Dolmen du Bünz
MonumentHidden Treasure
Dolmen du Bünz, located in Inzinzac-Lochrist (Département 56), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- Inzinzac-Lochrist, Département 56, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.8326, -3.2489
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00091309
A Neolithic vestige standing in the forest of Lochrist, the Bünz dolmen is a collective burial site dating back more than 5,000 years, classified as a Historic Monument, where rough stone talks with the memory of the first Breton farmers.
History
In the heart of inland Morbihan, in the commune of Inzinzac-Lochrist, lies one of the most discreet and moving testimonies to the Neolithic settlement of Brittany: the Bünz dolmen. Far from the crowds that flock to Carnac or Locmariaquer, this megalithic monument offers an intimate encounter with a dizzying past, that of the farming communities that shaped the Armorican landscape between 4,500 and 3,000 years BC. The Bünz dolmen belongs to the large family of collective burial sites with covered chambers, dozens of which can be found in the Morbihan region. Its structure, made up of large orthostats in local granite supporting one or more covering tables, embodies the astonishing technical mastery of builders who, without metal or wheels, moved blocks weighing several tonnes with remarkable precision. The sobriety of the whole in no way detracts from the power that emanates from it: each stone carries the thousand-year-old silence of a civilisation that has now disappeared. The visit is as much about the monument itself as its surroundings. Surrounded by the dense vegetation typical of the Morbihan bocage, the Bünz can be discovered at the turn of a path, in an atmosphere of natural contemplation that is not disturbed by fences or audio guides. It's a self-guided tour, at your own pace, where your imagination is invited to fill in the gaps in history. For photographers, the light filtered through at the end of the morning reveals the textures of the granite and the golden lichens that colonise the walls, offering compositions of great chromatic richness. Families will find the site an excellent way of encouraging their children to learn about archaeology, while prehistory enthusiasts will find that the orientation and layout of the blocks provide clues to the beliefs and burial rituals of these Neolithic peoples.
Architecture
The Bünz dolmen is typical of the morphology of Armorican Neolithic single-chamber megalithic burials. It consists of a burial chamber delimited by several orthostats - vertical slabs of granite - on which rests a horizontal covering table, also made of granite, whose thickness and weight have ensured the stability of the whole structure for thousands of years. This type of construction, known generically as a "simple dolmen" or "single-chamber dolmen", is particularly widespread in inland Morbihan, where it stands alongside more elaborate forms such as covered walkways and burial mounds. The granite used is that of the local Armorican massif, quarried in the immediate vicinity of the site or moved over short distances. Its natural resistance to erosion largely explains the monument's survival over more than five millennia. The surfaces of the blocks bear the marks of time: encrustations of grey, green and orange lichens, and the dark patinas characteristic of Morbihan granites exposed to Atlantic humidity. The orientation of the chamber, probably towards the east or towards a particular solar axis according to regional Neolithic custom, bears witness to the cosmological intentions of its builders. Although the precise dimensions of the Bünz dolmen are not recorded in accessible sources, dolmens of this type in the region generally feature a chamber 2 to 4 metres long and 1.5 to 2.5 metres wide, with roof slabs that can exceed 10 tonnes.
Related Figures
Communautés néolithiques du Morbihan intérieur (bâtisseurs anonymes, vers 4000-3500 av. J.-C.)Prosper Mérimée (inspecteur des Monuments Historiques, promoteur de la protection des mégalithes bretons au XIXe siècle)Zacharie Le Rouzic (archéologue morbihannais, pionnier du recensement des mégalithes du département au début du XXe siècle)James Miln (archéologue écossais, explorateur des sites mégalithiques de Bretagne dans les années 1870-1880)
Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Dolmen du Bünz located?
Dolmen du Bünz is located in Inzinzac-Lochrist, Département 56 department, Bretagne region, France.
Is Dolmen du Bünz open to visitors?
Dolmen du Bünz is currently closed to visitors.