Structural Description (part 3)

Platform Surface

In our report for the campaign 1999, we published a scale drawing presenting the central part of the platform surface in detail (Blumer and Vial 1999:245, fig. 38). We completed the record square by square in 2000 and are now able to provide a complete view of the surface ( Fig. 15 ).

Fig. 15

Although the general platform shape is well preserved and shows a clear trapezoid shape, we have to notice that a blue pine tree, which had grown over the location, slightly disturbed the southwestern platform angle and deformed the trapezoid shape by nicking the southern wall outwards ( Fig. 15 , squares F-G/6). Fortunately, this natural event, which happened sometime during the 20^th century, did not harm the stone structure enough to bring the southern flank to collapse. We estimate the tree started to grow about 20-30 years ago.

The stone setting of the platform surface seems quite unorganized at first glance. A detailed observation shows a higher concentration of flat stone slabs in the central part, and even quadrangular area with superposed flat stones in the squares E-G/3-5. The stones in this area also present obvious centripetal sloping angles, detail which we already described in 1999 (Blumer and Vial 1999:244, fig. 36-37). The sloping vectors indicate that the filling of an inner chamber went through a progressive compaction process, or that the hollow chamber volume suddenly collapsed, bringing the stone layers covering it to subside 10-35 cm deeper than their original position. From now on, we shall call this area the chamber covering.

All around the chamber covering, the surface stones show no indicative sloping angles and lay mostly horizontally, depending on their shape. The module of the stone is also smaller in size and more rounded boulder can be observed than in the chamber covering area.