Dolmen de la Mouïse-Martin
MonumentHidden Treasure
Dolmen de la Mouïse-Martin, located in Tripleville (Loir-et-Cher), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- Tripleville, Loir-et-Cher, Centre-Val de Loire
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.9503, 1.5035
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00098623
A stone sentinel standing on the edge of the Loir-et-Cher department, the Mouïse-Martin dolmen has watched over the wooded countryside of Tripleville for more than five millennia. A listed megalithic monument, it is a rare Neolithic relic of the Beauce region around Orléans.
© Wikimedia Commons
History
In the heart of the gentle Loir-et-Cher countryside, away from the main tourist routes, the Mouïse-Martin dolmen stands in the quiet fields of Tripleville like a fragment of eternity. These masses of sandstone and limestone, laid down with disconcerting precision by Neolithic hands, are one of the rare megalithic testimonies preserved in this part of the Centre-Val de Loire, a region whose prehistoric heritage remains largely unknown to the general public. What makes this monument unique is precisely its solitude in the agricultural landscape of the Loir-et-Cher. Where the Beauce region unfurls its vast open fields and the Gâtine is broken up into bocages, the presence of such an edifice is a reminder that these lands were intensely populated and ritualised long before the Carnutes or the first medieval lords. The very name "Mouïse-Martin" evokes these superimposed layers of time: a peasant surname, probably medieval, grafted onto a place of immemorial memory. Visiting the Mouïse-Martin dolmen is like slipping out of time. There are no signposts or signposts: the site offers something rarer, a direct and silent confrontation with the raw material of the past. The roof slabs, one of which still rests on the supporting orthostats, mark out the transition between the world of the living and the world of the dead that Neolithic societies were so good at creating. The surrounding environment amplifies this unusual atmosphere. Surrounded by cultivated fields and hedgerows typical of the Vendôme Perche region, the dolmen enjoys an unobstructed view of the flat horizons, reminding us that these anonymous builders chose their sites with a keen sense of the territory and the symbolic. In the golden hours of the morning or late afternoon, when the low-angled light reveals the roughness of the stones and lengthens the shadows on the short grass, the site takes on an almost mystical presence.
Architecture
The Mouïse-Martin dolmen has the classic morphology of a simple dolmen or single-chamber dolmen, the most common form in the Centre-Val de Loire region. It consists of orthostats - vertically-standing stone slabs - forming the side walls and base of a rectangular or slightly trapezoidal burial chamber, topped by a horizontal covering table. The materials used were probably Perche sandstone or local hard limestone, rocks that were available within a geographical radius compatible with Neolithic transport capacities. The typical dimensions of such a regional dolmen are generally between 2 and 4 metres in internal length for the chamber, with a height under the table of 1 to 1.5 metres. This relative smallness is not synonymous with symbolic poverty: the chamber was used as a collective burial chamber, successively housing the bones of several deceased, whose remains were often reworked to make room for the new arrivals. There may have been an access corridor, which has now disappeared or been severely damaged, as is often the case with monuments from this period in the region. The roof slab, the most visible and impressive element of the monument, represents the real architectural challenge faced by these Neolithic builders. The fact that it has remained balanced on its vertical supports for five millennia bears witness to both the quality of its original construction and the relative stability of the substrate. The whole structure, partially buried and vegetated, has the patina of time - moss, grey and golden lichen, wild grass at the base of the stones - which intensifies the feeling of absolute antiquity that is characteristic of great megalithic sites.
Related Figures
Bâtisseurs néolithiques anonymes (vers 3500-2500 av. J.-C.) — communautés agropastorales organisées du bassin ligérienÉrudits de la Société Archéologique du Vendômois (XIXe siècle) — premiers recenseurs des mégalithes du Loir-et-CherProsper Mérimée (1803-1870) — inspecteur général des Monuments Historiques, initiateur des grandes campagnes nationales de protection du patrimoine préhistoriqueGabriel de Mortillet (1821-1898) — archéologue préhistorien français ayant contribué à la classification des dolmens et mégalithes de FranceMinistère des Affaires Culturelles — autorité ayant prononcé l'inscription au titre des Monuments Historiques le 12 novembre 1979
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Dolmen de la Mouïse-Martin located?
Dolmen de la Mouïse-Martin is located in Tripleville, Loir-et-Cher department, Centre-Val de Loire region, France.
Is Dolmen de la Mouïse-Martin open to visitors?
Dolmen de la Mouïse-Martin is currently closed to visitors.