Dolmen of Avola
The Dolmen di Avola , located in the Borgellusa district, characterized by alluvial formations and protected at noon by a short rocky crag, is a prehistoric chamber monument with two or more stone slabs fixed to the ground and covered by a further slab, placed horizontally with a tomb or sacrificial function.
It was discovered in 1961 by Salvatore Ciancio, who removed the earthy mass that left only the opening visible, so much so that it was thought it was an entrance, was the trilithic construction in light.
In the Dolmen of Avola an enormous rocky slab, 8 meters long and 5.50 wide, is placed horizontally, supported by two other massive slabs placed vertically. The structure, as a whole, reaches a total height of 3.30 meters. Due to the numerous fractures reported by the dolmen over the centuries, it was necessary to make three brick supports. The artifact was created using a natural cavity, which was enlarged and geometrized until it took on its current appearance. The traces of these interventions are visible both in the outline of the pillars obtained from the side walls of the ingrottato, and in the vault.
The structure does not actually fall within the typological classification of the European dolmen, which must be solely the result of construction and not of income from rock emergencies.
It is dated around the third millennium BC. It is believed that the structure was the site of propitiatory rites linked to the mysteries of the solar divinities in the course. This thesis is supported by some elements visible along the horizontal table of the dolmen, such as an engraved rectangle with a vertex facing east and the presence of some channels.
