Eles, Tunisia

Eles, Tunisia
Eles is the site of a large number of megalithic dolmens
Eles, Tunisia Location in Tunisia
Coordinates: [ ⚑ ] : 35°56′55″N 9°5′50″E / 35.94861°N 9.09722°E / 35.94861; 9.09722
Country	Tunisia
Governorate	Siliana Governorate
Time zone	UTC1 (CET)

Eles (also transliterated as Ellès and Al Las) is a village in the Siliana Governorate, Tunisia. It is located around [ ⚑ ] 35°56′55″N 9°5′50″E / 35.94861°N 9.09722°E / 35.94861; 9.09722 about 13 km northwest of Maktar.^[1][2] in Siliana Governorate.^[3]

Eles, Tunisia sits over a natural spring at the base of the surrounding hills.

The village is notable for the large number of dolmens found immediately to the west,^[4] thought to be from around 2500 BC. BC.^[5][6] south and east of the village which are typical of the tombs found around Maktar.^[7] A study of fifty-three of the dolmens by Belmonte, Esteban and Jiménez González^[8] suggest that some of these tombs may be orientated towards Alpha Centauri. In contrast Hoskin^[9] argues that Tunisian dolmen orientations can be explained by the local topography, in that the entrances all face downhill.

The local rock strata are geologically interesting as they provide a particularly good record of the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary,^[10] which is now better known as the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.

During the Roman Empire and late antiquity there was a civitas (Roman town) called Ululi.^[11][12]

Notes

References

• Belmonte, J.A.; Esteban C.; Jiménez González, J.J. (1998). "Pre-Roman Tombs of Africa Proconsularis". Archaeoastronomy: Supplement to the Journal for the History of Astronomy 23 (29): S7–S24. doi:10.1177/002182869802902302. 
• Coccioni, R.; Marsilia, A. (November 2007). "The response of benthic foraminifera to the K–Pg boundary biotic crisis at Elles (north-western Tunisia)". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 255 (1–2): 157–180. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2007.02.046. 
• Hoskin, M. (2001). Tombs, Temples, and Their Orientations: A New Perspective on Mediterranean Prehistory. Ocarina Books. ISBN 0-9540867-1-6. 
• Harbi-Riahi, M.; Gragueb, A.; Camps, G.; M'Timet, A.; Zoughlami, J. (1985). Atlas Préhistorique de la Tunisie (8 Maktar). Institut National d'Archéologie et d'Art de Tunis and École Français de Rome. ISBN 2-7283-0091-7. 

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