Deuxième dolmen à galerie, dit Er-Roch-Vras
MonumentHidden Treasure
Deuxième dolmen à galerie, dit Er-Roch-Vras, located in Carnac (Département 56), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- Carnac, Département 56, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.6343, -3.0860
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00091102
Enfoui dans la lande carnacéenne, Er-Roch-Vras est un dolmen à galerie néolithique d'exception : ses dalles cyclopéennes et son couloir dallé témoignent d'un art funéraire vieux de plus de 5 000 ans.
History
In the heart of the Quiberon peninsula, in the commune of Carnac, a world-renowned centre of Breton prehistory, the Er-Roch-Vras gallery dolmen - whose Breton name evokes the "great rock" - stands out as one of the most striking witnesses to the Armorican Neolithic. Discreet in its proportions but impressive in its workmanship, this funerary monument reveals to those who take the time to observe it all the technical and symbolic mastery of the farming populations who inhabited this area between 4,500 and 2,500 BC. What distinguishes Er-Roch-Vras from simple single-chamber dolmens is precisely its gallery: an elongated access corridor, demarcated by carefully matched orthostats in local granite, leading to a rectangular or slightly trapezoidal burial chamber. This "covered alley" or "gallery dolmen" architecture is characteristic of the recent Armorican Neolithic period, when megalith builders abandoned individual burials in favour of collective tombs designed to house the remains of several generations. A visit to Er-Roch-Vras is a truly contemplative experience. The covering slabs, made of quartzite or granite, sometimes bear the scars of time: moss, orange lichens, age-old erosion that draws unexpected reliefs in the stone. At dawn or dusk, when the low-angled light makes every grain of the granite stand out, the monument exudes an almost organic presence, as if the stone is still breathing with the energy it was given when it was erected. Located in Carnac, a commune that is home to the world's largest megalithic complex, with its famous alignments, Er-Roch-Vras enjoys an exceptional setting. The surrounding moorland, dotted with gorse and heather, offers an authentic setting, untouched by modern construction. The contrast between the mineral stillness of the dolmen and the perpetual rustle of the Atlantic vegetation gives the site a unique atmosphere, somewhere between sacred and wild. Listed as a Historic Monument since 1929, Er-Roch-Vras enjoys national protection that guarantees the integrity of its structures. For lovers of prehistory, landscape photography or simply anyone looking for a glimpse into the depths of human history, this dolmen is an essential stop on any Carnac itinerary.
Architecture
Er-Roch-Vras belongs to the category of gallery dolmens, the most advanced architectural form of Armorican megalithism. Its general plan is that of an elongated corridor - the gallery itself - giving access to a main burial chamber of roughly rectangular plan. The walls are made up of orthostats, large vertical slabs of mainly local granite, generally between 30 and 60 centimetres thick, and up to 1.5 to 2 metres high. The whole was covered by horizontal roof slabs of local granite or sandstone, corbelled or laid directly on the side walls. The choice of materials reflects the immediate geology of the Carnacan site: Armorican granite, a metamorphic rock of exceptional hardness and durability that is ubiquitous on the peninsula, was systematically favoured for its resistance to maritime and continental erosion. The surfaces of the orthostats sometimes bear traces of Neolithic engravings - cupules, crozier or escutcheon motifs - typical of the decorative repertoire of corridor burials in the Carnac region, although their state of preservation varies according to exposure and subsequent human intervention. The orientation of the gallery, as with the majority of Armorican gallery dolmens, seems to have been dictated by astronomical or symbolic imperatives, with the opening generally facing east or south-east, allowing sunlight to penetrate the chamber at equinoxes or solstices. This layout, far from being fortuitous, bears witness to an elaborate cosmology and precise empirical knowledge of the solar cycle on the part of the Neolithic builders.
Related Figures
James Miln — archéologue écossais qui mena les premières fouilles systématiques à Carnac dans les années 1870-1880 et contribua à l'inventaire des mégalithes de la régionZacharie Le Rouzic — archéologue carnacéen (1864-1939), gardien et fouilleur infatigable des monuments mégalithiques de Carnac, dont il dressa une cartographie précieuseAlexandre Bertrand — fondateur du Musée des Antiquités nationales de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, qui participa à la valorisation scientifique des mégalithes bretons au XIXe siècleProsper Mérimée — inspecteur général des Monuments Historiques, dont l'action législatrice prépara le cadre de protection qui conduisit au classement de 1929Jacques Cambry — auteur du Voyage dans le Finistère (1799), parmi les premiers érudits à recenser et décrire avec méthode les monuments mégalithiques armoricains
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Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Deuxième dolmen à galerie, dit Er-Roch-Vras located?
Deuxième dolmen à galerie, dit Er-Roch-Vras is located in Carnac, Département 56 department, Bretagne region, France.
Is Deuxième dolmen à galerie, dit Er-Roch-Vras open to visitors?
Deuxième dolmen à galerie, dit Er-Roch-Vras is currently closed to visitors.
