Dolmen de la Bertrandoune
MonumentHidden Treasure
Dolmen de la Bertrandoune, located in Prayssac (Département 46), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- Prayssac, Département 46, Occitanie
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 44.5284, 1.2186
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00095184
A megalithic remains from the Neolithic period nestling in the Lot, the Bertrandoune dolmen is a sober reminder of a 5,000-year-old funerary art, listed as a Monument Historique in 1988.
History
In the heart of the Quercy Blanc region, on the limestone plateaux that border the Lot valley near Prayssac, the Bertrandoune dolmen stands like a fragment of eternity in the middle of a landscape of vines and scrubland. This megalithic burial chamber, erected more than five millennia ago by Neolithic farming communities, is one of the few structures of this type still standing in the Lot department, where dolmens discreetly dot the limestone plateaux from eastern Quercy to the edge of the Dordogne. What gives Bertrandoune its distinctive character is above all the quality of its preservation. Its slabs of local limestone, massive and weathered by the centuries, still form a recognisable chamber, the remains of a collective tomb where ancestors were laid to rest over the generations. In this way, the dolmen offers a rare window onto the funerary rites and world view of the first agricultural societies that shaped these lands long before written history. A visit to the Bertrandoune dolmen is both an archaeological and a sensory experience. Access to the monument is usually along country lanes through the typical Lot bocage, with its low dry-stone walls and downy oaks. Faced with the megaliths, the silence and isolation reinforce the impression of crossing a frontier in time. The load-bearing slabs and the roof table impose their mineral presence with a quiet power that contrasts with the human scale of the surrounding landscape. The geographical context of Prayssac, a wine-growing commune renowned for its Cahors, adds a terroir dimension to the visit: the same clay-limestone soil that nurtures the Malbec grape today was once ploughed by the first Neolithic farmers. If you include the Bertrandoune in this itinerary of the Lot, between the dolmens of the causse, the medieval bastides and the vineyards, you will embrace ten millennia of human occupation in just a few kilometres.
Architecture
The Bertrandoune dolmen belong to the large family of single-chamber dolmens, the most widespread megalithic form in the Quercy region. It is made up of several orthostats - large slabs of limestone standing vertically - which enclose a sub-circular or trapezoidal burial chamber, topped by a horizontal capstone slab that can weigh several tonnes. This elementary but highly effective structural system relies on the compression of the load-bearing slabs under the weight of the table, without mortar or binders of any kind. The materials used are exclusively local: limestone from the Causse Quercinois, quarried in the immediate vicinity from natural rock faces or outcrops. The creamy white to bluish grey colour of the stones, slightly gilded by lichen and age, gives the monument a beautiful chromatic harmony with its surroundings. The inner faces of the slabs may show traces of rough cutting, sometimes with slightly regularised surfaces, testifying to the care taken in fitting out the interior of the chamber. Originally, the site was covered by a dry stone cairn or earth mound, which has now almost entirely disappeared due to erosion and successive ploughing, leaving the bone structure of the monument exposed.
Related Figures
Constructeurs néolithiques anonymes (vers 3500-2500 av. J.-C.) — communautés agropastorales du Quercy, bâtisseurs du monumentPréhistoriens lotois du XIXe siècle — érudits locaux ayant recensé et décrit les dolmens du départementAbbé Adolphe Landesque — type de figure ecclésiastique et archéologue amateur qui, au XIXe siècle dans le Lot, contribua à l'inventaire des mégalithes régionauxService régional de l'archéologie de Midi-Pyrénées — institution ayant instruit le dossier d'inscription aux Monuments Historiques en 1988
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Dolmen de la Bertrandoune located?
Dolmen de la Bertrandoune is located in Prayssac, Département 46 department, Occitanie region, France.
Is Dolmen de la Bertrandoune open to visitors?
Dolmen de la Bertrandoune is currently closed to visitors.
