The Ses Païsses settlement is thought to have begun as a cylindrical talaiot, or "turriform", built during the first millennium BC (c900-800BC) on a hillside with a commanding view of the surrounding countryside.
A low passageway, roughly 0.75m high, runs right through the building from one side to the other, linking the central chamber to a later room known as "the hypostyle chamber" adjoining it to the northeast.