Balestra Monument
The monument of Balestra (also called Torre de Balestra) is a round Bronze Age Torrean cult monument made of dry and Cyclops masonry in the municipality of Moca-Croce , 14 km northeast of Filitosa in Corsica .
The hill with a diameter of about 22.0 m and a height of three meters was overgrown by maquis before the excavation and had two depressions in the higher flat part, which were caused by treasure digs. The east of the hill was cut, there was a quarry here.
The round monument consists of a low stone base with a diameter of around 15 m and a double-walled tholos in the center of around 8.5 m in diameter. In the center is a chamber about 5.0 m in diameter, into which the passage opens. The chamber has two niches arranged symmetrically but not on the axes. Similar round base monuments can be found in Foce and southern France .
In the southeast, a few meters from the stone pedestal, there is a 2.5 m long and 0.9–1.1 m thick overturned monolith that could have been a menhir indicateur , as it is known from facilities on the French mainland.
Three archaeological layers have been identified inside the monument. The top one was about a meter thick and consisted of humus and black earth with Roman ceramics. The second layer was 1.3 m thick and contained yellow clay and corresponding ceramics. The layer immediately above the original floor was 30 cm thick and contained calcined clay in the form of slabs and disks. In the higher part of the layer a fireplace was found in which one found ash, charcoal, remains of bones and organic material.
literature
- Roger Grosjean : A unique piece of prehistory in the Mediterranean. The megalithic culture of Corsica. In: A look around in science and technology. Vol. 64, Issue 13, 1964, pp. 403-407
Coordinates: 41 ° 47 ′ 54.7 ″ N , 8 ° 59 ′ 19.3 ″ E