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El Outed- the Siting Stake or The Pointer. M'Soura. Les Monoliths de m'Soura or Le Cromlech de m'Soura- or variously MZora, Mazora, Masoura- is the ruined remains of a large tumulus surrounded by a ring of fine-tooled monoliths. It lies on a knoll adjacent to the hamlet of Soura some 7 kilometres south east from the large village Sidi El Yamani. Yamani may be reached by bus or taxi from both coastal resorts Asilah or Larache. The final 7 kilometre approach to Soura is by foot, bicycle or donkey though there may be 4X4 access at some times of year. Anyone expecting to visit Soura might wish to contact us for an introduction to Msieu Ahmed Fadil, the custodian, and advice on avoiding spurious touts and guides.  
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Much quarried for building stone and despoiled, perhaps, by religious vandalism, never the less the remains suggest that this site should be regarded as a supreme example of megalithic architecture in league with Stonehenge, Newgrange and Tursachan Calanais. The standards of quarrying, dressing, transport, and erection which produced the stones for this site were superb. |
El Outed to North East.
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El Outed stands at the western point of the great stone ring.
From here the view to the north east over the flank of the tumulus shows how the mound almost completely obscures the Rif Mountains to the east. El Outed stands around 6 metres tall. Msieu Fadil maintains that this great menhir is rooted 7 metres into the ground. |
| This impressive stone is one of three very tall menhirs that originally stood here. The other two are recumbent in the bracken. It seems that they were placed so close to each other that there would be no space for a person to pass through.
From these three exceptional menhirs, erected at the due west point of the ring, the rest of the stones decrease in size. |
El Outed to south west.
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 This reconstruction has been made by a German anthropologist. It shows the close setting of the perimeter stones to each other, but does not represent accurately the space between the tumulus kerbing and the stone ring which appears to have been equally as cramped. According to Palmer the monument plan appears to have been set out as an ellipse.  Palmer is a professional artist specialising in paintings with megalithic subjects. He visited m'Soura in 1978 noting several features which are not evident today- 2007. He counted 175 menhirs in the enclosing ring. Recent observers estimate 167. John Palmer estimates the dimensions of the stone ring as: Major axis east/ west = 71.52 Megalithic Yards. (MY) Minor axis north /south = 67.7 MY. Perimeter = 218.88 MY. These dimensions may be supported by the 37:35:12 Pythagorean triangle. For an introduction to megalithic ellipse construction see page: Megalithic Mathematics 5. Link to John E. Palmer's work:http://www.sacred-sites.org/earth.html |
| Outlying features.
The northern stone row: Stretching northward at about 100- 150 metres is the ruin of an impressive stone row. The 'portal stones': To the south west, at around 100 metres, are the recumbent elements of what might have been a tall trilithon. The outlying small stone rows: Surrounding the entire major stone ring are several close-set rows of small stones and a defined trapezoid precinct to the west. Palmer noted also a defined triangular cove of small stones within the mass of the tumulus to the west. More pages on m'Soura- m'Soura 2. m'Soura 3. |
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