Dolmen de la Pierre Levée du Cloup Prioun
MonumentHidden Treasure
Dolmen de la Pierre Levée du Cloup Prioun, located in Sauliac-sur-Célé (Département 46), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- Sauliac-sur-Célé, Département 46, Occitanie
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 44.5048, 1.6876
- Mérimée Reference
- PA46000058
On the edge of the Célé gorges, this Neolithic dolmen, set in a cairn sixteen metres in diameter, is a striking reminder of funerary rites in the 3rd millennium BC.
History
Nestling on the Quercy limestone plateaux at Sauliac-sur-Célé, the Pierre Levée du Cloup Prioun dolmen is one of those silent monuments that seem to emerge from the rock itself. Listed as a Historic Monument in 2012, it belongs to the family of funerary megaliths that dot the limestone plateaux of the Lot with an almost stubborn discretion, revealing their presence only to those who know how to look at the hill from an angle. What sets this dolmen apart from many other megalithic tombs in Quercy is the remarkable quality of its conservation. The burial chamber - the architectural heart of the monument - is still partially preserved, and the surrounding cairn, a mass of dry stone built up by Neolithic hands, is 1.80 metres high and sixteen metres in diameter. These respectable proportions make it one of the best-preserved dolmenic burial mounds in the Lot department. The visitor experience is intimate, almost contemplative. No tourist infrastructure interrupts the dialogue between visitor and monument. You approach the site, look at the standing stones, and make out the low walls and excavations that bear witness to centuries of land use - garriottes, agro-pastoral fences - that have slowly modified the surface of the cairn without altering its essence. The site invites us to reflect on the continuity of human occupation of the same territory over five millennia. The natural setting heightens the emotion. The area around Sauliac-sur-Célé, a village perched above the deep meanders of the Célé valley, offers a landscape of limestone plateaus and cliffs typical of the Quercy region. The dry grasslands, pubescent oaks and golden light of the Lot create a backdrop that matches the age of the monument. For photographers, prehistory enthusiasts and curious hikers, this Pierre Levée is an irreplaceable stop-off point in the discovery of the megalithic heritage of the Quercy region.
Architecture
The Pierre Levée du Cloup Prioun dolmen belong to the family of megalithic cairn burials, an architectural form characteristic of the Late Neolithic in Quercy and, more broadly, southern France. Its structure consists of a burial chamber - a space delimited by large, vertically-erect limestone slabs known as orthostates - originally covered by one or more horizontal cover slabs known as tables or capstones. This chamber is the functional heart of the monument: it was here that the bones of the deceased were deposited, in a collective burial system that was repeated over several generations. The entire chamber is encased in an imposing cairn, a mass of carefully stacked dry stones that was originally and still is 1.80 metres high and sixteen metres in diameter. This cairn, built of local limestone - the rock that is omnipresent on the Quercy limestone plateaux - is not simply a filling in but an architectural construction in its own right, sometimes bordered by a facing. The materials used are exclusively of local origin, extracted from the limestone outcrops on the surrounding plateaux. Today, the surface of the cairn features a number of low walls and excavations that reflect the agro-pastoral changes that took place at various times in history. These alterations, although visible, have not compromised the overall appearance of the monument. The overall state of conservation has been judged to be good by the heritage authorities, which is why it was listed as a Historic Monument in 2012.
Related Figures
Les communautés néolithiques du Quercy (bâtisseurs anonymes, IIIe millénaire av. J.-C.)Les populations chalcolithiques du Lot (utilisateurs et continuateurs du monument)Les bergers et paysans médiévaux de Sauliac-sur-Célé (réutilisateurs agro-pastoraux du cairn)Les archéologues et préhistoriens lotois du XXe siècle (inventeurs et documenteurs du site)
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Dolmen de la Pierre Levée du Cloup Prioun located?
Dolmen de la Pierre Levée du Cloup Prioun is located in Sauliac-sur-Célé, Département 46 department, Occitanie region, France.
Is Dolmen de la Pierre Levée du Cloup Prioun open to visitors?
Dolmen de la Pierre Levée du Cloup Prioun is currently closed to visitors.
