Switching mortuary codes and ritual programs: the Double-Monolith-Circle from Sine-Ngayene, Senegal

Abstract

This paper addresses a number of connected issues revolving around mortuary practices in the Senegambian megalithic traditions, through the lenses of the intriguing double-monolith-circle #27 of Sine-Ngayene, also known as Diallombere. Despite more than a century of archaeological investigation, the diversity of Senegambian megalithic features is still very poorly understood. Most of the cases investigated so far have been claimed to feature single or multiple simultaneous primary burials. The presence of incomplete skeletons is generally explained by poor preservation due to soils’ corrosive effects. Monument #27, located at the center of the Sine- Ngayene cemetery, presents an unexpectedly long uselife, characterized by shifting ways of arranging humans’ skeletal remains — mortuary codes switching — as well as their associated ritual use of material culture, within the general context of secondary burial practices. Four distinct and successive cycles, spanning over ca 700 years (AD 700 – AD 1350), have been identified and the construction sequence of this complex monument deciphered.