Tondidarou Explained
| Tondidarou |
| Settlement Type: | Town |
| Pushpin Map: | Mali |
| Pushpin Label Position: | bottom |
| Pushpin Mapsize: | 300 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Mali |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  Mali |
| Subdivision Type1: | Region |
| Subdivision Name1: | Tombouctou Region |
| Subdivision Type2: | Cercle |
| Subdivision Name2: | Niafunké |
| Population Blank1 Title: | Ethnicities |
| Utc Offset: | +0 |
| Coordinates: | 16.0119°N -4.1144°W |
Tondidarou is a small town and megalithic archaeological site in Niafunké Cercle, Timbuktu Region, Mali, northwest of Niafunké, about 150 kilometres south-west of Timbuktu.[1] The site, located on the eastern bank of Lac Tagadji, was discovered by Jules Brévié in 1904 and is said to be "defined by three groups of stone megaliths", monoliths which are a "remarkable collection of phalliform stone monuments."[2] [3] Ancient Egypt in Africa refers to the site as "Diop's 'Egypt-influenced' phalliform stone circle of Tondidarou".[4] Eugene Maes was the first to seriously document the stones at Tondidarou in 1924.[5] It was extensively excavated in around 1980.[6] The site is dated to 670 - 790 AD.
Further reading
- Saliege, JF, Person, A., Barry, I. and Fontes, P. (1980) 'Premieres datations de tumulus pre- islamiques au Mali: site mcgalithiquc de Tondidarou', Comptes rendus de /' Academic des Sciences, 291 (D), 12, pp. 981–4.
Notes and References
- Book: Mokhtar, G.. General History of Africa: Ancient civilizations of Africa. 12 July 2012. 1981. UNESCO. 978-92-3-101708-7. 523.
- Book: Sottas, Beat. Forum suisse des africanistes. 12 July 2012. 1997. LIT Verlag Münster. 978-3-8258-3506-4. 69.
- Book: Ki-Zerbo, Joseph. General History of Africa: Methodology and African prehistory. 12 July 2012. 1981. UNESCO. 978-92-3-101707-0. 630.
- Book: O'Connor. David. Reid. Andrew. Ancient Egypt in Africa. 12 July 2012. August 2003. Cavendish Publishing. 978-1-84314-758-9. 104.
- Book: Smithsonian Institution. Libraries. National Museum of African Art Branch. The arts of Africa: an annotated bibliography. 12 July 2012. 1989. African Studies Association. 128.
- Book: Fage, J. D.. The Cambridge History of Africa: From c. 500 B.C. to A.D. 1050. 12 July 2012. 1 February 1979. Cambridge University Press. 978-0-521-21592-3. 341.
