Dolmen sous tumulus de Danouédou (ou Tanouëdou)
MonumentHidden Treasure
Dolmen sous tumulus de Danouédou (ou Tanouëdou), located in Bourbriac (Département 22), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- Bourbriac, Département 22, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.4569, -3.1493
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00089033
Buried beneath its millennia-old layer of earth, the Danouédou dolmen in Bourbriac offers a striking insight into Bronze Age Brittany — one of the few megalithic monuments to have retained its original burial mound intact.
History
In the heart of Trégor briochin, a few leagues from Bourbriac, the Danouédou (sometimes spelt Tanouëdou) dolmen under tumulus is one of the most discreet and moving megalithic landmarks in the Côtes-d'Armor. Unlike other dolmens that have been stripped bare by centuries of erosion and looting, this one retains much of its original tumulus envelope, a mound of earth and stones carefully built to cover and protect the burial chamber. The coexistence of the dolmen and its tumulus gives the site an architectural legibility that is rare in the region. What makes Danouédou truly unique is precisely this formal integrity. The visitor immediately perceives the logic of the monument: the rounded mound that gently rises from the moor, then, at its side, the low entrance opening onto the granite slab chamber. It's easy to understand the architectural gesture of these Bronze Age builders, who wanted to create an eternal home for their dead, visible in the landscape and protected by the nourishing earth. The visit is an invitation to slow meditation. The approach along the grassy path, through the low-lying vegetation typical of the Breton heights, prepares you for meditation. Around the burial mound, the low evening light or the early autumn mists amplify the feeling of being on the edge of two worlds. The granite slabs, covered in moss and orangey-yellow lichen, speak of an age that figures struggle to capture: several millennia separate us from the men who erected them. The surrounding area is part of Brittany's inland bocage, made up of hedgerows, gently undulating meadows and small oak woods. Far from the tourist hustle and bustle of the major megalithic sites in Morbihan, Danouédou offers an authentic close-up experience of prehistoric heritage, in a silence that itself seems historic.
Architecture
The Danouédou monument belongs to the category of dolmens covered by a tumulus, an architectural form characteristic of the Armorican Bronze Age. The tumulus takes the form of an oval to circular eminence, with a diameter estimated at around twenty metres and a preserved height of around two to three metres - common dimensions for this type of Tertiary burial site in the Trégor region. The internal structure consists of a burial chamber built of slabs of local granite, a rock that is ubiquitous in the subsoil of the Côtes-d'Armor region, worked in the form of orthostats (vertically raised stones) and a horizontal covering slab (table). Access to the chamber was probably via an entrance corridor cut into the side of the burial mound, a classic feature of Armorican monuments from this period. The granite slabs, some of which can weigh several tonnes, were transported from nearby outcrops and then fitted together without the use of binders to ensure stability. The burial mound itself combines earth, sand and small boulders laid in successive layers around the core of slabs, creating a compression effect that reinforces the cohesion of the structure. Today's vegetation - grasses, gorse, moss - forms a natural mantle that consolidates the outer facing while giving the site its distinctive atmosphere of reconquering nature.
Related Figures
Prosper Mérimée — Inspecteur général des monuments historiques, pionnier de la protection du patrimoine mégalithique en FranceFélix de Belizal — érudit breton du XIXe siècle actif dans le recensement des mégalithes des Côtes-du-NordLes bâtisseurs anonymes de l'Âge du bronze — communautés agropastorales armoricaines, constructeurs du monument vers 2000-1500 avant notre èreLe défunt ou la lignée honorés — personnage de haut rang dont la sépulture justifiait l'érection d'un tumulus visible dans le paysageLes premiers antiquaires bretons du XIXe siècle — membres des sociétés savantes locales qui signalèrent et protégèrent le site
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Dolmen sous tumulus de Danouédou (ou Tanouëdou) located?
Dolmen sous tumulus de Danouédou (ou Tanouëdou) is located in Bourbriac, Département 22 department, Bretagne region, France.
Is Dolmen sous tumulus de Danouédou (ou Tanouëdou) open to visitors?
Dolmen sous tumulus de Danouédou (ou Tanouëdou) is currently closed to visitors.