BALEARIC ISLANDS (BALEARES), an archipelago of four islands, with a considerable number of islets, in the Mediterranean, off the east coast of Spain, of which country it forms a province. Pop. (1930) 365,512; area 1,937 square miles. The archipelago, which lies between 38° 4o' and 4o° 5' N., and I° and 5° E., com prises two distinct groups. In the eastern and larger group, the ancient Gymnesiae Insulae and Insulae Baliares, are the two principal members, Majorca (Span., Mallorca) and Minorca (Span., Menorca), with the islet of Cabrera and others. The western group, the ancient Pityusae or Isles of Figs, comprises two relatively large islands, Iviza (Span. Ibiza), the ancient Ebusus, and Formentera, the ancient Ophiusa, with a number of islets. Majorca, Minorca and Iviza are described in separate articles, and Formentera with the last named.
The Balearic Islands are the emergent portions of two submarine plateaux rising from the sill by which, at a depth of some 3,000f t., the mountain chains of the province of Alicante are continued for over 150m. beyond the triple headland of Cape de la Nao. Both plateaux lie near the surface, so that a fall of only i soft. in the level of the Mediter ranean would make the western group into one large island, while a fall of about 3ooft. would unite Majorca with the adjoining islets and leave it joined to Minorca by a narrow ridge. Formen tera, an island in which two low tablelands (the higher, La Mola, 63oft.) are connected by a narrow isthmus of alluvium, continues the horizontal formations, mostly of Pleistocene date, of the south of Iviza; these reappear in the chain of islets dotting the interven ing channel, and similar formations penetrate to the heart of Iviza from other parts of the coast. The older formations of Iviza, mainly Cretaceous but with upper Trias and upper Jurassic appearing in the north-east, have been violently folded by pres sure from the south-east and rise to 1,56oft. in La Atalayasa; the island, like Majorca, is elongated in the direction of the subma rine sill and at right angles to the direction of this pressure; the threefold imbricated structure of these formations corre sponds to that of the mountain chain of north-west Majorca, and the post-Burdigalian date of folding to the date of the later fold ing movements in Alicante and south-east Majorca. In Majorca the horizontal formations, among which the fertile marls and mollasses of the Vindobonian levels of the Miocene are more important than in Iviza, lie in a broad belt of lowland, scarred by the courses of torrents descending mostly from the rugged sierras on the north-west (Puig Mayor, 4,736ft.) or from the zone of highland, less elevated (nowhere reaching 2,00oft.) and less rugged in profile, on the south-east ; they also partly envelop the southern end of this highland zone. Between the structure of the highland zone and that of the high sierra zone no correlations have been established ; the former is more obviously a zone of charriages, and bears clear evidence of folding movements of early Oligocene date besides the post-Burdigalian movements already mentioned. The older formations are brought up also as inliers, rising in hills above the central lowlands at Randa and Petra, by posthu mous movements which are believed to have continued into Pleistocene time. Like the structure, the geological history of Majorca is more complex than that of Iviza; the gaps in the stratigraphical sequence are fewer, for the Trias is complete, and the Lias and Lower Oolite appear here, though wanting in the Iviza group. Structural resemblances and the great similarity of facies of the strata which belong to the same horizon in the two islands indicate that Iviza and Majorca belong to the same tec tonic unit and have had, broadly speaking, the same geological history.
The case of Minorca is quite different. The island stands on the edge of the submarine sill, overlooking deeps of 8,000ft. to the north-east and at a distance of only 25m. from Majorca. But its principal axis, roughly the line Mahon-Ciudadela, lies obliquely to the direction of the sill ; the older formations, which make up the zone to the north of this axis, have been subjected to pressure chiefly from the east ; there are no Alpine characters in the structure of this zone, and Monte Toro, the highest of the small and usually arid hills which stand out from its somewhat worn relief, reaches only to 1,175ft. The direction and the pre Burdigalian date of the pressure, the wide extension of palaeozoic formations (Devonian), unknown elsewhere in the Balearics, the dissimilarity of facies between the Trias and Neocomian of Minorca and contemporaneous strata in the other islands, and the general "Catalan," rather than Balearic, character of Minorca suggest that the island is to be regarded as a piece of debris from the Continental massif which formerly united Sardinia with Cata lonia, rather than as an integral portion of the Alpides with which it is now accidentally associated. In the south of Minorca, sepa rated by a well marked depression from the northern zone, the Vindobonian beds form a low tableland of gently rolling surface, not infertile in itself, and cut by broad ravines with highly fertile alluvial bottoms.
The mildness and humidity of the climate and the differences of exposure between places at sea-level are indicated by the following meteorological data for Palma and Port Mahon :-- The summer months are almost rainless throughout the islands.
Arboriculture is the traditional indus try of Majorca and Iviza, and the cereals and legumes which are grown are usually intercalated in the orchards or olive groves; large numbers of swine are raised on the figs and other orchard refuse. In Minorca, where shelter from the north-west wind is wanting, agriculture and stock-raising go hand in hand. Of the trees cultivated the most important are the olive (occupying in
56,380ac.) and almond (1924, 2,250,000 trees), which have largely replaced the vine in Majorca, the almond now gradually taking the place of the olive also. Next in importance to the almond among the fruits come the nopal, carob and apricot, the annual value of the total fruit production being nearly 23,000,000 pesetas. The absence of permanent water-courses and the perme ability of the soils make irrigation difficult (1924, 12% of total surface irrigated) outside the zone of the Albufera, into which the unhealthy marsh-lands of the Bay of Alcudia have been drained. Stock-raising is handicapped by the lack of water for irrigation of pastures, but the number of artificial meadows, favoured by the humid climate and the heavy dews, is increasing. Greater security of land tenure in Minorca, where the aparceria (similar to the French metayage) for indefinite periods prevails, seems to assist progress. Sheep are numerous on the two larger islands and supply milk; they are shorn twice yearly, but the wool is of poor quality. The mineral productions include lignite (1924, 37,015 tons) and sea-salt (Iviza, 65,00o tons; Formentera, 25,000 tons), and superphosphates, cement and coke are manufactured. Barce lona is the entrepot for the chief imports of the Balearics. With Barcelona and Valencia there is a fair export trade in swine and occasionally in sheep. The direct export trade in fruits is vigorous; of these the almond is most widely distributed, to Britain, France, Algeria, Puerto Rico and Cuba.
The islanders are closely akin to the Catalans; but the long period of Moorish rule has left its mark on their pl'fysical type and customs. Crime is rare. There are secondary and normal schools in Palma, but the standard of primary educa tion is below the Spanish average and much below the Catalonian (53.77% illiterate, 1920). Castilian is spoken by the upper and commercial classes ; the lower and agricultural speak a dialect of Catalan; there is a French-speaking colony at Soller in Majorca.
Of the origin of the early inhabitants of the Balearic Islands nothing is certainly known, though Greek and Roman writers refer to the Boeotian and Rhodian settlements. According to general tradition the natives, from whatever quarter derived, were a strange and savage people till they received some tincture of civilization from the Carthaginians, who built Mago (Port Mahon) and Jama (Ciudadela). About 23 years after the destruc tion of Carthage the island was conquered for the Romans by Q. Caecilius Metellus, who founded the cities of Palma and Pollen tia, near the modern Alcudia, and introduced the cultivation of the olive. Besides valuable contingents of the celebrated Balearic slingers, the Romans derived from their new conquest mules (from Minorca), edible snails, sinope and pitch. In A.D. 465 the islands were seized by the Vandals and in 534 by Belisarius for the Byzantine empire. Though raided frequently by the Muslims as well as by the Normans, the islands were not permanently conquered for the Umaiyads of Cordova until 903. After the fall of the Umaiyads and until their conquest by James I. of Aragon in 1232, they experienced the same alternations between independ ence and subjection to the Almoravids and Almohads as the small Muslim States of the Peninsula; an independent Almoravid dynasty maintained itself here until as late as 1203. King James conferred the sovereignty of the isles on his third son, under whom and his successor they formed an independent kingdom up to 1349, from which time their history merges in that of Aragon. In 1521 an insurrection of the peasantry against the nobility, whom they massacred, took place in Majorca, and was not sup pressed without much bloodshed. In the War of the Spanish Succession all the islands declared for Charles; the duke of Anjou had no footing anywhere save in the citadel of Mahon. Minorca was reduced by Count Villars in 1707; but it was not till June 1715 that Majorca was subjugated, and meanwhile Port Mahon was captured by the British under Gen. Stanhope in 1708. In 1713 the island was secured to them by the peace of Utrecht; but in
it was invaded by a force of 12,000 French, who, after defeating the British under Admiral Byng, captured Port Mahon. Restored to England in 1763, the island remained in possession of the British till 1782, when it was retaken by the Spaniards. Again seized by the British in 1798, it was finally ceded to Spain by the peace of Amiens in 1802.
Fallot, Etude geologique de la Sierra de„ MaBibliography.--P• Fallot, Etude geologique de la Sierra de„ Ma- jorque (Paris and Liege, 1922 bibl.) ; B. Darder and P. Fallot, L'IIe de Majorque (Madrid, 1926, bibl.) a brief geological sketch, with tectonic schema for Majorca ; the bibliography in each case covers the Balearic Islands as a whole. M. Willkoinm, Illustrationes florae insularum Balearium (Stuttgart, 1881-92). M. R. Oldfield Thomas, "Mammals of the Balearic Isles" (Proc. Zool. Soc. of London, 19o1) ; W. Dalli more, "Agriculture and Horticulture in Majorca" (Kew Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information, No. g, 1927), with brief sketch of t e natural vegetation, E. Cartailhac, "Monuments primitifs des i ?s baleares" (Mission scientifique du ministere de l'instruction publique, Toulouse, 1892) ; A. Perez-Cabrero, Ibiza arqueologica (Barcelona, 1911) ; C. Roman, Antigiiedades Ebiisitanas (Barcelona, 1913) ; A. Mayr, fiber die vorromischen Denkmaler der Balearen (Munich, 1914) ; A. Vives y Escudero, "Estudio de arqueologia cartaginesa," La Necropoli de Ibiza (Madrid, 1917) . Sir C. R. Markham, The Story of Majorca and Minorca (1908) ; A. F. Stoermann, "Studien zur Geschichte des Konigreichs Mallorca" (Abh. 3. mitt. u. neu. Gesch. Heft 66, 1918) ; R. B. Merriman, The Rise of the Spanish Empire (New York, 1918, bibl.) . For a general account of the islands, see Louts Salvator, archduke of Austria, Die Balearen in Wort and Bild geschildert (Leipzig, 1869-91) , published also in an abridged edition (Leipzig, 1897) ; A. F. Calvert, Catalonia and the Balearic Isles (1910). (X.) No finds that can with certainty be attributed to the Stone Age have been made in the Balearic Islands, and it seems likely that the earliest population was not established here until the beginning of the metal era. To the aeneolithic period, then, must be attrib uted the few flint implements hitherto discovered, that are on this view the contemporaries of some simple arrowheads and a beaker sherd. To this period also are assigned certain cave-dwellings and artificial grotto-graves, and even the more complicated rock-hewn tombs of San Vincente in Majorca that are clearly related to the grottoes of south France. On the other hand, various natural and artificial grottoes in the same island, recently excavated, contained pottery assigned to the El Argar stage of the Spanish Bronze Age, so that it is probable that the continental Bronze Age was well established at the time of the development of the earliest civiliza tion in the islands. At any rate, it seems certain that the most remarkable of the prehistoric remains in the Balearic group are not earlier than perhaps about i,000 B.C., and represent a culture that persisted with little change until Roman times.
The Talayots and the Navetas are the best-known monuments of this culture. The Talayots (Catalan, watch-towers) are exceed ingly numerous; they are conical towers about loft. in height with either a round or a square plan, and they enclose a chamber about 15 to loft. in width; this room was roofed, generally with the aid of supporting pillars, and there was an upper story, but in no in stance has this survived in its complete original state. The masonry of the round towers, doubtless the oldest structures in the islands, is very rough, the walls being composed of immense rugged blocks of stone; but the four-cornered talayots, that are presumably later, show more careful workmanship. As a class they are obviously akin to the nuraghi of Sardinia, and it seems probable that, like the nuraghi, they served as fortified dwelling-places. It is true that there is clear evidence of the deposition of cremation-burials (and even signs of cremation-fires) in the talayots of Majorca, and that there is also proof of occasional burial in the talayots of Minorca, but the position and character of the structures, in particular as regards the entrance, the presence of occasional out-buildings, and the fact that they are often collected in settlements surrounded by a wall, prove that the talayots were built primarily as dwelling places. Indeed, the poblats or villages, as at Lluchmajor in Ma jorca, are only more complicated forms of the same talayot archi tecture.
The Naus or Navetas (Catalan, ships), on the other hand, were graves. These are found chiefly in Minorca, and are elongated pyramidal structures, likewise built of immense blocks of stone, with a rounded end and a squared or slightly concave front ; in this front face is a tiny door giving access through a passage to a long rectangular chamber that was roofed in a manner now unknown. In the famous Nau d'Es Tudons the total length of the structure was 45f t., and the height I 2f t. The plan of the navetas is almost the same as that of the larger burial-grottoes of which they are probably copies. Many small artificial grottoes (coves) must also be counted among the remains of the talayot-culture ; and while some of these have been found to contain both burnt and unburnt burials, many of them may have been used as habitations. Among the pottery from these sites is much Roman ware, and there have also been found a red figure crater, a Campanian vase, and sherds of painted Iberian ware. Furthermore, the native conical hollow f ooted cups and lead plaques of the talayot-culture have been found in a Roman context. Bronze double-axes, bronze and iron bird-headed sceptres, and bronze figures of oxen, seem also to date from a late phase of this culture ; thus, the important group of three bronze heads of oxen (two life-size) from Costig in Minorca cannot well be an immediate product of Cretan or Aegean influ ence, for though the type may perhaps be traced into the Early Iron Age cultures of Central Europe, it seems clear that in the islands these figures are not older than the second to first centuries B.C.
The "temples," such as the building at Costig, may, of course, have been used as ordinary habitations, though there is good rea son to suspect their religious nature. They are squarish enclosures with one rounded side, and within the area stands a taula (table), a pillar 6ft. to I2ft. in height supporting a horizontal slab. These T-shaped taulas are probably central supports for roofing, an ex planation warranted by the fact that there are often supplemen tary pillars between the taula and the outer wall and also by the fact that the taula-method of roofing is actually employed in the artificial grottoes. This, at any rate, was the view of E. Cartailhac and A. Bezzenberger, but the suggestion of A. Mayr that the taulas were a variety of baetyl in a hypaethral temple deserves considera tion.
There is no doubt of the general relationship between the archi tecture of the talayot-culture and the megalithic architecture of the western Mediterranean, and there is philological proof of an intimate bond at an early period between the Balearics and Sar dinia. Indeed, if the first population of the Balearics was an aeneo lithic or Early Bronze Age folk derived from Spain, it may be that the talayot-culture represents a later Bronze Age immigration from Sardinia, a movement that possibly originated in north Africa. At any rate, it seems that for some time after the establishment of the talayot-culture Spanish influence was of little account, and was not asserted again until an advanced period in the Early Iron Age.
There is little evidence of direct Greek influence in the Balearics, though visits from merchants on their way to Ampurias are likely enough. A few fragments of pottery and some archaic bronze figures are, however, the only relics of the period; nor is there any considerable sign of Carthaginian dominion. On the other hand, the Roman occupation in the second century B.C. seriously modified the talayot-culture, and in addition to the remains of the mixed civilization already described there are several notable Roman structures such as the aqueduct at Pollensa.
Cartailhac, Les Monuments Primitifs des Iles Bibliography.-E. Cartailhac, Les Monuments Primitifs des Iles Baleares, Toulouse, 1892, and Anuari of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans, vi. (1915-2o), pp. 555 and 728; also A. Mayr in Abert's Reallexikon der Vorgeschichte, s.v. Balearen, where a useful bibliography is given, and W. J. Hemp, Archaeologia, 76, 121. (T. D. K.)
