Msoura Stone Circle
Mzora Cromlech · M'Soura · El Uted
Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age (3000–1500 BCE)·Atlantic Megalithic / Bell Beaker·🇲🇦 Tanger-Tétouan-Al Hoceima, Morocco
About
About Msoura Stone Circle
Msoura (Mzora) Cromlech is Morocco's sole Atlantic megalithic ellipse, 55×45 m of 175 menhirs encircling a 6-m tumulus, 25 km southeast of Asilah. Tallest monolith El Uted (The Pointer) 5.5 m. Legend ties it to Hercules–Antaeus tomb, recorded by Plutarch and Pomponius Mela. Likely 3rd–2nd millennium BCE Bell Beaker–type Neolithic, associated with megalithic Atlantic facade from Brittany to Morocco. Tumulus contained cremation. Excavated Montalban 1830, Camps 1964.
Why it mattersOnly African Atlantic cromlech; Plutarch-Antaeus myth anchors Greco-Berber memory.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Antaeus legend vs actual burial
- 02Relation to Iberian cromlechs
Theories
- 01Atlantic facade diffusion (Camps)
- 02Bell Beaker elite tomb (Calado)
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 2500–1700 BCE (typology; no radiocarbon)
- Period
- Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age (3000–1500 BCE)
- Culture
- Atlantic Megalithic / Bell Beaker
- Builders
- Atlantic Neolithic community
- Purpose
- Cromlech and burial mound; territorial marker or elite tomb
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c. 2500 BCE
Cromlech erected
c. 1700 BCE
Tumulus burial
1830
Montalban notes site
1964
Camps excavation
On the ground
Structures & features
35.4042° N · 5.9439° W · 180 m · 2 mapped features
El Uted Monolith
menhir5.5 m pointer menhir at north
35.4048° N · 5.9435° WCentral Tumulus
tumulus6 m high burial mound within ellipse
35.4040° N · 5.9440° W
Gallery