Dolmen de Ferrières-Haut
MonumentHidden Treasure
Dolmen de Ferrières-Haut, located in Limogne-en-Quercy (Département 46), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- Limogne-en-Quercy, Département 46, Occitanie
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 44.3815, 1.7406
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00095138
The Ferrières-Haut dolmen, a Neolithic vestige of the Limogne limestone plateau, rises up from its limestone slabs in the heart of the Quercy Blanc region, a silent witness to a building civilisation over 5,000 years old.
History
At a bend in the road through the arid limestone plateaux of Quercy, the Ferrières-Haut dolmen stands out with the solemnity typical of monuments that millennia have spared. Listed as a Historic Monument since 1959, this megalithic structure is one of a constellation of collective burials dotted around the limestone plateau of Limogne-en-Quercy, one of the areas best endowed with megaliths in the Lot department. What sets the Ferrières-Haut dolmen apart, above all, is its place in an almost unchanging landscape. The Lot limestone plateaux, with their dry grasslands, twisted juniper trees and low dry-stone walls, form a natural setting that has hardly changed since Neolithic man erected this burial chamber. The large slabs of local limestone, quarried and erected several kilometres away in accordance with megalithic architectural principles, reveal a technical mastery and social organisation of remarkable sophistication for their time. The visit is both contemplative and archaeological. To approach the dolmen is to physically measure the immoderation of the Neolithic enterprise: lifting, transporting and arranging blocks weighing several tonnes with no tools other than human strength, wood and rope. The cover table, placed on its orthostats with a precision that defies time, invites us to imagine the funerary rites that took place there for centuries, the bones deposited successively in this collective chamber. The site is part of a network of dolmens that makes the commune of Limogne-en-Quercy a must-see destination for prehistory enthusiasts. A few kilometres away, other megaliths dot the plateau, offering the chance to go on an archaeological itinerary on foot or by bike. Photography enthusiasts will particularly appreciate the low-angled morning or evening light, which carves the slabs with deep shadows and reveals all the plastic power of the work.
Architecture
The dolmen at Ferrières-Haut have the typical configuration of simple dolmens in the Quercy region: a rectangular or sub-rectangular burial chamber, formed by several orthostats - vertical slabs of local limestone - on which rests a large horizontal covering table. This type of architecture, known as a "simple chamber dolmen", is the most widespread on the Lot limestone plateaux, where it differs from the corridor dolmens typical of the Atlantic regions. The materials used come exclusively from the local geological substratum: white Quercy limestone, a soft, clean-cut rock that can be cut into relatively regular slabs and lends itself well to extraction using wooden cuneaux. The blocks that make up the top table probably weigh several tonnes and, like comparable dolmens in the region, are between two and four metres long and one to two metres wide. The chamber thus delimited formed a closed space, perhaps accessible via a looser bedplate that allowed successive deposits to be made. Originally, the whole structure rested under a mound of earth and dry stone that enveloped the megalithic structure, making it invisible from the outside and giving it the appearance of an artificial eminence in the landscape. As with the vast majority of dolmens in the Lot, this tumulus mantle has disappeared over the centuries, under the effect of erosion and ploughing, leaving the bare slabs to stand in the open air in their striking architectural bareness.
Related Figures
Hommes du Néolithique moyen et final (3500-2500 av. J.-C.) — bâtisseurs anonymes du dolmenPremiers érudits de la Société des études du Lot (XIXe siècle) — inventoriateurs des mégalithes quercinoisInspecteurs des Monuments Historiques (années 1950) — acteurs du classement de 1959
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Dolmen de Ferrières-Haut located?
Dolmen de Ferrières-Haut is located in Limogne-en-Quercy, Département 46 department, Occitanie region, France.
Is Dolmen de Ferrières-Haut open to visitors?
Dolmen de Ferrières-Haut is currently closed to visitors.