Santa Maria statue menhir

The Santa Maria statue-menhir belongs to the Corsican group of statue-menhirs. It was discovered at Cambia, in the Haute-Corse department of France, and was reported in 1893. It seems to have remained at its original location, a crossroads of paths, where a small Romanesque chapel was later built that gave the statue its name. The Petra Frisgiata, a stone decorated with rock engravings, lies a few hundred meters further north.

The statue is slender, measuring 2.10 m in height by 0.35 m in width and 0.12 m, and it is carved from a block of shale. It is very damaged: the head is broken on both sides and the face has almost disappeared. Only the right eye remains, while the nose and mouth can still be made out but are badly eroded.

In the extension of the chin, a relief pattern in the shape of an inverted T may be an ornamental element. Many cups are visible on the barrel of the statue, on a side face and on the back, including two at the level of the breasts. At some later point the statue was Christianized by the addition of a small cross on the axis of the barrel.

According to a local legend, the statue is of a young girl who was turned to stone after desecrating a grave by planting a stick in it.

A statue menhir is a carved standing stone of the later European Neolithic, with a stylised human figure cut into a vertical slab or pillar, sometimes with hints of clothing or weapons. They are most commonly found in southern and western France, Catalonia, Corsica, Sardinia, Italy and the Alps. The catalogue gives a typological estimate of 4500 to 1500 BCE for this one.

It was reported in 1893. It seems to have remained at its original location, a crossroads of paths, where was later built a small Romanesque chapel that gave it its name.The Petra Frisgiata, a stone decorated with rock engravings, is located a few hundred meters further north.

Of slender shape, the statue measures 2.10 m in height by 0.35 m in width and 0.12 m It was carved into a block of shale The statue is very damaged, as the head is broken on both sides and the face has almost disappeared. It remains only the right eye; the nose and mouth are still discernible but very eroded. In the extension of the chin, an inverted "T" shaped relief pattern may correspond to an ornamental element. Many cups are visible on the barrel of the statue side face, including two at the level of the breasts, and on the back side. The statue was Christianized by the addition of a small cross in the axis of the barrel.