During the building period of the megaliths, the inhabitants of Eastern Spain and the Balearic Islands developed a considerable limestone technology, including an empirical knowledge of carbonate chemistry and karst geology. One quarrying method appears to have been based on the chemical dissociation by fire of standing blocks at their attachment poi-nts. There is evidence of the use of limestone for a wide variety of purposes, including a unique burial practice in which the dead were cremated by means of quicklime. -- AATA