Kergonfalz dolmen — Dolmen de Kergonfalz, vue de l'entrée

Dolmen

Kergonfalz dolmen

France

DatedEst. 4000–3000 BCE

Photo XIIIfromTOKYO · CC BY-SA 3.0Source file on Wikimedia Commons

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Overview

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Overview

The Kergonfalz dolmen (also called the Kergonfalz tumulus, and wrongly known as the Trou des Chouans) is a passage dolmen in the commune of Bignan, in the département of Morbihan, France. It is catalogued with a typological date estimate of 4000 to 3000 BCE.

It stands inside a circular tumulus about 30 m in diameter and 3.50 m high, and its passage has an architecture described as very original and unique of its kind. The monument was explored in 1864 and has been a protected historic monument since 1969.

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Where it sits in time

The site's dated range, placed against world reference points.

The scale is logarithmic: each step to the left is about ten times older than the last.

Est. 4000–3000 BCEHow this date was established: Type comparisonTypical for this type

What this badge meansThe published range for this kind of monument in this region. It is not a date for this site.
Source for this date

Article

Kergonfalz dolmen

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It is about 480 m north of the hamlet that gives it its name, 230 m south-west of the hamlet of Kergal and 200 m east of the hamlet of Saint-Just.

Dolmen de Kergonfalz

Setting

Sources for this section

The monument lies in a wood immediately north of the road to Moustoir-Ac. It is about 480 m north of the hamlet that gives it its name, 230 m south-west of the hamlet of Kergal and 200 m east of the hamlet of Saint-Just. About 50 m to the east, on the other side of the road, stands the Kergonfalz covered alley (allée couverte).

Description

Sources for this section

The dolmen is of the passage-grave type, but the passage is unusual. The tumulus consists of a layer of dry stone topped by a layer of earth 0.50 m thick. The chamber is rectangular, 2.3 m long, 1.75 m wide and 1.75 m high, with its main axis running north-west/south-east. It is bounded by orthostats and roofed by a single capstone.

The passage is 5.2 m long and 0.80 m wide and runs east-north-east/west-south-west. Its walls are built of alternating orthostats and low dry-stone walls. At 2.4 m from the entrance the height under the roof slabs rises from 0.80 m to 1.50 m. Just before the chamber the passage turns abruptly and ends at the foot of the chamber doorway, which is 0.60 m wide and set in the south corner of the chamber. The whole passage is covered by several roof slabs.