Spanish builders destroy 6k-year-old tomb they mistook for broken picnic table

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Embarrassing incident took place in town of Cristovo de Cea in Galacia
Neolithic tomb was named a site of ‘cultural interest’ by regional authority
But it was concreted over in a ‘monumental error’, a college professor said
Town mayor claimed not to have known it was site of great historical value

Tim Macfarlan For Mailonline

Published:
00:29 GMT, 30 August 2015

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Updated:
00:36 GMT, 30 August 2015

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Clueless builders in a Spanish town accidentally destroyed a 6,000-year-old tomb they mistook for a broken picnic table and replaced it with a concrete bench.

The embarrassing incident took place in the town of Cristovo de Cea in the region of Galacia in Spain’s north west and was described as a ‘monumental error’ by university professor.

The ancient neolithic tomb had been designated a site of ‘cultural interest’ by the regional government of Galicia and was supposed to have been protected by Spain’s historical heritage law.

The stones mark the site of the ancient tomb in Cristovo de Cea, Galicia, in 2008 before they were removed and destroyed in an accidental act of cultural vandalism

A slab of concrete was placed over the site and an ugly white bench installed instead in what has been dubbed a ‘monumental error’

But instead it was removed and the patch of ground on which it stood covered with a concrete slab so the ugly white bench could be installed.

The mistaken act of cultural vandalism was reported by local environmental group Grupo Ecolozista Outeiro, who wrote in a report, ‘The rolled concrete and modern picnic bench have caused irreparable damage, replacing what was a prehistoric cemetery of the first inhabitants of Cea.’

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It was passed to Galicia’s public prosecutor which has opened a file on the case. It is also being investigated by the Galician Department of Culture, Education and Universities.

Juan A Barceló, a professor of prehistory at the Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona, told The Local: ‘I was horrified when I heard this news.

‘It is a monumental error. In Spain, no-one is allowed to take the individual decision to rebuild an historical monument, specially when it is classified in the national register, as it was.’

The Trappist Monastery of Santa Maria la Real, Oseira, San Cristobal de Cea, in Galicia. The town’s mayor claimed not to have known about the tomb’s historical value

The mayor of Cristovo de Cea, home to a 12th Century Trappist monastery, professed not to have known the site was of value.

José Luis Valladores said in a statement on the town hall website the stones ‘were not part of the tomb’ and it was the responsibility of the regional government to protect them.

He told the Spanish Huffington Post: ‘No one told me, neither Heritage nor the environmental group.

‘The site wasn’t even marked and the logical thing would have been for them to get in contact with the local council so that we could have taken measures to protect the site.’

But Galicia’s Department of Culture, Education and Universities claimed the town council was ‘well aware’ of its existence.