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The megalithic sites of the Pyrénées-Orientales are a group of 148 dolmens and 4 menhirs [1] located in the French department of Pyrénées-Orientales.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(May 2024) |
The megalithic sites of the Pyrénées-Orientales are a group of 148 dolmens and 4 menhirs [1] located in the French department of Pyrénées-Orientales.
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The Pyrénées-Orientales department is located in the extreme south of France, eastern section of the Pyrenees mountain range and the Plaine du Roussillon . The mountainous region of the county consists of the Albera massif to the southeast, the Corbières massif to the north, and the historic regions of Vallespir, Conflent, Cerdagne, and Capcir, which make up almost 50% of the department's total area.
The Roussillon plain lacks any megaliths. These stone structures are generally situated at elevated positions, such as on ridges, passes or flat areas and frequently function as borders between communes that were once villages. Dolmens have served as boundary markers since at least the early Middle Ages.
The rock materials used to construct these monuments, including gneiss, granite, and limestone, are readily available at dolmen sites. Apart from the limestone Corbières massif, the soils in this area tend to be acidic.
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Unlike the dolmens in the neighboring Aude department or Spain's Alt Empordà, those found in the Pyrénées-Orientales are diminutive in size. The largest one is the Balma de Na Cristiana .
For the most part, they feature a basic rectangular layout, with a chevet slab bearing two side slabs, all of which are covered by a single slab. The fourth side is left open to act as the entrance to the dolmen, which could have a wooden or stone opening mechanism. Few dolmens are larger and have a corridor due to the extension of side slabs, giving them an elongated shape.
However, these original designs underwent modifications over the years. Not a single dolmen has been discovered intact, all have been looted, emptied, and reused, sometimes as early as prehistoric or ancient times. Slabs have frequently been relocated or destroyed.
Many dolmens bear cupules that are often connected by engraved gutters. Sometimes, they are associated with cross-shaped engravings. Unadorned dolmens may be accompanied by nearby engraved rocks.
Most organic remains have been destroyed by the acidity of the soil.
In his 2011 publication, Jean Abélanet outlines 147 dolmens in the Pyrénées-Orientales, along with 5 menhirs, including those mentioned in ancient sources but not yet discovered. [2] The Dolmen de Castelló discovered in 2011 is not included. [3] Carreras and Tarrús completed their list in 2012, documenting 125 megalithic sites, 114 burials, and 10 menhirs, in addition to one necropolis. [4] They identify 19 sites as potentially false or doubtful. [5] The Castelló dolmen is also omitted from their count. In 2017, Carreras and Tarrus published an article that lists megaliths discovered between 1999 and 2015 in the county and neighboring Alt Empordà. Three megaliths were found in the Pyrenees-Orientales. [6]
The authors unanimously agree that the Statue-menhir de Caramat is not a statue-menhir.
Dolmens in the Pyrenees-Orientales are typically situated in hilly or mountainous areas of the department, usually on a col, ridge, or high ground. [7] In Jean Abélanet's book, coordinates in Lambert III format were provided, but this format has proven problematic as a majority of the coordinates are incorrect. [8]
The following list consists of six columns:
Jean Abélanet has discovered multiple megalithic sites using toponymy, specifically the names of localities within the Napoleonic cadastre . Abélanet offers a list of potential sites containing megaliths, determined through name association.
A dolmen or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the Late Neolithic period and were sometimes covered with earth or smaller stones to form a tumulus. Small pad-stones may be wedged between the cap and supporting stones to achieve a level appearance. In many instances, the covering has eroded away, leaving only the stone "skeleton".
La Jonquera is a municipality in the comarca of l'Alt Empordà, in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated next to the border with Northern Catalonia, nowadays France, opposite the municipality of Le Perthus.
A menhir, standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large upright stone, emplaced in the ground by humans, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be found individually as monoliths, or as part of a group of similar stones. Menhirs' size can vary considerably, but they often taper toward the top.
A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea.
A trilithon or trilith is a structure consisting of two large vertical stones (posts) supporting a third stone set horizontally across the top (lintel). It is commonly used in the context of megalithic monuments. The most famous trilithons are those of Stonehenge in England.
A statue menhir is a type of carved standing stone created during the later European Neolithic Period.
The Carnac stones are an exceptionally dense collection of megalithic sites near the south coast of Brittany in northwestern France, consisting of stone alignments (rows), dolmens, tumuli and single menhirs. More than 3,000 prehistoric standing stones were hewn from local granite and erected by the pre-Celtic people of Brittany and form the largest such collection in the world. Most of the stones are within the Breton municipality of Carnac, but some to the east are within neighboring La Trinité-sur-Mer. The stones were erected at some stage during the Neolithic period, probably around 3300 BC, but some may date to as early as 4500 BC.
This article describes several characteristic architectural elements typical of European megalithic structures.
Wéris is a village of Wallonia and district of the municipality of Durbuy, located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium.
Gavrinis is a small island in the Gulf of Morbihan in Brittany, France. It contains the Gavrinis tomb, a Neolithic passage tomb built around 4200–4000 BC, making it one of the world's oldest surviving buildings. Stones inside the passage and chamber are covered in megalithic art. It is likened to other Neolithic passage tombs such as Barnenez in Brittany and Newgrange in Ireland.
The Locmariaquer megaliths are a complex of Neolithic constructions in Locmariaquer, Brittany. They comprise the elaborate Er-Grah tumulus passage grave, a dolmen known as the Table des Marchand and "The Broken Menhir of Er Grah", the largest known single block of stone to have been transported and erected by Neolithic people.
The Caixa de Rotllan is a dolmen in Arles-sur-Tech, Pyrénées-Orientales, southern France, dating back to the Neolithic period, during the second half of 3rd millennium BC.
The Wéris megaliths are a group of megalithic monuments found near the village of Wéris, in the province of Luxembourg, in Belgium.
Megaliths in Ethiopia are large, monumental stones, that exist in Ethiopia.
Hotié, Hostié or Maison de Viviane, also known as Tombeau des Druides is a megalithic tomb in Paimpont, Ille-et-Vilaine, in Brittany. The Hotié de Viviane is one of the prehistoric monuments in the Forest of Brocéliande cursorily described in the 19th century, but more recently, following the fires that have periodically devastated the forest, rediscovered and excavated by local groups. Legend makes it the home of the fairy Viviane, where she held the enchanter Merlin imprisoned. Another legend equates it with the esplumoir Merlin. When the location of the Val sans retour, a place figuring in medieval Arthurian literature, was identified with the Val de Rauco in the 19th century, the megalithic site near the Gurvant valley took the name of Hotié de Viviane. Hotié de Viviane is also sometimes identified as Tombeau de Viviane.
The Veraza Culture was a Chalcolithic culture that extended over the half north of Catalonia and the southern French departments of Aude and Pyrénées-Orientales, in a period between 3500 and 2000 BC.
The Montobolo culture was a postcardial culture which extended over the départament of Pyrénees-Orientales and the provinces of Girona and Barcelona in eastern Catalonia between 4700 aC and 3800 aC.
The Siureda dolmen is a rectangular dolmen with a simple plan located in Maureillas-las-Illas, in the French department of Pyrénées-Orientales, at the eastern end of the Pyrenees. Its name derives from the Catalan word for "cork oak wood".
The dolmen of Coma Enestapera, or Coma Estapera, is located in Cerbère, in the French department of the Pyrénées-Orientales in the Occitanie region.
The Coll de la Llosa dolmen is a megalithic structure located on the border of the communes of Bouleternère, Casefabre and Saint-Michel-de-Llotes in the French department of Pyrénées-Orientales in the Occitanie region.
