CHAPTER VII
AFRICA, MALTA, AND THE SMALLER
MEDITERRANEAN ISLANDS
North Africa is a great stronghold of the megalithic civilization, indeed it is thought by some that it is the area in which megalithic building originated. Morocco, Tunis, Algeria, and Tripoli all abound in dolmens and other monuments. Even in the Nile Valley they occur, for what looks like a dolmen surrounded by a circle was discovered by de Morgan in the desert near Edfu, and Wilson and Felkin describe a number of simple dolmens which exist near Ladò in the Sudan. Tripoli remains as yet comparatively unexplored. The traveller Barth speaks of stone circles near Mourzouk and near the town of Tripoli. The great trilithons (senams) with holes pierced in their uprights and 'altar tables' at their base, which Barth, followed by Cooper in his Hill of the Graces, described as megalithic monuments, have been shown to be nothing more than olive-presses, the 'altar tables' being the slabs over which the oil ran off as it descended. True dolmens do, however, occur in Tripoli, and Cooper figures a fine monument at Messa in the Cyrenaica, which appears to consist of a single straight line of tall uprights with a continuous entablature of blocks similar to that of the outer circle at Stonehenge.
Algeria has been far more completely explored, and possesses a remarkable number of megalithic monuments. Many of the finest are situated near the town of Constantine. Thus at Bou Nouara there is a hill about a mile in length which is a regular necropolis of dolmen-tombs. Each grave consists of a dolmen within a circle of stones. The blocks are all natural and completely unworked. The circle consists of a wall of stone blocks so built as to neutralize the slope of the hill and to form a level platform for the dolmen. Thus on the lower side there are three courses of carefully laid stones rising to about five feet, while on the upper side there is only one course. The diameter of the circles varies from 22 to 33 feet. In the centre of the circle lies the dolmen with its single long cover-slab. This usually rests on two entire side-slabs, the ends being filled up either with entire slabs or with masonry of small stones. In rare cases the side-slabs are replaced by masonry walls. The average size of the cover-slab is 6½ by 5 feet. The dolmen itself is, of course, built directly on to the platform, and the space between it and the circle is filled up with rough stones. The orientation of the dolmens varied considerably, but the cover-slab was never placed in such a way that its length ran up the hill-slope, probably because in moving the slab into place this would have been an awkward position.
Another equally fine site is that of Bou Merzoug, near Oulad Rahmoun, about an hour's railway journey from Constantine. The place is naturally adapted for a settlement as there is a spring of water there. This spring was later utilized by the Romans to provide water for the city of Cirta. The dolmen-graves lie in great numbers on the hill at the foot of which the spring rises, and extend down into the valley. Each dolmen lies in the centre of a stone circle. This last is in some cases formed by very large slabs set on edge, but more often by two or three courses of rough oblong blocks. Many of the graves are badly damaged. One of the finest had an outer circle about 27 feet in diameter, and an inner circle 14 feet in diameter. Between these two a third circle, much more irregular and of small stones, could just be distinguished. But in most cases it was impossible to make out clearly more than the one outer circle and the dolmen within it. The dolmen itself consisted of a large slab resting on walls formed of several large blocks, the spaces between which were filled up with smaller stones. None of the stones used were worked. The dolmens were not oriented according to any fixed system. M. Féraud states that the separate graves were united together by open corridors formed by double or triple rows of large stones, but no traces of such a system could be found by the later visitors to the site, Messrs. MacIver and Wilkin.
Fortunately we have some record of what these graves contained, for thirteen were opened by Mr. Christy and M. Féraud. One contained a human skeleton in good condition, buried in the contracted position with the knees to chin and arms crossed. With this were two whole vases, fragments of others, and pieces of cedar wood. At the feet of the skeleton were two human heads, and as the graves would not have accommodated more than one whole body M. Féraud suggests that these belong to decapitated victims. Another grave contained, in addition to human bones, those of a horse, together with three objects of copper, viz. a ring, an earring, and a buckle. In another were found the teeth and bones of a horse and an iron bit.
An entirely different type of monument is found near Msila, south-west of Algiers. Here is a long low hill called the Senâm, covered with large numbers of stone circles. These consist of large slabs of natural limestone set up on edge and not very closely fitted. The height of the slabs varies from 2 to 3 feet, and the diameters of the three still perfect circles are 23½, 26¾, and 34⅓ feet respectively. At a point roughly south-east there is a break in the circumference, filled by a rectangular niche (Fig. 19) consisting of three large slabs, and varying in width from 2 ft. 6 in. to 6 feet. There is a possibility that the niches were originally roofed, but the evidence on this point is far from conclusive. The interior of the circle is filled with blocks of stone, apparently heaped up without any definite plan. There seems to be no clue as to the meaning of these circles, as none have as yet been explored. MacIver and Wilkin are probably right in classing them as graves.