Dolmen dit de Joncas
MonumentHidden Treasure
Dolmen dit de Joncas, located in Limogne-en-Quercy (Département 46), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- Limogne-en-Quercy, Département 46, Occitanie
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 44.3902, 1.7522
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00095139
A Neolithic vestige of the Quercy limestone plateaux, the Joncas dolmen's limestone slabs stand in a landscape of unchanging garrigue. A funerary monument over 4,000 years old, it is listed as a Historic Monument.
History
In the heart of the Causse de Limogne, on a limestone plateau in the Lot that geologists and poets have fought over, the Joncas dolmen emerges from the vegetation like an enigmatic message left by the first prehistoric builders. Its great slabs of white limestone, erected by the strength of farming communities over four millennia ago, continue to stand the test of time with an obstinacy that commands admiration. What makes this monument unique is not so much its technical prowess - considerable though it is - as the raw emotion it arouses. Here, there are no medieval walls or classical facades to mediate the past: the visitor is faced with bare stone, faced with men who had neither writing nor metal, and who nevertheless succeeded in constructing a building destined to stand the test of time. The burial chamber, enclosed by its orthostats, evokes a collective burial where the deceased were brought together, perhaps accompanied by offerings and flint tools. Visiting the site is like taking an archaeological walk through the typical garrigue landscape of the Quercy Blanc region. Holm oaks, junipers and wild lavender form a fragrant backdrop that has hardly changed since prehistoric times. The Joncas dolmen is part of an area that is particularly rich in megaliths, with the Limogne causse one of the Lot's densest areas for this type of monument. The dolmen's heritage value was recognised in 1959 when it was listed as a Historic Monument, guaranteeing its protection in a rural environment that has sometimes been undermined by agricultural development. For the curious walker, photographer or archaeology enthusiast, a visit to the Joncas dolmen is an ideal part of a tour of the megaliths of Quercy, combining other monuments in the same commune or neighbouring villages.
Architecture
The Joncas dolmen belong to the most widespread type in the south of France: the simple funerary chamber or rudimentary covered walkway, made up of orthostats (vertical slabs) forming the side walls and one or more horizontal covering slabs, known as tables. The whole structure rests directly on the limestone soil of the causse, the lithological nature of which provided a material that was easy to work into large slabs. The materials used were exclusively local limestone, quarried from outcrops on the Limogne plateau. These slabs, which are the characteristic greyish-white of the Quercy Blanc region, have a naturally flat surface, making them easy to work. The chamber, oriented on an east-west axis as is often the case for Neolithic burials in the south, could have been two to four metres long and around one and a half to two metres wide - typical dimensions for Quercy dolmens from this period. The site was originally covered by a mound of dry stone and earth, the cairn, of which only traces remain on the ground today. The exposure of the orthostats and the covering table, the result of centuries of erosion and sometimes looting, gives the dolmens their characteristic "stone table" silhouette. Although inaccurate archaeologically, this popular term reflects the immediate impression produced by these massive, bare structures, reduced to their mineral skeleton.
Related Figures
Constructeurs néolithiques anonymes du causse de Limogne (vers 3500-2500 av. J.-C.)Communautés agropastorales du Quercy néolithiquePremiers inventeurs et archéologues du XIXe siècle ayant prospecté les mégalithes lotoisInspecteurs des Monuments Historiques ayant instruit le dossier de protection (1959)
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Dolmen dit de Joncas located?
Dolmen dit de Joncas is located in Limogne-en-Quercy, Département 46 department, Occitanie region, France.
Is Dolmen dit de Joncas open to visitors?
Dolmen dit de Joncas is currently closed to visitors.
