Allée couverte du Chêne-Hut
MonumentHidden Treasure
Allée couverte du Chêne-Hut, located in Lamballe (Département 22), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- Lamballe, Département 22, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.4969, -2.4582
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00089218
A Neolithic relic buried deep in the Breton countryside, the Chêne-Hut covered walkway bears witness to a funerary ritual dating back five millennia, with its granite slabs set in a remarkable astronomical orientation.
History
In the heart of the ancient city of Lamballe, in the Côtes-d'Armor region, the Chêne-Hut covered walkway is one of the most striking examples of prehistoric human occupation in inland Brittany. This megalithic monument, classified as a Historic Monument in 1963, is part of a long tradition of collective burial sites dotting the Armorican peninsula, from the shores of Morbihan to the moors of Trégor. The building belongs to the large family of covered walkways, funerary galleries characteristic of the Late Neolithic (between 3,500 and 2,000 BC), which archaeologists distinguish from corridor dolmens by their linear architecture: orthostats - large vertical slabs - aligned in two parallel rows, surmounted by massive cover slabs forming an accessible corridor. The whole site is usually covered by an earthen mound, of which only the stone structure often remains. The Chêne-Hut is no exception to this basic morphology, revealing, once the vegetation has been cleared away, the characteristic silhouette of these collective tombs, which could house the remains of several generations of the same community. Visiting the Chêne-Hut covered walkway means venturing off the beaten tourist track to reach a site that has remained in its natural setting. The walk to get there, through the hedged farmland and sunken lanes typical of the Penthièvre region of Brittany, is an integral part of the experience. The silence that reigns around the megaliths, in the shade of the oak trees that give the site its name, reinforces the impression of travelling through time. The hedged farmland setting of this monument is not insignificant: the Neolithic builders chose their sites carefully, taking into account the relief, the orientation of the sun and the proximity of springs or watercourses. The presence of such a monument on the outskirts of Lamballe is a reminder that this region, known today for its national stud farms and medieval heritage, was also, long before the historical era, a densely populated and organised territory, where death and the memory of ancestors played a central role in social life.
Architecture
The covered alleyway at Chêne-Hut has the canonical morphology of the megalithic burials of the Final Armorican Neolithic. Its structure is based on a series of local granite orthostats - vertical slabs carefully selected for their flatness and strength - arranged in two parallel rows, spaced at approximately one metre to one and a half metres apart, forming an internal corridor whose total length can reach eight to twelve metres, according to the surveys available for this type of monument in the region. These uprights support heavy horizontal roof slabs, laid in a slight overlap to ensure that the chamber is watertight. A frequent feature of Breton covered walkways, the building probably has a bedside slab at the eastern end, sometimes pierced by a circular or oval porthole - a symbolic opening allowing the soul to pass through, according to Neolithic beliefs. The entrance was probably on the west or north-west side, in a deliberate cosmological orientation, providing ritual access to the burial chamber. The granite slabs, worked with percussion to regularise their inner surfaces, may bear cupules or engraved markings, as can be seen on many contemporary monuments in the Côtes-d'Armor region. The monument has now been partially excavated from its original burial mound, revealing the bone structure of the cairn. Solidly anchored in the bocage soil, the monument has stood up remarkably well over the centuries, despite the pressure of the surrounding oak trees, whose roots are paradoxically both a threat and a natural support for the slabs.
Related Figures
Communautés néolithiques du Penthièvre (bâtisseurs anonymes, vers 3500-2500 av. J.-C.)Prosper Mérimée (inspecteur général des Monuments Historiques, initiateur du recensement mégalithique en France, XIXe siècle)Zacharie Le Rouzic (archéologue breton, spécialiste des mégalithes armoricains, 1864-1939)Jacques-Yves Picot (érudit local lamballais ayant contribué au recensement du patrimoine préhistorique des Côtes-du-Nord au XIXe siècle)Service régional de l'archéologie de Bretagne (gestionnaire scientifique du monument depuis le classement de 1963)
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Allée couverte du Chêne-Hut located?
Allée couverte du Chêne-Hut is located in Lamballe, Département 22 department, Bretagne region, France.
Is Allée couverte du Chêne-Hut open to visitors?
Allée couverte du Chêne-Hut is currently closed to visitors.
