A classical goulet in the south of Algeria. (Thank you to Susan und Stephan of cantone-libero.ch for providing the Photo.) View in Maps >
Goulets are tombs whose occurrence extends from a high density in the Algerian Central Sahara to Western Sahara. There you will find the western type, which differs slightly in shape from the eastern variant. The eastern type is mainly concentrated in the mountain massifs around the Tassili N'Ajjer. The first dates so far have shown an age of around 4,500 to 6,500 years.
Goulets are always oriented west-east and are bounded by an oval outer ring. Lengths of 100 meters are not uncommon and some goulets of almost 200 meters in length have even been found. In most cases, this outer ring is open at its eastern end. At its western apex, or very close to it, lies the Tomb Tumulus. From there, two dividing lines form a narrow lane to the east, dividing the oval into two equal horizontal halves. The name Goulet (= French bottleneck) is derived from this narrow lane.
Goulet Type I (eastern style)
Goulet western style (Mosca)
Another variant, which looks very similar to Goulet Type I, was named "Mosca" (= Spanish fly) by its Spanish discoverers. Moscas are found only in the western Sahara and are more conical than oval in shape. The two horizontal divisions, forming an alley in the middle, are even closer together here, sometimes even merging into a single line. From above, these monuments look like flies with folded wings.
