Dolmen de Kerellec
MonumentHidden Treasure
Dolmen de Kerellec, located in Trébeurden (Département 22), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- Trébeurden, Département 22, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.7761, -3.5815
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00089673
A Neolithic vestige tucked away in the Tréburdinois bocage, the Kerellec dolmen unveiled its imposing granite slabs more than 5,000 years ago - a mineral silence charged with eternity overlooking the shores of Trégor.
History
In the heart of the commune of Trébeurden, on the Pink Granite Coast, the Kerellec dolmen stands like a fragment of eternity snatched from the millennia. Its large slabs of local granite, assembled without mortar by masterful Neolithic builders, form a funerary chamber whose sobriety is equalled only by its evocative power. Listed as a Historic Monument since 1916, this megalith is one of the most discreet - and yet most eloquent - witnesses to prehistoric Brittany. What sets Kerellec apart from the countless Armorican dolmens is precisely the fact that it stands in an unspoilt landscape, surrounded by discreet vegetation that accentuates the effect of discovery. Unlike the most popular megalithic sites in Morbihan, this one retains a wild, almost confidential atmosphere, where you can imagine yourself as a contemporary of the agro-pastoral societies that built it. Visiting the dolmen is first and foremost a sensory experience: the rough feel of the pink granite, the silence punctuated by the sea breeze, the low-angled light at the end of the afternoon carving out the relief of the stones and revealing their grain. The dolmen are an invitation to slow contemplation, to meditate on the enigma of these men without writing, who nevertheless built for eternity. The natural setting of Trébeurden, with its coastal moors, granite islets and hidden coves, amplifies the mysterious dimension of the monument. Just a few kilometres away, the Molène archipelago and Ile Grande are reminders that this coastline has been a maritime crossroads for people, ideas and beliefs since prehistoric times. The Kerellec dolmen thus takes on its full meaning in the network of megaliths that dot the Armorican peninsula from Finistère to the Côtes-d'Armor.
Architecture
The Kerellec dolmen displays the morphology typical of Armorican Neolithic megalithic burials: a burial chamber formed by several orthostates - vertical slabs of granite - on which rests a horizontal covering table, the whole forming an enclosed space intended for collective burials. The pink granite used here comes from local outcrops in the Trégor region, and can be recognised by its warm hue and clearly visible feldspar crystals, which give it a particularly expressive texture under oblique light. The chamber, which probably runs east-west like many Breton dolmens, was originally covered by a mound of earth and dry stone, which has now disappeared due to erosion and human activity. This disappearance of the cairn is common at sites in northern Brittany, where wind deflation and ancient ploughing have gradually exposed the lithic framework of the monument. The slabs that have survived bear witness to the care taken in their selection and adjustment, with no binding agent needed to maintain the structural coherence of the whole. The modest dimensions of the Kerellec dolmen, compared with the large covered walkways in Finistère or the remarkable monuments at Carnac, make it a representative example of the intermediate-sized burials frequently found in the Côtes-d'Armor region. This 'domestic' format reinforces the hypothesis that this monument was associated with a restricted social group - an extended family or lineage - rather than an extended regional community.
Related Figures
Les bâtisseurs néolithiques du Trégor (v. 3500-3000 av. J.-C.) — communautés agropastorales anonymes à l'origine du monumentProsper Mérimée — inspecteur général des Monuments Historiques, pionnier de la protection des mégalithes bretons au XIXe siècleLes érudits de la Société d'Émulation des Côtes-du-Nord — premiers inventoriants des mégalithes du département au XIXe sièclePaul du Châtellier — archéologue breton qui contribua à documenter les monuments mégalithiques des Côtes-du-Nord à la fin du XIXe siècle
Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Dolmen de Kerellec located?
Dolmen de Kerellec is located in Trébeurden, Département 22 department, Bretagne region, France.
Is Dolmen de Kerellec open to visitors?
Dolmen de Kerellec is currently closed to visitors.