statue-menhir de Montvallon

The statue-menhir de Montvallon is a carved standing stone belonging to the groupe rouergat, discovered at Laval-Roquecezière in the département of the Aveyron in France. It is dated by typological estimate to 4800 BCE to 2500 BCE. Statues-menhirs are characteristic of the later European Neolithic, and France has the largest number of them known.

The statue was carved on a small slab of sandstone from the Permian period measuring 0,67 m in height, 0,58 m in width and 0,06 m in thickness. Slight damage, in the form of scratches, occurred during its discovery, but the statue remains complete. It is unusual for being no more than a bust, which is a very distinctive feature given its small size.

The figure is female. The face is reduced to the eyes, while the other human features shown are the breasts, arms, hands and a long triangular hairstyle. The figure also wears a necklace with eight rows and a belt.

The statue-menhir was discovered in 2004 by Hubert Lautrec during the demolition of a wall between two fields. It has been listed as a historic monument as an object since 14 October 2019. The Montvallon statue is one of several statues-menhirs in France; such monuments are most often found in southern and western France, as well as in Catalonia, Corsica, Sardinia, Italy and the Alps.

statue-menhir de Montvallon is a statue-menhir in France. A typological estimate: 4800 BCE to 2500 BCE. No English Wikipedia article exists for it; the full text below is the French article "Statue-menhir de Montvallon", shown in the original language.