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Rock-cut stratigraphy: Sequencing the Lalibela churches

Article in Antiquity · December 2010

DOI: 10.1017/S0003598X00067132

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Rock-cut stratigraphy: sequencing the
Lalibela churches
François-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar1,2 , Laurent Bruxelles1,2 ,
Romain Mensan1 , Claire Bosc-Tiessé3 , Marie-Laure Derat3
& Emmanuel Fritsch3

The rock-cut churches of Ethiopia have long

intrigued visitors and historians – and have
frustrated archaeologists seeking their sequence
of construction. Do they belong to one grand
ceremonial monastic plan, or a long-lived
ritual centre, continually refashioned over

Method
time? Since the churches are cut into live rock,
the conventional signals of archaeological
phasing are hard to find. The authors address
these problems at the famous site of Lalibela,
showing that, embedded in the cuts and
openings, the spoil heaps, and even in the now
vanished sediments, the stratigraphic sequence
is there to be read.

Keywords: Ethiopia, Lalibela, stratigraphy, rock-cut churches, Christianity

Introduction
The site of Lalibela on the northern plateau of Ethiopia has gained worldwide fame as
a historical riddle and a tourist attraction. This complex of a dozen rock-hewn churches
(Figures 1 & 2) was occasionally mentioned (under the names of Warwar or Dabra Roha) in
Ethiopian sources written in geez (Bosc-Tiessé 2009; Derat 2009). But these sources point
to legendary origins and provide little information useful to the historian or archaeologist.

1
TRACES-UMR 5608 (UTM-CNRS-INRAP), Maison de la recherche, 5 allée Antonio Machado, 31058
Toulouse, France (Email: Fx.fauvelle@yahoo.fr; Laurent.bruxelles@inrap.fr; mensrom@gmail.com)
2
School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3,
Wits 2050, Johannesburg, South Africa
3
French Centre for Ethiopian Studies (CNRS-MAEE), P.O. Box 5554, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (Email:
Cnrs-cfee@ethionet.et; derat@univ-paris1.fr; emmanuelcssp@wanadoo.fr)

Received: 4 March 2010; Accepted: 18 May 2010; Revised: 3 June 2010

ANTIQUITY 84 (2010): 1135–1150 http://antiquity.ac.uk/ant/084/ant0841135.htm
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 Rock-cut stratigraphy: sequencing the Lalibela churches

Figure 1. Lalibela: west of the Northern Group, facing east. In the background, one can see an Aksumite-style doorway. In the
foreground is the so-called ‘Tomb of Adam’, which was left protruding from the ground, possibly because of its sacred character,
when the trench was dug to its current depth. This specific sequence was observed by Gervers (2003b) and Phillipson (2009:
175–6) (photograph: M. Chordi/CFEE, 2009).

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 François-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar et al.

Method
Figure 2. Lalibela: map of the site, showing the location of the churches (numbered) and the areas of spoil (in colour) resulting
from the cutting of the monuments (satellite photograph: Google Earth. Geomorphological observations and mapping: L.
Bruxelles/INRAP/CFEE).

The site is named for King Lalibela (d. after 1225) of the Zagwe dynasty (c. eleventh to
thirteenth centuries), to whom later written sources (from the fifteenth century) ascribe the
foundation of ten churches (Derat 2006). Little is known about King Lalibela, although one
of the rare relevant contemporary documents suggests that one church – Medhane Alem –
was cut from the rock during his reign (EMML 6907, fol. 208v). As for the rest of the
site, there is no compelling evidence confirming that it was really built in the thirteenth
century.
Francisco Alvares (a member of a Portuguese embassy to Ethiopian King Lebna Dengel)
visited Lalibela in the early sixteenth century (Alvares 1540 [1943]), providing an early
record of the organisation, topography and state of preservation of the site. But it is not
until the Italian occupation, and again from the 1960s onwards, that the site, now more
easily reachable from the capital Addis Ababa, attracted the attention of amateurs, scholars
in architecture (Monti della Corte 1940; Bianchi Barriviera 1963, 1966) and art history
(Lepage 1997; Gervers 2003a), liturgists (Fritsch 2008) and archaeologists (Phillipson 2009).
A programme of preservation and tourism management was also implemented under the
aegis of UNESCO, the World Monuments Fund, and the Ethiopian authorities (the site of
Lalibela was placed on the World Heritage list in 1978).
Interest has intensified in the last decade or so, mainly devoted to the iconography
on the walls of the churches (Lepage 1999, 2006), the typology of the monuments’

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 Rock-cut stratigraphy: sequencing the Lalibela churches

architecture (e.g. Lepage 1997; Gervers 2003a; Phillipson 2006) and its liturgical functions
(Fritsch & Gervers 2007; Fritsch 2008). But comprehensive archaeological investigation
of Lalibela has been inhibited by its obvious complexity, the reluctance of the clergy to
allow scholars to generate a corpus of knowledge independent from the religious narrative,
and the general persuasion that the nature of the site precludes the recovery of any
stratigraphic information. Hence it seemed that the exploration of Lalibela had come to an
impasse.
The work reported here, which formed part of a multi-disciplinary project, was aimed
at providing a sequence of the site using archaeological methods independent of the art
historical evidence, as advocated by Gervers (2003a & b) and Phillipson (2009: 123–81).
Since the creation of one church-builder was removed by the chisel of the next (Gervers
2003a: 28), the stratigraphy is hard to read, but it is nonetheless present in the order
of cutting, in the dumping of the rock pieces and in subsequent sedimentation. Our
investigation did not require entry to the churches (the main concern of the ecclesiastic
authorities), but focused on the geological formation of the area, and the way it had been
quarried.
The Lalibela complex is traditionally divided into three groups of churches (Figure 2).
The first group, located in the northern part of the site, includes five monuments (listed
here in the order in which they are usually visited): Medhane Alem, Maryam, Denagel,
Masqal and the complex of Debre Sina/Golgota/Sellasse (which comprises three churches).
This Northern Group is separated from the Eastern Group by a seasonal stream, the Jordan
(Yordanos), which runs in a deep gully that collects water from the entire massif. This
gully shows evidence that it is partly man-made. The Eastern Group has five monuments:
Gabriel-Rufael, the Betalehem, Marqorewos, Amanuel and Libanos. Another group, to the
west, only comprises the church of Giyorgis.

Method
The method comprised a systematic survey and record of all the morphological, functional
and stylistic anomalies of the church buildings. We also observed and evaluated the potential
of the stratified dumps of spoil from rock-cutting and the processes of sedimentation that
had occurred on the site, especially where cutting new spaces in the massif had rendered
them liable to new forms of natural impact (see below).

Construction sequence
We use the term ‘anomaly’ for all kinds of unexpected, irregular or apparently abnormal
and useless features found in the architecture of the site. Drawing on the method of
‘superimpositions’ widely used in rock art studies (see e.g. Russell [2000] for an elaborate
case study), our interest in the morphological, functional and stylistic anomalies of Lalibela
relies on the idea that each single anomaly preserves a memory of two successive actions
made at the same place (though they may be very distant in time). Many examples can
be encountered. In the Northern Group, doorways overlooked a void, indicating that a
pathway outside the door had been superseded and dug away (Figure 1). In the north wall
of Medhane Alem, an opening high up and asymmetric to the wall gives access to earlier

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 François-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar et al.

Method

Figure 3. Lalibela: Medhane Alem, north wall, north-west angle of the church. Above the two registers of windows, one can
see an anomalous and asymmetric aperture giving access to two dome-shaped chambers of no functional use in the church.
These are the relics of a now-truncated corridor that was then just below the surface of the rock. Note that the pillars visible
here were built in 1954 in replacement of previous monolithic ones (photograph: M. Chordi/CFEE, 2009).

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 Rock-cut stratigraphy: sequencing the Lalibela churches

chambers (Figure 3). The north-west façade at Gabriel-Rufael (Figure 4) shows a hanging
staircase leading to a now removed courtyard, another replacement courtyard served by new
openings, and a now 9m-deep courtyard cutting away most of the previous features, with
a cistern dug in its base. These are some of the types of small local sequences that can be
deduced.

Spoil heaps
A study based on satellite imagery, checked in the field, indicated that the dumps of debris
resulting from the making of the monuments are found almost everywhere on the site,
mainly at each of the four sides of every church (Figure 2). Very few previous investigators
have evaluated the potential of these spoil heaps (however, see Finneran 2009). Yet the
disposal of the rock fragments must have posed a serious problem for the constructors,
and from an archaeological point of view, it is very likely that these refuse dumps contain
a complete stratification of the site from its beginnings, thus mirroring the phasing of its
successive transformations, with broken tools, ceramic sherds and other artefacts preserved
in the heaps of stratified stone chippings (Figure 5). Subsequent overbuilding of these
archaeological deposits, for example by tombs, may also provide a convenient terminus ante
quem for the dating of the monuments.
In at least one case we found evidence that the refuse was not rejected in the vicinity of the
monuments under excavation but rather collected and gathered at another disposal site that
was used as a ‘grey zone’ either because of the existence of ruined and useless structures or
in order to conceal potentially undesirable monuments. This example lies to the immediate
north of the Eastern Group, where we detected a huge dump clearly overlapping ancient
ground levels and portions of a large-block masonry wall found in situ (Figure 2). Here we
can only suggest that massive, built structures are to be uncovered below this artificial hill,
which again points to a very important archaeological potential for the site.

Sedimentation
Lalibela was always prone to the generation of sediments, which would collect naturally
in the open-air cuttings and courtyards. Furthermore, cutting ever-deeper monolithic walls
naturally increased the process of weathering, sometimes weakening them to the point of col-
lapse. There are several cases on the site where one can observe remnants of now-disappeared
rock-cut buildings. This is the case in the courtyard of present day Libanos, which was cleared
of its heaps of sediment after about 1970 (compare the picture in Phillipson 2009: 143)
revealing a number of features belonging to former buildings (Figure 6).
The widening of the open-air courtyards for the purpose of cutting out new monuments
created virtual water tanks liable to collect all the water of the massif. This situation would
sometimes lead to unexpected and possibly catastrophic events. This can be seen in the
front courtyard of Gabriel-Rufael (Figure 4), where the original ground level was lowered
by 9m, and an outflow was bored through the monolithic wall bordering the courtyard. It
is likely that the constructions at Lalibela continually modified the geomorphological and
hydrological systems, which could both accelerate the process of sedimentation and provoke
its removal. One can suggest that these two processes did not always function at the same

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 François-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar et al.

Method

Figure 4. Lalibela: Gabriel-Rufael, from the north-west. The hanging stairs on the left (a) are witnesses of an original
courtyard in front of the Aksumite-style main entrance, while the relic courtyard on the right (b) can only be coeval with
the (later) cutting of the façade and opening of new windows and door. The (still later) lowering of the courtyard by 9m
truncated these two features. A cistern (c) was dug in the courtyard. The outflow cannot be seen on the picture (photograph:
R. Mensan/CFEE, 2009).

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 Rock-cut stratigraphy: sequencing the Lalibela churches

Figure 5. Lalibela: north of the Northern Group. This section on a huge debris mound several metres high shows clearly
stratified layers of rubbish and stone chips. Such mounds are very likely to preserve ancient occupation levels and artefacts
(photograph: R. Mensan/CFEE, 2009).

time. The clearance and redeposition of sediment implies a strong centralised power, able to
maintain the monuments against the elements, while the accumulation of sediment suggests
times when such power was on the wane.
The purpose of this article is not to publish the complete catalogue of observations,
measurements and anomalies (which will be done elsewhere) but to draw attention to the
methodological arguments of our proposed phasing. It should be noted that no attempt will
be made here to convert this phasing into a chronology.

A new phasing
The phasing deduced from the stratigraphic examination of the different parts of the site is
summarised in Figure 7. The rocky massif in which the Lalibela complex is set consists of
basaltic scoriae embedded between two dark flows of basaltic lava, part of the Aiba formation
(Asfawossen Asrat et al. 2008a & b). This substratum in which the churches were hewn
cannot be described as volcanic tuff (contra most authors, e.g. Phillipson 2009: 124). The
church-builders aimed for the scoriae, which they could cut, but avoided or left unhewn the
much harder basalt (Figure 8). It is remarkable that all the constructions at Lalibela were
dug in the same deposit of basaltic scoriae, to the exclusion of basalt proper. This testifies to
an intentional choice probably informed by a good empirical knowledge of the properties
of the bedrock.

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 François-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar et al.

Method
Figure 6. Lalibela: the courtyard of Libanos as seen from the top. The church of Libanos (a) is on the right. The courtyard
(b), which was cleared of its big heaps of sediment (compare with picture in Phillipson 2009: 143) after c. 1970, shows
a number of features, including the relic of a monolithic pillar (c, shaded on the photo) emerging from the ground, which
testifies to the existence of a former monolithic building anterior to the current-day church. The metallic pillars (d) are part
of a recent system of protection of the site (photograph: C. Bosc-Tiessé/CFEE, 2009).

This empirical knowledge seems to have been active over a long period of occupation.
We are able to trace an early phase of settlement, which may have begun long before the
site was transformed into a Christian religious complex. We call this phase ‘Troglodytic’
(Figure 7). This term is not intended to have any chronological or ethnological connotation.
It is characterised by small entrances to narrow tunnels running a few metres under, and
generally parallel to, the surface of the rock, leading to little dome-shaped chambers. Small
flights of stairs also belong to this phase. Though most of these features have been erased by
subsequent transformations of the site, some openings can still be observed hanging above
the modern level of circulation (e.g. Figure 3).
In a second phase which we have called ‘Hypogean’, the inhabitants of the site continued
to occupy, or reoccupied, the galleries of the previous phase but transformed some of them
into a network of cubic chambers, heightening ceilings, and ornamenting entrances with
Aksumite-like pillars and doorways. At the time, these doorways (today hanging over the
void) connected with open-air courtyards, newly-excavated passages deeper in the massif,
and with peripheral corridors or trenches that were attached to the interior spaces. Associated
with this phase are monuments such as Masqal and Denagel, respectively north and south
of Maryam, and parts of others, such as the central chamber of Gabriel-Rufael. The east
part of the courtyard of Maryam, where an ancient circulation level can still be observed,

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 Rock-cut stratigraphy: sequencing the Lalibela churches

Figure 7. Lalibela: a synthetic generalised diagram illustrating the phasing of Lalibela proposed in this article (F.-X.
Fauvelle-Aymar & R. Mensan).

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 François-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar et al.

Method

Figure 8. Lalibela: Giyorgis. A protrusion of uncut basalt (right) has been left in the corner of the circulation passage around
the church, which stands on the left (photograph: L. Bruxelles/CFEE, 2009).

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 Rock-cut stratigraphy: sequencing the Lalibela churches

Figure 9. Lalibela: west part of the courtyard of Maryam, facing south. Remnants of a former Hypogean complex, comprising
a water tank (a) and baptistery steps (b), and Denagel church (c). The area connecting these features was deepened and
widened when the Maryam courtyard was cut out (photograph: M. Chordi/CFEE, 2009).

also belongs to this phase (Figure 9). It may be useful to some readers to add that the
designation ‘Hypogean’ is used here in a completely different sense than Phillipson (2009),
who uses it to designate all non-built architectural feature whatever its morphology and
function.
The question remains as to whether these monuments could, at this stage, have already
been Christian churches. In the case of Gabriel-Rufael, for instance, the northern room,
generally regarded as the sanctuary of the church, was in fact a chapel (Fritsch 2008:
88); it follows that the monument as a whole was never meant to be a church any
more than a castle equipped with a chapel is a church. In addition, we agree with
Phillipson (2009: 146–8) that since the opening of its windows truncated previous
features, this chapel is a rearrangement of a space having previously existed under the very
different form of our second (Hypogean) phase of occupation. We thus believe that most
Hypogean monuments were not begun as churches, but transformed into churches at a later
stage.
The next phase in our sequence is called ‘Monumental 1’. It includes the first properly
monolithic monuments excavated into the heart of the massif, which were cut out and
cored so as to take a form nearer to that of conventional buildings. This sometimes entailed
widening and deepening previously-existing open-air courtyards, as in the case of Maryam.
In the course of these transformations, some pre-existing Hypogean monuments were

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 François-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar et al.

preserved as protruding relics because the extension of the excavation would otherwise
have broken into subterranean spaces. Other structures had a façade cut and designed on
the exterior while being internally transformed into churches. The churches of Maryam
and Medhane Alem clearly belong to this Monumental 1 phase, as is also the case with a
now-disappeared monumental access (above the ‘Tomb of Adam’) to this set of churches
(Figure 1). It is possible, though not certain, that most of the monuments of the Eastern
Group, which are probably part of a fortress complex, belong to this phase.
We call the next phase ‘Monumental 2’. It is mainly characterised by a considerable
lowering of the outside levels. The aim was apparently to create façades, accesses and
windows to newly excavated churches below the ground level of the previous ones (Figure 1).
As a result, the monumental access to Maryam found itself truncated and unusable as such.
During this phase, not only were new churches probably created (Golgota-Selassie), but also
other non-religious monuments were transformed into churches (e.g. Marqorewos), the
whole site becoming a Christian religious complex that lost some of its civilian or defensive
features. For this reason, it seems that the Monumental 2 phase is marked by an ideological

Method
split from the previous phase.
The description of the site given by Alvares at the beginning of the sixteenth century
indicates that the site may have been in its Monumental 2 phase at that time. From
this point on is what we call the ‘Filling-in’ phase. This was a time when there was no
longer any centralised (religious or political) power able or willing to maintain the site
as a ceremonial centre. It is not known what exactly took place in Lalibela between the
sixteenth and the mid twentieth centuries, and we cannot rule out the possibility that the
site went through one or several periods during which it exerted some sort of strong spiritual
attraction, thus reinforcing the sanctity of its churches. But whatever the case may be, the site
underwent several centuries of change: sediment accumulated and filled up the trenches,
some monuments collapsed and their debris was not cleared, and new settlements were
established on the top of the debris dumps and filled-up trenches. This was the situation
encountered by Sandro Angelini in the 1960s (Angelini 1967) when he started to clear the
trenches and the courtyards.

Discussion
Recent research on Lalibela has followed two different lines of interpretation. The first one,
represented by Claude Lepage and Emmanuel Fritsch, considers the whole site (Lepage
2002), or at least the major part of it (Fritsch 2008), to be the result of an architectural
program that was undertaken and completed during the reign of King Lalibela, or at the
latest during the late Zagwe dynasty. This approach is based on a sequence in architectural
development (Fritsch & Gervers 2007; Fritsch 2008), drawn from reference to liturgical
sources and the few documents at our disposal such as the History of the patriarchs of
Alexandria, and inscriptions carved on a number of wooden altars still kept in the churches.
To these written sources Lepage (1999, 2006) adds the interior wall paintings and the
outside relief-carving of Maryam, which he confidently ascribes to the same period, while
Fritsch (2008) considers the presence of certain architectural features as markers for a mid
twelfth- to thirteenth-century attribution.

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 Rock-cut stratigraphy: sequencing the Lalibela churches

By contrast, Phillipson (2009: 123–82, esp. tables on p. 178 and 180) is inclined to ascribe
most Lalibela monuments, which would not all necessarily have been initially conceived
as churches, to a long period of time between the seventh/eighth and the early twelfth
century. With proper caution, he derives his early chronology from architectural features
(mainly monolithic doorway frames imitating wooden lintels and protruding beams) that
are reminiscent of typical ‘Aksumite’ architecture (Buxton & Matthews 1974). He ascribes
the latest monument on the site – that of Golgota, the last in Phillipson’s sequence – to
the time of King Lalibela because local oral tradition locates Lalibela’s grave at precisely
this place. It is worth noting here (contra Phillipson 2006, 2009) that the presence of
an Aksumite style need not imply an early date since Aksumite features could have been
incorporated long after the fall of Aksum. The church of Yemrehanna Krestos located a
few dozen kilometres from Lalibela is a good example of this, since it is generally ascribed
to the twelfth century, in spite of its typical ‘Aksumite style’ architecture. Gervers (2003a),
who also favours a long sequence, places it almost entirely after King Lalibela’s time and
extends it as far as the fifteenth century, considering that Golgota church is a testimony to
the rehabilitation of the Zagwe dynasty under the reign of King Zara Yaeqob in the mid
fifteenth century.
The sequence deduced from stratigraphic observation aligns best with the models of
Phillipson or Gervers in that it points to several phases of occupation and transformation
of the site. However, our sequencing suggests a much longer chronological development
culminating in two important monumental phases. Whether the last of these should be
assigned to the thirteenth or the fifteenth centuries remains in question.

Conclusion
Most previous researchers attempting to understand Lalibela have followed a typological
methodology, classifying types of churches, architectural features or decoration styles. Such
an approach has contributed significantly to the field. But it must also be admitted that this
approach can be partly circular in the sense that each specialist may unwittingly produce as
many idiosyncratic types as required to reflect his/her own field of competences and to fit
the expected historical sequence he/she has in mind.
We have shown here that, in spite of the absence of conventional deposits, there is
considerable potential for stratigraphic analysis of the site, even without archaeological
excavation. This is based on the local sequencing of features, the distribution and layering
of soil heaps and the study of sedimentation, including sediments now removed.
While it does not resolve detailed questions of date, our initial reading of the phasing
of the site offers a framework of development throughout the life of the site that can be
enhanced by future research.

Acknowledgements
This article is based on the results of a multidisciplinary mission carried out in May 2009 under the aegis of
the Ethiopian Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ARCCH, Addis Ababa) and the
French Centre for Ethiopian Studies (CFEE, Addis Ababa), with the cooperation of the French Institute for
Research in Preventive Archaeology (INRAP, France), the support of the Cultural and Tourism Office and the

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 François-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar et al.

ecclesiastic authorities of Lalibela. The team was composed of historians (M.-L. Derat, F.-X. Fauvelle-Aymar), an
art historian (C. Bosc-Tiessé), a liturgist (E. Fritsch), archaeologists (R. Mensan, C. Ménard), a geomorphologist
(L. Bruxelles, INRAP), a topographer (O. Onézime, INRAP), a cartographer (Loı̈c Di Maria), and experts
in heritage (Abebe Mengistu, Fasil Ayew). Brian Clark, Iyassu Demissie, Niall Finneran and Alemu Haylé
participated in some aspects of the field mission. This mission was funded by the CFEE, the Department of
Social Sciences and Humanities of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS, France), and by
generous support from Ethiopian Airlines. We express our thanks to all these individuals and institutions, as
well as to David Phillipson and another anonymous referee, whose comments helped to improve the text, and
to Leila Qashu for editing the English.

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