the island's Prehistoric era. The house has a central patio and 5 pillars marking out a series of domestic areas for various purposes: handling food, stores and water-catchment systems. In fact, the ground in the patio area contains tanks for storing water and waste items from the house.
The house is entered through a door with a lintel that was put back in place when the monument was moved. The move also included the building that normally stands alongside this type of house, known as the hypostyle room and consisting of an enclosure with a roof made from huge stone slabs supported by pillars. Four of these slabs plus a stone monolith can still be seen today. The archaeological dig found evidence that the house was abandoned in the 1st century B.C. and that it was occupied once again in the medieval Islamic period.