DOCSLIB.ORG

Roger Grosjean and the Stone Men of Corsica

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Roger Grosjean and the Stone Men of Corsica Roger Grosjean and the stone men of Corsica Roger Grosjean at the start of excavation in 1956 24|British Archaeology|July August 2012 “There they stand in the landscape, Fighter pilot, MI5 agent and Paris, and then the first woman great, granite figures – some 13 feet tall racehorse trainer and breeder in Italy). and weighing up to 2 1/2 tons. Their discus-throwing record He spent all of his free time on his new hollow gaze seems to follow the visitor; interest, archaeology, and he dug with their enigmatic expressions change holder: Roger Grosjean was the French archaeologist l'Abbé Breuil, from minute to minute in the no ordinary archaeologist. famed for his work on cave and rock art. shifting sunlight.” He followed courses in Paris at the Thus starts an article in Time As François Grosjean Sorbonne and the Musée de l'Homme, Magazine, July 1968, about the “stone and in 1954 he obtained a position at the men” – the sculpted prehistoric menhirs explains, his discoveries CNRS (the French National Research – of Corsica. The man who excavated were equally distinctive Centre) and asked to be posted to them in the middle of the last century, Corsica. Nobody believed for a second Roger Grosjean, had a rather short but that he would find anything of interest. remarkable life that is now slowly being His first project was to survey the revealed. It is a life in which Great rather sparse archaeological Britain and British people played a role, monuments and menhirs that had been in different ways and at different times. found over the years. This is where Roger Grosjean was born in 1920 in another British person entered his life. Chalon-sur-Saône, east central France, Dorothy Carrington, a writer who was and spent his early years in the north, to become an authority on Corsican changing cities as his father, a judge, culture and history, had visited the changed postings. He quickly showed island in 1948 with her husband, the interest in sport and excelled in rugby painter Sir Francis Rose. They were and athletics (he was the French discus shown four sculpted monoliths, two of record-holder in his age category). But them half buried, in Filitosa, a small his real passion was flying and in 1939 he hamlet in south-west Corsica. She later joined the French Air Force and trained wrote in her book Granite Island as a fighter pilot. (Penguin 2008, originally published In the spring of 1943, in order to join 1971), that she had a premonition that the exiled Free French leader Charles this was of great significance, but she de Gaulle, he put together a risky did not follow it up until Grosjean strategy: he told the Germans that he arrived. The two of them went to would send them information if they Filitosa and examined the statues helped him reach England. When he carefully. They rolled one over and saw a duly arrived, having gone through Spain sculpted face with deep-socketed eyes, and Portugal, he reported his cover and a dagger carved on the upper part of story and was asked to act as a double the body. As she wrote about agent for the Security Service (mi5). Grosjean's work, “Then began a time of Recruited by the Double Cross System, almost daily discoveries – of dolmens, he took part in a deception operation menhirs and statue-menhirs”. aimed at the Germans concerning the As a trained archaeologist, Roger landing sites in France. Grosjean knew what to look for and Grosjean was an agent for about a where to excavate. For instance, one year, codenamed Fido, and was evening he was sitting on a rather large condemned to death by the Germans stone with the owner of the land, when they realised that he was working Charles-Antoine Cesari. Cesari for the allies. It is only recently that this belittled Grosjean’s interest, saying he part of his life has been uncovered, had used the stone as a bench for some although mi5 has not yet released his 20 years. Nonetheless Grosjean had it file. Along with this activity, Grosjean turned over, and there lay what is now was a member of the Free French Air one of the best known statue-menhirs Force and he did part of his advanced in Filitosa, known as Filitosa V. The training at Caistor in Lincolnshire. face is outlined by a V, the nose and While there, he discovered aerial eyes are clearly marked, and on the body archaeology, which proved useful to Statue-menhir Filitosa V there is a dagger in its sheath and a long, him later in life. vertical sword. This statue now Grosjean had a difficult time after the welcomes visitors at the entrance to war. He tried his hand at various jobs “Then began a time of almost the site. ) 2 ( including publishing and business, but On another occasion, just before daily discoveries – of dolmens, N A never got very far. He broke up from his going back to Paris, Grosjean was E J S British wife, Sallie, whom he had met in intrigued by a spur covered in maquis, O menhirs and statue-menhirs” R G England (she became a top model in the distinctively Corsican dense, F British Archaeology|July August 2012|25 scrubby vegetation. The owner said that there had been an old convent there but when Grosjean finally worked his way through the trees, he found cyclopean rocks clearly signalling an important prehistoric fortified site. It contained a tumulus and a partly demolished tower. When Grosjean returned in 1956, he had the maquis cleared away and he started excavating the spur. Over the next few weeks, numerous statue-menhirs were uncovered, many of them broken into two or three pieces. Two stood out for their remarkable beauty, Filitosa VI and Filitosa IX. The former came in three I Stantari pieces. The head was complete and, alignments according to Grosjean in an Illustrated London News article published the following year, it represented a higher Statue-menhir Filitosa VI The central monument at Filitosa Statue-menhir Filitosa IX state of evolution than any of the menhirs and statue-menhirs previously found. It had eyebrow arches, almond- shaped eyes, and a projecting nose and chin. Dorothy Carrington, who saw it a few weeks later, characterised it as “astonishingly, disturbingly realistic”, with a likeness “of some formidable warrior, some prehistoric Tamberlane”. As for Filitosa IX, Grosjean thought it the megalithic masterpiece of Corsica. It has a remarkable face in low S T relief, the skull is fully three T I P dimensional, and the features are M , ) 6 ( regular and symmetrical. Carrington N A E talks of a stately, aristocratic face, a face J Statue-menhirs S O Cauria IV (left) and of intimidating authority. As these R G F II (right) statues were being aligned at the base of 26|British Archaeology|July August 2012 excavated: Alo-Bisucce, Cucuruzzu, Torre, Tappa, Araghju and others, not to mention Filitosa’s. Grosjean developed a theory which is worth expounding even though it has been much debated (and some say proved wrong). According to him, there had been two distinct cultures present at the same time in that part of Corsica, between 1500 and 1000bc, or thereabouts (archaeologists would now say nearer 2500–1500bc): the Megalithic culture and the Torrean culture. Members of the former, who built the dolmens and menhirs, were shepherds and goatherds who had a the central monument, Grosjean writes, The Torrean religion which included the the Corsican sun alternately accented monument at representation of human beings, either or diminished the shadows, giving them Alo-Bisucce themselves or their enemies. The finely different, almost human, expressions. sculpted statue-menhirs portrayed the The reaction in the media, French Torreans with their weapons and and international, was outstanding. equipment, maybe in the hope of Headlines proclaimed “An unknown capturing their strength and magic. Roger Grosjean as a young French Air Force pilot civilisation has been discovered in The Torreans, on the other hand, Corsica”, “The mystery of the stone- were skilled in war and navigation (they tops of their heads that had probably men”, “Enigmatic masterworks of 4000 had arrived on the island more held horns, short swords in a scabbard years ago” and “The brooding masters recently), and it is they who built the slung from the shoulder, a loin cloth or of Filitosa”. In the years that followed, cyclopean fortified monuments as well girdle carved around the statue and television crews arrived from France, as cone-shaped cult and living sites. other details. Grosjean concluded that Germany and England, and Contrary to the Megalithic builders, the Torreans were in fact the Sherden. the BBC spent an entire they never represented the human He pursued his work for several more week filming Grosjean's figure in their art. years on some 30 sites in all. excavations. All this must The two cultures clashed repeatedly In the summer of 1975, at the height have been rather and when the Torreans won, which they of his career and while working on his humbling for someone often did as they had bronze weapons, new museum in Sartène, Roger who, only a few years they took over the Megalithic sites, Grosjean died of a heart attack; he was earlier, was undecided broke the statue-menhirs and reused only 55 years of age. In a bit more than as to where his career the fragments in their new fortifications 20 years of research, he had contributed was going. and cult monuments.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Y-Chromosome and Surname Analyses for Reconstructing Past Population Structures: the Sardinian Population As a Test Case
    International Journal of Molecular Sciences Article Y-chromosome and Surname Analyses for Reconstructing Past Population Structures: The Sardinian Population as a Test Case Viola Grugni 1, Alessandro Raveane 1, Giulia Colombo 1, Carmen Nici 1, Francesca Crobu 1,2, Linda Ongaro 1,3,4, Vincenza Battaglia 1, Daria Sanna 1,5, Nadia Al-Zahery 1, Ornella Fiorani 6, Antonella Lisa 6, Luca Ferretti 1 , Alessandro Achilli 1, Anna Olivieri 1, Paolo Francalacci 7, Alberto Piazza 8, Antonio Torroni 1 and Ornella Semino 1,* 1 Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie “L. Spallanzani”, Università di Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy; [email protected] (V.G.); [email protected] (A.R.); [email protected] (G.C.); [email protected] (C.N.); [email protected] (F.C.); [email protected] (L.O.); [email protected] (V.B.); [email protected] (D.S.); [email protected] (N.A.-Z.); [email protected] (L.F.); [email protected] (A.A.); [email protected] (A.O.); [email protected] (A.T.) 2 Istituto di Ricerca Genetica e Biomedica, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), 09042 Monserrato, Italy 3 Estonian Biocentre, Institute of Genomics, Riia 23, 51010 Tartu, Estonia 4 Department of Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Riia 23, 51010 Tartu, Estonia 5 Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche, Università di Sassari, 07100 Sassari, Italy 6 Istituto di Genetica Molecolare “L.L. Cavalli-Sforza”, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), 27100 Pavia, Italy; fi[email protected]
    [Show full text]
  • Download Download
    Nisan / The Levantine Review Volume 4 Number 2 (Winter 2015) Identity and Peoples in History Speculating on Ancient Mediterranean Mysteries Mordechai Nisan* We are familiar with a philo-Semitic disposition characterizing a number of communities, including Phoenicians/Lebanese, Kabyles/Berbers, and Ismailis/Druze, raising the question of a historical foundation binding them all together. The ethnic threads began in the Galilee and Mount Lebanon and later conceivably wound themselves back there in the persona of Al-Muwahiddun [Unitarian] Druze. While DNA testing is a fascinating methodology to verify the similarity or identity of a shared gene pool among ostensibly disparate peoples, we will primarily pursue our inquiry using conventional historical materials, without however—at the end—avoiding the clues offered by modern science. Our thesis seeks to substantiate an intuition, a reading of the contours of tales emanating from the eastern Mediterranean basin, the Levantine area, to Africa and Egypt, and returning to Israel and Lebanon. The story unfolds with ancient biblical tribes of Israel in the north of their country mixing with, or becoming Lebanese Phoenicians, travelling to North Africa—Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya in particular— assimilating among Kabyle Berbers, later fusing with Shi’a Ismailis in the Maghreb, who would then migrate to Egypt, and during the Fatimid period evolve as the Druze. The latter would later flee Egypt and return to Lebanon—the place where their (biological) ancestors had once dwelt. The original core group was composed of Hebrews/Jews, toward whom various communities evince affinity and identity today with the Jewish people and the state of Israel.
    [Show full text]
  • Bibliography
    Bibliography Many books were read and researched in the compilation of Binford, L. R, 1983, Working at Archaeology. Academic Press, The Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology: New York. Binford, L. R, and Binford, S. R (eds.), 1968, New Perspectives in American Museum of Natural History, 1993, The First Humans. Archaeology. Aldine, Chicago. HarperSanFrancisco, San Francisco. Braidwood, R 1.,1960, Archaeologists and What They Do. Franklin American Museum of Natural History, 1993, People of the Stone Watts, New York. Age. HarperSanFrancisco, San Francisco. Branigan, Keith (ed.), 1982, The Atlas ofArchaeology. St. Martin's, American Museum of Natural History, 1994, New World and Pacific New York. Civilizations. HarperSanFrancisco, San Francisco. Bray, w., and Tump, D., 1972, Penguin Dictionary ofArchaeology. American Museum of Natural History, 1994, Old World Civiliza­ Penguin, New York. tions. HarperSanFrancisco, San Francisco. Brennan, L., 1973, Beginner's Guide to Archaeology. Stackpole Ashmore, w., and Sharer, R. J., 1988, Discovering Our Past: A Brief Books, Harrisburg, PA. Introduction to Archaeology. Mayfield, Mountain View, CA. Broderick, M., and Morton, A. A., 1924, A Concise Dictionary of Atkinson, R J. C., 1985, Field Archaeology, 2d ed. Hyperion, New Egyptian Archaeology. Ares Publishers, Chicago. York. Brothwell, D., 1963, Digging Up Bones: The Excavation, Treatment Bacon, E. (ed.), 1976, The Great Archaeologists. Bobbs-Merrill, and Study ofHuman Skeletal Remains. British Museum, London. New York. Brothwell, D., and Higgs, E. (eds.), 1969, Science in Archaeology, Bahn, P., 1993, Collins Dictionary of Archaeology. ABC-CLIO, 2d ed. Thames and Hudson, London. Santa Barbara, CA. Budge, E. A. Wallis, 1929, The Rosetta Stone. Dover, New York. Bahn, P.
    [Show full text]
  • Étude Sur Quelques Éléments Figuratifs Des Statues-Menhirs Et Stèles Européennes Du Néolithique À L'age Du Bronze
    Étude sur quelques éléments figuratifs des statues-menhirs et stèles européennes du Néolithique à l'Age du Bronze Lhonneux Tatiana Master en histoire de l'art et archéologie Orientation générale – Option générale – Finalité approfondie Directeur : Pierre Noiret Lecteurs : Marcel Otte – Nicolas Cauwe Volume I Université de Liège – Faculté de Philosophie et Lettres Année académique 2018-2019 Remerciements Ce mémoire est l’aboutissement d’un long parcours que je n’aurais pas pu réaliser seule. Aussi je tiens à remercier chaleureusement toutes les personnes qui, de près ou de loin, ont contribué à l’accomplissement de ce cheminement. Au terme de ce travail, je tiens à exprimer ma profonde gratitude à Monsieur Noiret qui, en tant que Directeur de mémoire, s’est toujours montré à l’écoute et disponible. Je le remercie pour l’aide et le temps qu’il a bien voulu me consacrer et sans qui ce mémoire n’aurait jamais vu le jour. Je voudrais saisir cette occasion pour témoigner toute ma reconnaissance à Monsieur Otte, pour ses précieux conseils dans mes recherches et questionnements. Je le remercie également pour le prêt de l'ouvrage sur les stèles provençales ; ouvrage faisant partie de sa collection personnelle. Dans cette même lancée, je remercie également Monsieur Cauwe d'avoir su me rediriger sur la bonne voie dans l'élaboration de mon travail et d'avoir su me remotiver pour le finaliser. Je tiens à exprimer ma gratitude aux quelques musées, qui m'ont aimablement répondu sur la localisation de certaines statues-menhirs et stèles, ainsi que m’avoir fourni quelques références bibliographiques fort utiles.
    [Show full text]
  • 2260 B.C. 2850 B.C. 5940 ± 150 Gsy-36 A. Roucadour a 3990 B.C
    [RADIOCARBON, VOL. 8, 1966, P. 128-141] GIF-SUR-YVETTE NATURAL RADIOCARBON MEASUREMENTS I J. COURSAGET and J. LE RUN Radiocarbon Laboratory, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Gif-sur-Yvette (Essonne), France The following list shows the age measurements carried out from 1958 to March 1963 at the Radiocarbon Laboratory at Gif-sur-Yvette. This laboratory has been replaced by a new one whose first measure- ments are also given in this volume. It was equipped with 2 proportional counters similar to those used in Saclay laboratory and operating with 1 atm of pure C02. These counters were shielded by 15 cm lead, 5 cm iron and 1.5 cm of mercury. Data have been calculated on the basis of a C14 half-life of 5570 yr, in agreement with the decision of the Fifth Radiocarbon Dating Confer- ence. As a modern carbon standard, wood taken from old furniture was used. This standard was found equivalent to 950 of the activity of the NBS oxalic acid, if a 2% Suess-effect is adopted for this wood. SAMPLE DESCRIPTIONS I. ARCHAEOLOGIC SAMPLES A. Southern France Perte du Cros series, Saillac, Lot Burnt wheat from Hearth III at entrance of cave of Perte du Cros, Saillac, Lot (44° 20' N Lat, 1° 37' E Long). Coll. 1957 by A. Calan; subm. by J. Arnal, Treviers, Herault. 4210 ± 150 Gsy-35 A. Perte du Cros 2260 B.C. 4800 ± 130 Gsy-35 B. Perte du Cros 2850 B.C. General Comment: associated with Middle Neolithic of Chasseen type un- (Galan 1958) ; Gsy-35 A may be contaminated.
    [Show full text]
  • How to Tell a Cromlech from a Quoit ©
    How to tell a cromlech from a quoit © As you might have guessed from the title, this article looks at different types of Neolithic or early Bronze Age megaliths and burial mounds, with particular reference to some well-known examples in the UK. It’s also a quick overview of some of the terms used when describing certain types of megaliths, standing stones and tombs. The definitions below serve to illustrate that there is little general agreement over what we could classify as burial mounds. Burial mounds, cairns, tumuli and barrows can all refer to man- made hills of earth or stone, are located globally and may include all types of standing stones. A barrow is a mound of earth that covers a burial. Sometimes, burials were dug into the original ground surface, but some are found placed in the mound itself. The term, barrow, can be used for British burial mounds of any period. However, round barrows can be dated to either the Early Bronze Age or the Saxon period before the conversion to Christianity, whereas long barrows are usually Neolithic in origin. So, what is a megalith? A megalith is a large stone structure or a group of standing stones - the term, megalith means great stone, from two Greek words, megas (meaning: great) and lithos (meaning: stone). However, the general meaning of megaliths includes any structure composed of large stones, which include tombs and circular standing structures. Such structures have been found in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, North and South America and may have had religious significance. Megaliths tend to be put into two general categories, ie dolmens or menhirs.
    [Show full text]
  • Establishing the Middle Sea: the Late Bronze Age of Mediterranean Europe (1700–900 BC)
    Journal of Archaeological Research https://doi.org/10.1007/s10814-021-09165-1 Establishing the Middle Sea: The Late Bronze Age of Mediterranean Europe (1700–900 BC) Francesco Iacono1 · Elisabetta Borgna2 · Maurizio Cattani1 · Claudio Cavazzuti1 · Helen Dawson1,3 · Yannis Galanakis4 · Maja Gori5 · Cristiano Iaia6 · Nicola Ialongo7 · Thibault Lachenal8 · Alberto Lorrio9 · Rafael Micó10 · Barry Molloy11 · Argyro Nafplioti12 · Kewin Peche‑Quilichini8 · Cristina Rihuete Herrada10 · Roberto Risch10 Accepted: 11 December 2020 © The Author(s) 2021 Abstract The Late Bronze Age (1700–900 BC) represents an extremely dynamic period for Mediterranean Europe. Here, we provide a comparative survey of the archaeological record of over half a millennium within the entire northern littoral of the Mediterra- nean, from Greece to Iberia, incorporating archaeological, archaeometric, and bioar- chaeological evidence. The picture that emerges, while certainly fragmented and not displaying a unique trajectory, reveals a number of broad trends in aspects as difer- ent as social organization, trade, transcultural phenomena, and human mobility. The contribution of such trends to the processes that caused the end of the Bronze Age is also examined. Taken together, they illustrate how networks of interaction, rang- ing from the short to the long range, became a defning aspect of the “Middle Sea” during this time, infuencing the lives of the communities that inhabited its northern shore. They also highlight the importance of research that crosses modern bounda- ries for gaining a better understanding of broad comparable dynamics. Keywords Late Bronze Age · Mediterranean · Networks · Society · Mobility · Collapse Introduction Recent syntheses have emphasized the interconnected nature of the Mediterra- nean during the second millennium BC and proved that raising our gaze above the usual disciplinary/geographical boundaries, typical of the scholarship of the Bronze Age, can be conducive to new insights (e.g., Knapp and Van Dommelen 2014).
    [Show full text]
  • Mise En Page 1
    Découvrir le patrimoine bâti Taravo CRDP de Corse Sommaire Circuit pédagogique n°1 - Richesses archéologiques . p. 05 Circuit pédagogique n°2 - Les édifices fortifiés . .p. 11 Circuit pédagogique n°3 - Les édifices religieux . p. 19 Circuit pédagogique n°4 - Le patrimoine rural . p. 25 Nous remercions vivement pour leurs conseils, la documentation et les photographies mises à notre disposition : La Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles de Corse Service régional de l’archéologie et Conservation régionale des monuments historiques ; les Archives départementales de la Corse-du-Sud ; le Musée départemental de Préhistoire corse de Sartène. et particulièrement Messieurs Joseph CESARI, Laurent CHABOT, Alain GAUTHIER, Franck LEANDRI. Dans la même collection : l’Alta Rocca - Sartenais et Valinco Imprimé en France © CNDP–CRDP de Corse - 2008 Dépôt légal : décembre 2008 Éditeur nº 86 620 Directeur de la publication : JEAN-FRANÇOIS CUBELLS Nº ISBN : 978 2 86 620 223 1 Achevé d’imprimer sur les presses de l’imprimerie Louis Jean - 05000 - GAP Découvrir le patrimoine bâti Taravo Ouvrage publié avec le concours du Conseil général de la Corse-du-Sud AUTEURS PHILIPPE COLOMBANI Professeur d’Histoire et Géographie Lycée Lætitia Bonaparte - Ajaccio MATHIEU HARNÉQUAUX Chef de Projet au CRDP de Corse avec la collaboration de MARIE-LAURE MARQUELET Doctorante en archéologie à l’Université de Corse DANIEL ISTRIA Chargé de recherche CNRS UMR LISA Université de Corse SERVICES CULTURE ÉDITIONS RESSOURCES POUR L’ÉDUCATION NATIONALE CRDP de CORSE Édité par le Centre Régional de Documentation Pédagogique Oriu. I Calanchi-Sapar’Alta Les premiers habitants de la Corse ont su tirer parti et aménager les abris que leur offrait la nature.
    [Show full text]
  • Megaliths in Ancient India and Their Possible Association to Astronomy1
    MEGALITHS IN ANCIENT INDIA AND THEIR POSSIBLE ASSOCIATION TO ASTRONOMY1 Mayank N. Vahia Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India And Manipal Advanced Research Group, Manipal University Manipal – 576104, Karnataka, India. E-mail: [email protected] Srikumar M. Menon Faculty of Architecture, Manipal Institite of Technology Manipal – 576104, Karnataka, India. E-mail: [email protected] Riza Abbas Indian Rock Art Research Centre, Nashik (a division of Indian Numismatic, Historical and Cultural Research Foundation), Nashik E-mail: [email protected] Nisha Yadav Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India E-mail: [email protected] Abstract The megalithic monuments of peninsular India, believed to have been erected in the Iron Age (1500BC – 200AD), can be broadly categorized into sepulchral and non-sepulchral in purpose. Though a lot of work has gone into the study of these monuments since Babington first reported megaliths in India in 1823, not much has been understood about the knowledge systems extant in the period these were built – in science and engineering, especially mathematics and astronomy. We take a brief look at the archaeological understanding of megaliths, before taking a detailed assessment of a group of megaliths (in the south Canara region of Karnataka state in South India) that were hitherto assumed to be haphazard clusters of menhirs. Our surveys have indicated positive correlation of sight-lines with sunrise and sunset points on the horizon for both summer and winter solstices. We identify 5 such monuments in the region and present the survey results for one of the sites, demonstrating the astronomical implications. We also discuss the possible use of the typologies of megaliths known as stone alignments/avenues as calendar devices.
    [Show full text]
  • Laos' Plain of Menhirs
    Laos’ Plain of Menhirs The formal conservation process for the Houaphanh menhirs has been underway for nearly twenty years. What has actually been accomplished during this period, and how are the material condition of the landscape and the artefacts now, compared with the situation between 1999 and 2002 when the authors did research on the menhirs and designed/installed interpretive signage at the site? Alan Potkin and Catherine Raymond report. At least 1,500 years ago, people whose origin and fate we know almost nothing of have erected hundreds of menhirs along 10 km of summit trails atop forested mountains in the present Houaphanh province, eastern Laos. Three lower saddles were favoured for the main menhir fields, linked one to the next by isolated menhir clusters. The menhirs themselves, in the form of long and narrow blades, are plaques of cut schist erected upright, one behind the other, with the tallest often in the middle. Interspersed among the groups of menhirs, in no discernable order are burial chambers set deep in the bedrock. Access to the ..................................................... SPAFA Journal Vol. 22 No. 2 1 opening below was often through a narrow vertical chimney equipped with steps. Each of these was covered by an enormous stone disk up to several metres in diametre. In 1931, the sites around San Kong Phan were surveyed and partially excavated by a team from Ecole Française d’Extrême- Orient (EFEO), led by archaeologist Madeleine Colani (Colani 1932). With four decades of bitter warfare soon to follow, the Houaphanh menhirs were not further researched until 2001, when it became known that an international development project providing vehicular access to isolated upland communities that had been dependent on opium production, inadvertantly caused substan- tive damage – both directly and indirectly – to several of the menhir sites.
    [Show full text]
  • Sartene Propriano
    Territoire du Les Incontournables Sartenais Valinco Taravo Les sites préhistoriques : La Corse compte actuellement plus Légendes de 900 menhirs situés principalement en Corse du Sud et plus particulièrement Édifices classés sur notre territoire. - Filitosa : ce site classé monument his- Site préhistorique torique est l’une des aventures archéolo- giques les plus riches de Corse. Tour Génoise - Cauria : sur ce site se situent l’aligne- Palneca ment I Stantari, l’alignement de Rinaiu Site préhistorique et le dolmen de Funtanaccia. aménagé - Paddaghu est la concentration de 258 Bastelica Point de vue D69 monolithes regroupés en 7 alignements. Ciamannacce construites entre le XVIe et le début du Bains d'eau chaude Les tours génoises : XVIIe siècle pour freiner les incursions barbaresques Sampolo Cozzano Site protégé - La Tour de Campomoro, la plus massive de Corse, entourée Conservatoire Tasso du Littoral d’un rempart en étoile, est ouverte au public d’ Avril à début Territoire D757 du Sartenais Octobre ( entrée 3.50€) Valinco Taravo D69 - La Tour de Roccapina - 8 m de haut Zicavo - partiellement en ruine, surplombe la Plages plage de Roccapina et n’est visible que D757a Sentiers de balades Guitera-les-bains du point de vue, sur la RN 196. schématisés - La tour de Capanella, renovée en 2010. (Consultation d'une carte I.G.N. conseillée) Accès à pied au départ de Porto Pollo. - Les tours de Micalona et de la Calanca Domaines viticoles D83 Corrano sont privées. Office de Tourisme - La tour de Senetosa - 11 m de haut - Zévaco est accessible à pied par le sentier du D27 littoral entre Tizzano et Campomoro, ou par la mer à partir de la Cala di Conca ( 1h de marche).
    [Show full text]
  • Étude Sur Quelques Éléments Figuratifs Des Statues-Menhirs Et Stèles Européennes Du Néolithique À L'age Du Bronze
    Étude sur quelques éléments figuratifs des statues-menhirs et stèles européennes du Néolithique à l'Age du Bronze Lhonneux Tatiana Master en histoire de l'art et archéologie Orientation générale – Option générale – Finalité approfondie Directeur : Pierre Noiret Lecteurs : Marcel Otte – Nicolas Cauwe Volume II Université de Liège – Faculté de Philosophie et Lettres Année académique 2018-2019 Introduction Ce catalogue rassemble 217 statues-menhirs et stèles européennes, reprises dans un recueil d'illustrations. J'ai tenté de diversifier les types de documents par des photographies en noir et blanc, en couleur et par des dessins. Il faut préciser toutefois que certains clichés présentent une qualité médiocre, faute d'avoir mieux à proposer. Certaines périodes, plus anciennes, posent plus de problématiques que d’autres, c’est la raison pour laquelle j’ai décidé de me concentrer sur elles : il s’agit du Néolithique, du Chalcolithique ainsi que de l’Age du Bronze. La datation des monuments peut varier au cours de mon analyse. Je me suis basée, en effet, sur les chronologies les plus fréquentes afin de placer les monuments dans une période donnée. Pour s'entendre sur les termes utilisés, vous trouverez, ci-dessous, une définition de chaque type de sculptures : – statue-menhir : L'expression « statue-menhir » a été créée par l'abbé Hermet1: c'est d'abord une statue, sous la forme d'une pierre épaisse ovale, ogivale ou rectangulaire2, s'efforçant à représenter un corps humain par son bas-relief et une silhouette humaine par sa mise en forme. Sa réalisation peut être grossière ou stylisée. C'est, ensuite, une sculpture qui se dresse comme un menhir3 (terme apparu pour la première fois sous la plume de l'abbé Hermet en 1891) fichée en terre.
    [Show full text]