Allée couverte de la Pointe-de-Guéritte
MonumentHidden Treasure
Allée couverte de la Pointe-de-Guéritte, located in Quiberon (Département 56), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- Quiberon, Département 56, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.4807, -3.1367
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00091606
Vestige néolithique dressé à l'extrémité sauvage de la presqu'île de Quiberon, cette allée couverte de granite breton révèle une architecture funéraire vieille de cinq millénaires, témoin silencieux des premiers peuples armoricains.
History
At the end of the Quiberon peninsula, where the Atlantic winds carve the gorse and the waves roll against the jagged rocks, stands the covered alleyway of Pointe-de-Guéritte. This megalithic monument, listed as a Historic Monument since 1931, is one of a constellation of collective burials dotted around Morbihan, one of the world's densest areas for Neolithic remains. The covered walkway differs from traditional dolmens in its elongated shape: a funerary gallery made up of orthostats - large vertical slabs of granite - supporting horizontal covering tables. At Guéritte, the structure retains the canonical organisation typical of the Armorican aisles of the Late Neolithic, between 3500 and 2500 BC, a period during which the agro-pastoral societies of the Atlantic seaboard developed a remarkably sophisticated architecture of death. Visiting this monument means getting off the beaten tourist track. Far from the crowds of Carnac or Locmariaquer, the Pointe-de-Guéritte pathway offers an intimate, almost melancholy experience: you're alone with the stones, the wind and the nearby ocean. This proximity to the coastline is not insignificant - Neolithic peoples carefully chose the location of their collective burials, often in relation to significant geographical landmarks. The natural setting heightens the emotion of the discovery. The open moorland, the sea spray and the low-angled light at the end of the day give the site a timeless atmosphere that's perfect for contemplation. Photographers and heritage enthusiasts will find the golden light incomparable at sunset, when the elongated shadows of the megaliths draw on the ground the memory of a people without writing.
Architecture
The covered alley at Pointe-de-Guéritte belongs to the family of elongated corridor burials characteristic of the Late Armorican Neolithic. Its structure is based on the principle of orthostasis: large slabs of local granite, set vertically in two parallel rows, form the walls of a funerary gallery covered by horizontal stone tables known as capstones. This system of building by stacking and balancing masses, without binder or mortar, demonstrates a remarkable mastery of lithic mechanics. The burial chamber, generally oriented east-west in accordance with the funerary practices of the period, is preceded or delimited by a bedside slab that closes off the whole. The granite used - a metamorphic rock abundant in Brittany - is exceptionally resistant to erosion, which explains why the monument has survived over five millennia of Atlantic weathering. The blocks, probably extracted from outcrops of rock in the immediate vicinity, show the characteristic traces of rudimentary but effective cutting. Like many of the covered walkways in Morbihan, the Guéritte monument may originally have consisted of a mound of earth and gravel partially or totally covering the lithic structure, giving it the appearance of an artificial mound in the landscape. Erosion and successive human interventions have often removed this protective mantle, exposing the stones today and giving them their characteristic silhouette of a stone skeleton set against the Breton sky.
Related Figures
Populations néolithiques de la presqu'île de Quiberon (bâtisseurs, v. 3500-2800 av. J.-C.)Prosper Mérimée (inspecteur général des Monuments Historiques, inventaire des mégalithes bretons, XIXe s.)Théodore Hersart de La Villemarqué (érudit breton, collecte du patrimoine préhistorique armoricain)James Miln (archéologue écossais, fouilles pionnières à Carnac et environs, XIXe s.)Zacharie Le Rouzic (archéologue carnacéen, inventaire des mégalithes du Morbihan, début XXe s.)
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Allée couverte de la Pointe-de-Guéritte located?
Allée couverte de la Pointe-de-Guéritte is located in Quiberon, Département 56 department, Bretagne region, France.
Is Allée couverte de la Pointe-de-Guéritte open to visitors?
Allée couverte de la Pointe-de-Guéritte is currently closed to visitors.
