Stèle protohistorique dite Le Fuseau ou La Quenouille de Sainte-Barbe
MonumentHidden Treasure
Stèle protohistorique dite Le Fuseau ou La Quenouille de Sainte-Barbe, located in Ploéven (Département 29), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- Ploéven, Département 29, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.1555, -4.1762
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00090176
Dressée dans le paysage finistérien comme un doigt de pierre tendu vers le ciel, cette stèle protohistorique aux silhouettes de fuseau et de quenouille fascine par ses 3 000 ans d'histoire et sa dédicace à Sainte Barbe.
History
At the heart of Finistère, in the commune of Ploéven, stands a granite sentinel that defies the millennia: the protohistoric stele known by the evocative names of "Le Fuseau" or "La Quenouille de Sainte-Barbe". This slender monolith, whose tapered silhouette is reminiscent of women's spinning tools, belongs to that rare family of anthropomorphic or symbolic steles erected by the Celtic and pre-Celtic people of Armorique during the Bronze Age and the early Iron Age. What fundamentally distinguishes this monument from the multitude of Breton menhirs is precisely its worked form, carved into a spindle shape from the local granite mass. Whereas a traditional menhir is content with raw verticality, La Quenouille de Sainte-Barbe reveals a sculptural intent, a deliberate choice by the protohistoric craftsman to refine its edges and bestow upon it a distinct identity. This refinement places it halfway between the menhir and the truly anthropomorphic stele, two traditions that intersected on Armorican soil over several centuries. A visit to this monument offers an experience of intimate contemplation, far from the tourist crowds of the great megalithic sites of Carnac. One approaches the stele through a bocage typical of inland Finistère, between earthen embankments and hedgerows of pedunculate oaks, in a silence broken only by the sea wind. The presence of the granite, warmed by the summer sun or streaming with autumnal drizzle, imposes a physical and almost tactile relationship with the stone. The stele's double name is in itself a valuable ethnographic document. The association with Sainte Barbe — patron saint of artillerymen, miners, and women working at height — betrays a medieval Christian appropriation of a place of worship far more ancient. This overlapping of beliefs, from the protohistoric sacred to the Christian protecting saint, is a recurring mechanism in Bretagne, and lends La Quenouille de Ploéven a symbolic depth that mere geological data could never adequately convey.
Architecture
The stele takes the form of a monolith of worked Breton granite shaped in a spindle-like fashion, that is to say narrowed at both ends and swelling at its centre, in the manner of a distaff or a spinner's spindle. This morphology clearly distinguishes it from menhirs with cylindrical or rectangular shafts, and places it within the category of protohistoric stelae with a sculpted profile, particularly well represented in the département of Finistère. The probable height of the exposed portion is in the region of 1.50 to 2.50 metres, in keeping with the dimensions commonly observed for this type of Armorican monument, to which is added a buried portion that ensures the stability of the whole. The granite used was in all likelihood sourced from a local outcrop, characteristic of the Hercynian bedrock formations that make up the geological framework of Finistère. Its grey hue with subtle bluish tones, studded with feldspars and quartz, lends it that granular and austere appearance typical of the standing stones of the Armorican peninsula. The surface of the stele displays natural irregularities to which atmospheric weathering has added golden and grey lichens, forming a biological patina that reinforces the impression of age and of belonging to the surrounding plant landscape. No carved ornamentation has been recorded on the stele of Ploéven, which is consistent with the decorative practices of the Armorican Bronze Age populations, who generally reserved rock carvings (cup marks, foot prints, axes) for flat rocks or for the menhirs of the great alignments. The expressive power of the Quenouille therefore resides entirely in its three-dimensional form, in that balance between assertive verticality and central curvature which lends it a sculptural presence that is remarkable for a work of Antiquity.
Related Figures
Artisans protohistoriques armoricains (IIe-Ier millénaire av. J.-C.) — tailleurs de pierre anonymes à l'origine de la stèleSainte Barbe — martyre chrétienne du IVe siècle à qui la stèle fut dédiée lors de sa reconsécration médiévaleThéophile Malo Corret de la Tour d'Auvergne (1743-1800) — philologue et militaire breton, parmi les premiers à cataloguer les monuments druidiques du FinistèrePaul du Châtellier (1833-1911) — archéologue finistérien auteur de l'inventaire de référence des monuments protohistoriques de la péninsule armoricaineAndré Malraux (1901-1976) — ministre des Affaires culturelles sous la Ve République, dont la politique de classement des monuments permit la protection de la stèle en 1966
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Stèle protohistorique dite Le Fuseau ou La Quenouille de Sainte-Barbe located?
Stèle protohistorique dite Le Fuseau ou La Quenouille de Sainte-Barbe is located in Ploéven, Département 29 department, Bretagne region, France.
Is Stèle protohistorique dite Le Fuseau ou La Quenouille de Sainte-Barbe open to visitors?
Stèle protohistorique dite Le Fuseau ou La Quenouille de Sainte-Barbe is currently closed to visitors.
