Dolmens de Kériaval
MonumentHidden Treasure
Dolmens de Kériaval, located in Carnac (Département 56), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- Carnac, Département 56, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.6153, -3.0834
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00091090
Nestling on the Carnac moor, the Kériaval dolmens are among the most complex Neolithic burial sites in Morbihan, with their covered walkways and side chambers characteristic of Armorican megalithic architecture.
History
Just a stone's throw from the famous Carnac alignments, the Kériaval dolmens are part of one of the densest megalithic areas in Europe. This exceptional archaeological site offers visitors a raw and striking encounter with funerary architecture dating back over five millennia, erected by agropastoral communities whose mastery of materials and social organisation still commands the admiration of researchers. Kériaval is a group of dolmenic structures characteristic of the "Angevin-Armorican" architectural style, with segmented covered walkways and imposing chevet stones. These monuments were not simply individual tombs, but true collective burial spaces and probably ritual sites, reused over several generations. The density and quality of preservation of the granite orthostats bear witness to a deliberate architectural intention, designed to last beyond human memory. The experience of visiting Kériaval is intimate and powerful. Far from the crowds that sometimes crowd around the lined-up menhirs, these dolmens invite you to come face-to-face in silence with prehistory. The surrounding moorland, covered in gorse and heather, reinforces this sense of timelessness. Here, monumentality is perceived on a human scale: the roof slabs, laid at man's height, give an intuitive grasp of the colossal effort they represented. The geographical setting of Carnac is itself a protagonist in its own right. Situated in the Morbihan department on the Quiberon peninsula, the town is home to the largest known megalithic complex in the world, with each stone a piece of a vast cosmogonic jigsaw puzzle. Kériaval is a discreet but essential part of the puzzle, visited by prehistory enthusiasts, photographers in search of low-angled light and families looking for an educational approach to the most distant past.
Architecture
The Kériaval dolmens belong to the large family of megalithic corridor monuments typical of the Armorican Neolithic. The basic structure consists of a main burial chamber with a sub-rectangular plan, delimited by large orthostats of local granite laid vertically, covered by one or more horizontal cover slabs forming the ceiling. The notable feature of Kériaval is the presence of partitions or side entrances, demonstrating a greater architectural complexity than simple dolmens. The materials used are exclusively granite and gneiss quarried from outcrops in the Carnac region and on the Quiberon peninsula. These rocks, with their grey and pinkish tones depending on their feldspar content, have undergone surface alteration to give them a lichen and patina appearance, a visual characteristic emblematic of Breton megaliths. The load-bearing blocks are usually two to three metres high and thirty to fifty centimetres thick, while the roof slabs can weigh several tonnes. The orientation of the structures, as is often the case in the Carnac megalithic tradition, follows an approximately east-west axis, with the entrance facing either the rising or setting sun, depending on local variations, suggesting a cosmological intention linked to solar or lunar cycles. The entire site is set in a gently undulating landscape typical of the Morbihan bocage, where natural rock outcrops coexist with man-made structures, sometimes blurring the boundary between nature and architecture.
Related Figures
James Miln — archéologue écossais pionnier des fouilles carnacéennes au XIXe siècleZacharie Le Rouzic — archéologue carnacéen, continuateur de Miln et fondateur du musée de Préhistoire de CarnacProsper Mérimée — inspecteur des Monuments Historiques, artisan de la politique de protection du patrimoine mégalithique sous le Second EmpireRené Galles — antiquaire morbihannais ayant recensé de nombreux dolmens carnacéens au milieu du XIXe siècleGlyn Daniel — préhistorien britannique dont les travaux comparatifs ont mis en valeur la spécificité des dolmens armoricains à l'échelle européenne
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Dolmens de Kériaval located?
Dolmens de Kériaval is located in Carnac, Département 56 department, Bretagne region, France.
Is Dolmens de Kériaval open to visitors?
Dolmens de Kériaval is currently closed to visitors.
