Groupe de tumulus de l'âge du Bronze de Kerelcun
MonumentHidden Treasure
Groupe de tumulus de l'âge du Bronze de Kerelcun, located in La Feuillée (Département 29), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- La Feuillée, Département 29, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.3906, -3.8204
- Mérimée Reference
- PA29000003
In the heart of the Finistère moors, four Bronze Age burial mounds have stood silent watch for over 3,000 years. One of the last preserved collective burial grounds in Brittany, intact and enchanting.
History
Perched on the wild moorland of La Feuillée, in the heart of the Monts d'Arrée, the Kerelcun group of burial mounds is one of the most remarkable protohistoric burial sites in Finistère. These four mounds of earth and stone, built over three millennia ago by Bronze Age populations, are part of an austere and grandiose landscape where the sparse vegetation of the Breton heights seems to have preserved, against all odds, the memory of a vanished world. What sets Kerelcun apart from other burial sites from the same period is above all its integrity. The site has never been excavated, making it a veritable archaeological time capsule. Where so many other Breton burial mounds have been gutted by curiosity or looting, those at Kerelcun still reveal all their secrets. Each mound probably contains individual or family burials, perhaps accompanied by ceramic offerings, bronze ornaments or tools testifying to the social status of the deceased. A visit to this site invites you to experience a change of scenery, both in terms of time and the senses. On these windy plateaux, between gorse and heather, the absence of any tourist overkill reinforces the feeling of a direct and almost intimate encounter with the past. The tumuli, whose gentle silhouettes rise discreetly above the moorland, are not something to be seen: they have to be earned after a careful walk. The site is part of the archaeological and natural wealth of the Monts d'Arrée, an area steeped in legend and listed in the Parc Naturel Régional d'Armorique. Nearby, other megalithic and protohistoric remains dot this ancient massif, one of the oldest in Europe, giving Kerelcun a particularly rich heritage. For lovers of prehistory, hikers or photographers in search of untouched horizons, this is a timeless place to stop, far from the crowds and the beaten track.
Architecture
The Kerelcun tumuli belong to the classic morphology of Armorican Bronze Age burials: they are mounds with a circular base, built by accumulating earth, stones and sometimes turf, covering a central burial chamber generally laid out as a pit, slab box or simple deposit under a cairn. Their gentle, hemispherical shape distinguishes them from Neolithic dolmens, which have a more angular, mineral structure. The four Kerelcun tumuli probably vary in size - comparable examples in the region have diameters ranging from 10 to 30 metres at the base and heights of 1 to 3 metres - and their grouping together in a coherent field suggests intentional planning of the burial space. The materials used reflect the local resources of the Monts d'Arrée: schists, quartzites and sandy-loam soils probably make up the main mass of each burial mound. There are no ashlar elevations or masonry structures in these buildings, whose robustness is due to the thickness of the fill and the natural cohesion of the soil. Vegetation - heather and gorse moorland - gradually colonised the sides of the mounds, protecting them from erosion while blending them into the surrounding landscape. The lack of excavations means that the internal architecture of the burial chambers cannot be documented with any certainty. By analogy with the Bronze Age burial mounds explored in Finistère and Côtes-d'Armor, we can assume the presence of cinerary deposits or burials in a contracted position, accompanied by funerary objects made of ceramics, bronze or organic materials. Each burial mound was probably an independent sepulchral unit, with the grouping of four structures in a single location indicating prolonged funerary occupation over several generations.
Related Figures
Populations de l'âge du Bronze armoricain (2200-800 av. J.-C.) — bâtisseurs des tumulusCommunautés protohistoriques des Monts d'Arrée — utilisateurs du site funéraireDéfunts de rang élevé — probables occupants des sépultures sous tumulusArchéologues du Service Régional de l'Archéologie de Bretagne — responsables de l'inventaire et de la protection du site
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Groupe de tumulus de l'âge du Bronze de Kerelcun located?
Groupe de tumulus de l'âge du Bronze de Kerelcun is located in La Feuillée, Département 29 department, Bretagne region, France.
Is Groupe de tumulus de l'âge du Bronze de Kerelcun open to visitors?
Groupe de tumulus de l'âge du Bronze de Kerelcun is currently closed to visitors.