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EAST OF
BRITTANY
part III:

By far the largest number of prehistoric tombs in France is scattered across the limestone plateaux to the south and west of the Massif Central: the area of the causses .
The limestone départements of Lot, Aveyron, Gard, Hérault and Lozère contain over 2000 megalithic tombs of all sizes -
mostly dolmens simples with a few megalithic cists (coffres) , and tombs which are morphologically between dolmen simple and allée-couverte.

Ferrussac (Hérault)

Few are as elegant and impressive as this one.
And not many are as poetic as the handful of related wedge-tombs to be found on Ireland's tiny causse known as the Burren.

Many have been damaged or pillaged.
I was told that during the Second World War the Resistance maquisards whiled away the long days excavating for hidden treasure as their ancestors had done right back to the time that the tombs were built. Others have found themselves too close to 'progress'.

Azinières (Aveyron)

But many also have been preserved as overnight shelters for shepherds. They have made some tombs more weatherproof, and beside them can be seen the circles of their fires.

A few have been partially-reconstructed with the aid of concrete.

Vaour (Tarn)
Detail of underside of broken, re-erected capstone

Pathetically few of these tombs are marked on Michelin maps.
A small percentage are roughly indicated on the IGN (Ordnance Survey) 1:100,000 Série Verte maps. Almost all are marked on the IGN 1:25,000 (1 cm = 250 metres) S é rie Bleue - but only the dedicated dolmen hunter will go to this expense .

However, local enthusiasts and tourist centres have, somewhat belatedly, recognised that megalithic tombs are of interest to outsiders, and they have put up handsome little signs. On the Causse de S é v é rac, west of S é v é rac-le-Château near the source of the river Aveyron, wrought-iron signs will lead the curious to the most accessible dolmens, and the tourist office publishes an illustrated brochure with a map.

La Vernhiette on the Causse de S é v é rac (Aveyron)

This well-known tomb with a chunk of its capstone (and its end-stones) missing is known also by Occitanian name Lou Ciborni é : 'The Dolmen'. It can be seen clearly from a local road, and from afar by those with keen eyesight.

The low-flying aeroplane indicates how the tomb fits into the modern landscape.

Dolmen de la Galitorte , Buzeins (Aveyron)

Some of these dolmens simples are quite low, their single roof-slab fragile and often damaged -nothing like as impressive or robust as the allées-couvertes which survive farther north, especially in the valleys of the Seine and the Loire. Some retain a good part of the tumulus in which they were embedded.

Concoules IV, Montjaux (Aveyron)

Buzareingues I, Buzeins (Aveyron)

Occasionally a tomb will be graced by a roof-slab of character.

Dolmen de Jonquayrolles , Montjaux (Aveyron)

Since all the stones used to construct these tombs are limestone slabs, sidestones sometimes lean and lurch attractively...

Dolmen de Restous , Buzeins (Aveyron)

...or have collapsed.

Dolmen de la Gl è ne , Saint-L é on (Aveyron)

Farther west, on the causses of the Lot, the dolmens have a neater character - due probably to the different nature of the limestone - and they more resemble Irish tombs in the Burren.

Four è s, Limogne (Lot)

Some recall the epithet "griddle" often used in the names of Irish prehistoric tombs .

Vidaillac (Lot)

Others seem at first glance more like Irish portal -tombs than the later wedge -tombs to which they are morphologically related.

Majourals, Saint-Chels (Lot)

Dolmen de Saint-Paul, Verdier (Tarn)

Dolmen du Lac d'Auri é , Limogne (Lot)

High up on the vista-rich watershed between the beautiful rivers Lot and C é l é , a rough-hewn monolithic limestone cross stands a few metres from a dolmen on the Pilgrim Road from Figeac and the shrines of Western Auvergne to Santiago de Compostela. This is one of the most poetic dolmens of France.

Dolmen du Mas de P é gouries , Gr é alou (Lot)

Click here to proceed to part four

Sévérac I (Aveyron)