Dolmen de la Rousselière
MonumentHidden Treasure
Dolmen de la Rousselière, located in Prénouvellon (Loir-et-Cher), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- Prénouvellon, Loir-et-Cher, Centre-Val de Loire
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.9640, 1.4988
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00098547
A Neolithic vestige listed as a Historic Monument, the La Rousselière dolmen stands with its large sandstone slabs on the Vendôme plain, a striking testimony to the funerary rites of a civilisation over 5,000 years old.
© Wikimedia Commons
History
In the heart of the Loir-et-Cher region, in the gentle countryside of Prénouvellon, the La Rousselière dolmen stands out as one of the few preserved megalithic monuments in the département. Erected by anonymous Neolithic builders, its massive slabs form a burial chamber that has survived the millennia with remarkable dignity, a reminder that the Beauce region and its margins were once home to intense ritual and sepulchral activity. What makes this monument so special is its unobtrusive setting in an open agricultural landscape, typical of the north of the Centre-Val de Loire region. Whereas dolmens in Brittany and Anjou are often set in spectacular moorland, the one at La Rousselière can be discovered at the turn of a path, in a rural setting that invites contemplation and the imagination. This intimacy with the land gives it a special charm, far removed from the tourist crowds. Visiting the site is an experience of absolute simplicity and closeness to the stone. You can get up close to the orthostats, feel the roughness of the local limestone, and try to understand through the simple interplay of volumes how men without metal were able to lift and arrange these monoliths. The question of technique is immediately coupled with that of meaning: who was laid to rest here? What rites accompanied the dead? The site, listed as a Historic Monument since 1979, is protected to guarantee its long-term survival. Around it, the hedged farmland and cultivated fields offer a panorama of deep rural France, where time seems to have slowed down. Photographers and walkers will find the low-angled morning or evening light a natural setting that magnifies the stone volumes and the shadows cast on the grass.
Architecture
The La Rousselière dolmen is a classic example of the morphology of megalithic burials in the Centre-Val de Loire region: a burial chamber made up of several orthostats - large vertical slabs driven into the ground - supporting one or more horizontal covering tables known as "stone tables" or bedside slabs. Together, they form a structure in the shape of a corridor or rectangular chamber, oriented along an east-west axis in keeping with Neolithic symbolic practices linked to the solar cycle. The materials used are typical of the local geology: limestone from the Loir-et-Cher region, sometimes supplemented by sandstone slabs quarried from nearby deposits. The significant thickness of these blocks testifies to the remarkable mastery of extraction and transportation techniques. The orthostats, planted in the ground at a sufficient depth to ensure their stability, are fitted together without mortar, the cohesion of the whole resting solely on the balance of the masses and the care taken in assembling them. The roof table, the most spectacular feature of the monument, towers over the room at a height that allows an adult to stand bent over it. This interior volume, bare and austere, was the sacred space in which the deceased were laid to rest during funeral ceremonies. The monument was probably originally covered by a mound of earth and dry stone, which has now disappeared due to erosion and ploughing, leaving only the stone bone structure visible.
Related Figures
Constructeurs néolithiques anonymes (vers 3500-2500 av. J.-C.) — bâtisseurs du monumentAntiquaires du XIXe siècle du Loir-et-Cher — premiers à répertorier et décrire le monumentPopulations agropastorales du Néolithique moyen — communautés utilisatrices de la sépulture collectiveService des Monuments Historiques (arrêté de classement, 1979) — acteurs de la protection officielle du site
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Dolmen de la Rousselière located?
Dolmen de la Rousselière is located in Prénouvellon, Loir-et-Cher department, Centre-Val de Loire region, France.
Is Dolmen de la Rousselière open to visitors?
Dolmen de la Rousselière is currently closed to visitors.