Tag Archives: megalithism

2012 # 4

2012-03–POISSONNIER

The Giant Stelae of Aksum
in the Light of the 1999 Excavations

Bertrand POISSONNIER

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Abstract

Excavations were carried out in 1999 on the location of Stela 2 at the ancient site of Aksum in northern Ethiopia. These excavations have permitted the documentation of the foundation of this stela, which was transported to Rome in 1937. Preparations were also made for the stela’s return to the site in 2005 and its re-erection in 2008 at the exact location where it stood in the 3rd or 4th century AD. The excavations also made it possible to re-examine our perception of the three giant stelae on the site, from their conception and erection to their destruction.

To cite this article

Poissonnier B., 2012 – The Giant Stelae of Aksum in the Light of the 1999 Excavations, in F.-X. Fauvelle-Aymar, Palethnology of Africa, P@lethnology, 4, 49-86.
2012 # 4

2012-04–JOUSSAUME

The Superimposed Cemeteries of Tuto Fela
in Gedeo Country (Ethiopia), and Thoughts
on the Site of Chelba-Tutitti

Roger JOUSSAUME

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Abstract

In Gedeo Country, southern Ethiopia, the tumulus of Tuto Fela has yielded two groups of steles, some phallic and some anthropomorphic. The latter belong to a monument formed by the successive addition of the tombs of which they are the markers. The phallic steles, which could have been re-employed for this use, originate from an earlier period of the monument characterized by tombs dug into the substratum. This first period has been dated to between the 11th and the 13th centuries AD. It was possible to verify some of the hypotheses proposed for Tuto Fela through the study of the neighboring site of Chelba Tutitti, which has phallic steles only.

To cite this article

Joussaume R., 2012 – The Superimposed Cemeteries of Tuto Fela in Gedeo Country (Ethiopia), and Thoughts on the Site of Chelba-Tutitti, in F.-X. Fauvelle-Aymar, Palethnology of Africa, P@lethnology, 4, 87-110.