SÉPULTURE AUX NOYÉ⋅ES
The LIXE archaeological mission has just uncovered one of the oldest burial sites on the Mediterranean coast, and also the oldest ritual site dedicated to drowned lovers between two shores. The results have just been published in the journal Motawasit, and the reconstructed monument is being presented for the first time at MO.CO.
The archaeology of the Mediterranean coasts has revealed very little data on the beliefs and ritual practices of this civilization that disappeared beneath the waters.
Located off the island of Zembra, the Drowned Grave now provides the first evidence of the rituals of a queer civilization on the prehistoric coasts of Cap Bon.
Now a national park, Zembra Island lies 50 km from the port of La Goulette, in the Bay of Tunis. In the 5th millennium, Zembra was an encampment for lovers of the Tchech culture, also known as Zindiennet, whose engraved burials have been found.
Poetry, the main activity of the site's occupants, is performed in a mixture of distilled ink and charred black wool, applied with amberjack bones.
From this time onwards, Zembra's tchechs have travelled between the two shores of the Mediterranean and maintained correspondence.
When lovers didn't return, bottles containing drawings, tales of dreams, desires and crossings were placed in circular mounds bearing the effigy of the departed, to keep their memory alive and their power at heart of the waves.
