Des pierres phalloïdes par milliers en Éthiopie méridionale

Abstract

This article aims to revisit the question of phallic stelae erected on the Rift Valley foothills in Sidama, Gedeo and Guji zones. Results from R. Joussaume excavations tend to suggest these archeological sites could be the consequence of the accumulation of memorial stelae around a initial grave. This hypothesis, and others, can be discussed considering both sites and stelae diversity. Among the 46 sites known in the Gedeo area, 39 were enough documented to create a database permitting a typological and stylistic classification. This study gives details about the repartition of regional singularities, revealing a less homogeneous phenomenon than first though. Finally, it helps to put into perspective the socio-cultural variability of this ancient society and thus opens new fields of research like the implantation’s logic of this megalithic structures in the landscape of the Ethiopian Rift foothills.

Keywords

• megalithism
• stelae
• phalloid stone