Ethiopia - Tuto Fela

Undertaken at a time when virtually nothing was known of megalithic monuments in the south of Ethiopia, the study of the stelae site of Tuto Fela in Sidamo between 1993 and 1997 has revealed the presence of two successive cemeteries positioned one over the other. The upper layer consists of a stone tumulus some 20m x 50m across. On this stood almost 400 stelae, though many of them are now broken. These anthropomorphic stelae are associated with graves containing from one to three bodies, buried among the stones of the tumulus. Below, at a lower layer, are phallic stelae marking graves cut into the ground surface. These graves take the form of a shallow circular pit, at the base of which is a side-cell containing the body of a single individual on contracted position. Radiocarbon dating allows us to date this level to between the 11th and 13th century AD. Most of the anthropomorphic stelae of the tumulus had been made by remodelling phallic stelae taken from the underlying layer.