Dolmen à galerie, dans la partie Sud-Ouest de l'île de Bono
MonumentHidden Treasure
Dolmen à galerie, dans la partie Sud-Ouest de l'île de Bono, located in Perros-Guirec (Département 22), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- Perros-Guirec, Département 22, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.8831, -3.4847
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00089382
Aux confins sauvages de l'île de Bono, ce dolmen à galerie néolithique dresse ses orthostates de granite breton vers le ciel d'Armor — vestige saisissant d'une civilisation bâtisseuse de géants, classé Monument Historique.
History
Off the coast of Perros-Guirec, on the Pink Granite Coast of the Côtes-d'Armor département, the south-western part of Bono Island is home to one of the most discreet and bewitching megalithic monuments in northern Brittany. This gallery dolmen, whose granite masses emerge from the moors and gorse as if from another time, belongs to the constellation of funerary monuments that have dotted the Armorican territory for some five or six millennia. Unlike the covered walkways of Morbihan or the great enclosures of Carnac, the dolmen on Bono Island are seductive because of their isolation and their organic integration into the island landscape. Accessible only by sea from the port of Perros-Guirec or Ploumanac'h, it requires visitors to make a journey that is in itself a rite of passage - as if access to this sacred Neolithic site still required a special effort, a deliberate intention. The covered gallery, an architectural feature that distinguishes this type of collective burial from a simple single-chamber dolmen, bears witness to an elaborate social organisation and remarkable technical mastery. The Neolithic builders selected, transported and erected blocks of local granite weighing several tonnes, using no tools other than stone, wood and collective strength. This feat gives the visit an almost vertiginous dimension. The island of Bono itself, covered in sparse vegetation battered by the onshore winds, offers a setting of austere beauty. The changing light of the Breton skies, the proximity of the sea and the silence broken only by the cries of the gulls give this monument a timeless atmosphere, conducive to contemplation and imagination. Photographers and lovers of prehistory will find it an experience of rare intensity. Classified as a Historic Monument by decree of 24 April 1968, the dolmen is protected under the legislation on prehistoric monuments. Its conservation, overseen by the State in conjunction with the local authorities, guarantees that this exceptional heritage will be preserved for future generations.
Architecture
The gallery dolmen on Bono Island belong to the family of collective burials known as "covered alleys" or "corridor dolmens", characteristic of the Armorican Neolithic. Its basic structure consists of a main burial chamber, preceded by a narrower access corridor - the gallery - originally covered by a cairn of small stones and earth, which has now largely disappeared. This bipartite architecture clearly distinguishes this type of monument from simple single-chamber dolmens. Orthostats - large vertical slabs of local granite - form the side walls of the gallery and chamber. The pink granite from the Perros-Guirec region, the dominant rock on the whole of the Pink Granite Coast, gives the monument its characteristic tone, varying from pinkish grey to beige depending on the lighting. Horizontal cover slabs (tables), sometimes called "bedside stones" for the base slab, complete the structure. The whole structure generally faces east or south-east, in line with the architectural conventions observed on most Breton gallery dolmens, perhaps linked to astronomical or solar considerations. The dimensions of the monument, typical of this type of construction in northern Brittany, probably range from eight to fifteen metres for the total length of the gallery, with a chamber up to two or three metres high under the slab. The way the blocks are arranged, without mortar or binder, is based on a meticulously calculated balance between the masses, testifying to a remarkable empirical knowledge of structural mechanics.
Related Figures
Bâtisseurs néolithiques armoricains (3500-2800 av. J.-C.) — communautés agropastorales anonymes à l'origine du monumentProsper Mérimée — inspecteur général des Monuments Historiques, pionnier de la protection du patrimoine mégalithique breton au XIXe siècleZacharie Le Rouzic — archéologue breton spécialiste du mégalithisme, auteur d'inventaires essentiels pour la régionPaul Du Chatellier — archéologue et collectionneur finistérien, contributeur majeur à la connaissance des monuments préhistoriques armoricainsRené Galles — archéologue morbihannais du XIXe siècle ayant contribué à la connaissance de l'architecture mégalithique bretonne
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Dolmen à galerie, dans la partie Sud-Ouest de l'île de Bono located?
Dolmen à galerie, dans la partie Sud-Ouest de l'île de Bono is located in Perros-Guirec, Département 22 department, Bretagne region, France.
Is Dolmen à galerie, dans la partie Sud-Ouest de l'île de Bono open to visitors?
Dolmen à galerie, dans la partie Sud-Ouest de l'île de Bono is currently closed to visitors.
