Site archéologique du dolmen des Aguals ou de la Combe de l'Ours
MonumentHidden Treasure
Site archéologique du dolmen des Aguals ou de la Combe de l'Ours, located in Montbrun (Département 46), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- Montbrun, Département 46, Occitanie
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- Mérimée Reference
- PA46000022
On the edge of the Lot department, the Aguals dolmen has watched over the Causses for over five thousand years. This megalithic monument, also known as the Combe de l'Ours, reveals the intense ritual life of the Neolithic period in the Quercy region.
History
Nestling in the austere and bewitching landscape of the Lot, in the heart of the commune of Montbrun, the Aguals dolmen - also known by the evocative name of Combe de l'Ours - belongs to the constellation of megalithic monuments that dot the Quercy limestone plateaux like so many stone sentinels. In a region where limestone is exposed at every turn, this dolmen stands out with a discreet, almost natural solemnity, as if the earth itself had fashioned this altar for eternity. What sets the Aguals dolmen apart from the many other megalithic monuments in the 46 department is above all the quality of its setting in a wild valley. The Combe de l'Ours is a wooded, steep-sided fold of land, typical of the karstic relief of the Lot, where the vegetation provides an atmosphere of contemplation. Far from the beaten tourist track, the site retains an aura of authenticity that the great stars of French megalithism have often lost. The experience of visiting the site is above all a sensory one: you have to walk along a limestone path between downy oaks and junipers, and listen to the silence of the causses, before discovering the massive slabs standing or lying as the centuries have worn away. For the discerning visitor, each architectural element speaks of an organised Neolithic community, capable of mobilising considerable human resources to honour its dead. The setting of Montbrun, a discreet village in the north-east of the Lot, also offers visitors the chance to immerse themselves in an unspoilt area, far from the hustle and bustle of the major sites. Other prehistoric and medieval remains can be found in the surrounding area, making it an ideal playground for archaeotourism. The Aguals dolmen is part of a wider heritage constellation, that of the Causse de Gramat and its buried treasures.
Architecture
The Aguals dolmen belong to the type of simple dolmens or short-corridor dolmens typical of the Quercy region, built of slabs of local limestone quarried from the natural outcrops of the causse. The typical structure of this type of monument consists of a burial chamber made up of several orthostats - large vertical slabs set in the earth - topped by one or more horizontal covering tables. In well-preserved Lot dolmens, the chamber can be two to three metres long and one to two metres wide, but the precise dimensions of the Aguals dolmen have yet to be confirmed by an in-depth field study. The material used is exclusively Jurassic limestone from the Causse de Gramat, a dense and resistant rock that explains the remarkable longevity of these structures over more than five millennia. Neolithic builders selected blocks that were naturally flat, exploiting the limestone's ability to break up into relatively regular slabs without the use of metal tools. No binders were used for assembly: stability was based on the balance of the masses and, originally, on the mound of earth and gravel that enveloped the whole. Its location in the Combe de l'Ours, a steep-sided valley oriented along a precise topographical axis, is probably not accidental: Neolithic builders often chose their sites according to criteria that were both practical (proximity to rock, water) and symbolic (solar orientation, visibility in the landscape). Today's vegetation partially conceals the monument, giving it a half-buried, romantic and mysterious appearance.
Related Figures
Bâtisseurs néolithiques anonymes du causse de Gramat (4500-2500 av. J.-C.)Communautés agro-pastorales du Quercy néolithiqueÉrudits locaux de la Société des Études du Lot (XIXe siècle)Agents du service régional de l'archéologie d'Occitanie (inventaire contemporain)
Map
Coordinates not available for this monument.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Site archéologique du dolmen des Aguals ou de la Combe de l'Ours located?
Site archéologique du dolmen des Aguals ou de la Combe de l'Ours is located in Montbrun, Département 46 department, Occitanie region, France.
Is Site archéologique du dolmen des Aguals ou de la Combe de l'Ours open to visitors?
Site archéologique du dolmen des Aguals ou de la Combe de l'Ours is currently closed to visitors.