cult of the bull in Crete

Costitx bull's head
Bull prow
bull sarcophagas

Cult of the Bull

Around 4000 B.C., the sun entered the astrological house of Taurus and ushered in the cult of the bull which was to spread across the Mediterranean from the Minotaur in Crete to eventually reach the Iberian Peninsula where, of course, bullfights may still be seen today.

The most famous relics from this period in Mallorca are the great bronze bull heads found in the Son Corrò sanctuary in Costitx in 1895. The owner of the site demanded the, then, outrageous price of 3,500 Ptas. And, as nobody in Mallorca could, or would, pay such a sum, they were acquired by the national Archaeological Museum in Madrid. Over the years sporadic attempts have been made to reclaim them and they were exhibited in Costitx, in 1995, to mark the centenary of their discovery.

It is thought the great heads hung from a post in the sanctuary and there are historians who identify them with figureheads as several Sardinian boats of the time are shown with such figureheads. Certainly, other bronze bull figureheads, smaller and long-necked have been unearthed on the Island, one of the most well-known in Son Mas in Inca. Bronze horns have also been found in sanctuaries, all perhaps, brought here as the booty from some long ago sea battle.

Mancor de la Vall

At Mancor de la Vall, the hill known as Montaura is thought to derive from the name mons tauri —bull's hill— in honour of a temple dedicated to the bull. There are many reports of the discovery of a bronze bull there in the XVIIIth. century.

Avenc de sa Punta. Pollença 500-300BC

Burial cave in an apparently inaccessible mountainside where some of the bodies were found in wooden coffins shaped like standing bulls.





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