Stèle protohistorique
MonumentHidden Treasure
Stèle protohistorique, located in Plogonnec (Département 29), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- Plogonnec, Département 29, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.0605, -4.1758
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00090182
Sentinelle de pierre dressée depuis la protohistoire en plein cœur du Finistère, cette stèle de Plogonnec témoigne des rites et croyances des peuples celtes qui façonnèrent la Bretagne bien avant l'ère chrétienne.
History
In the heart of the Glazik region, between Quimper and Châteaulin, the commune of Plogonnec has preserved one of those silent and enigmatic testimonies that Brittany knows how to hide in its bocages and moors: a protohistoric stele, a block of granite cut and erected by human hands several millennia ago. A listed monument since 1972, it belongs to the discreet family of standing stones that dot Finistère and can be distinguished from menhirs by their generally more tapered, sometimes conical or ogival shape, evoking a stylised human silhouette. What makes this stele truly unique is precisely its formal ambiguity. Between the crude menhir and the anthropomorphic statue-menhir, Armorican Iron Age stelae occupy a special place in Europe's megalithic heritage. They don't tell their story out loud: they tell it by their presence, their verticality and their permanence. The Plogonnec stele is part of this tradition of a stone language that archaeologists are still patiently deciphering. Visiting this monument is a contemplative and intimate experience. Far from the crowds that flock to the Carnac alignments, here you find yourself alone in front of an object steeped in time immemorial. The attentive visitor will perhaps notice the slight traces of shaping on the granite surface, evidence of an ancient human desire to give form and meaning to the raw material. The low-angled light of morning or evening reveals these details with particular acuity. The surrounding environment adds to the atmosphere. The countryside around Plogonnec, with its gentle hills, sunken lanes and hedgerows typical of inland Cornouaille, offers a natural setting that has hardly changed in outline since the stele was erected. This continuity of landscape gives visitors the unsettling feeling of direct contact with the most distant past.
Architecture
The protohistoric stela at Plogonnec is a monolith of granite, the dominant rock in the Finistère subsoil, standing vertically in the tradition of Armorican standing stones from the Iron Age. Its general shape, characteristic of Cornouaille stelae, is more slender and tapered than that of Neolithic menhirs, with a profile that tapers towards the top and is sometimes slightly rounded, giving it a vague anthropomorphic silhouette that has aroused the interest of archaeologists wondering about the votive or funerary dimension of these objects. The granite used, extracted from local quarries or from the natural rocky chaos that abounds in the Finistère landscape, has the bluish-grey hue typical of the rock from the Quimper region. The surface of the stone, rough-cut but partially shaped, bears the traces of roughing work carried out using stone or bronze tools, according to the techniques used in the Iron Age. Lichens and natural patinas now cover most of the surface, living testimony to the accumulation of centuries. Compared with the large Armorican stelae held in museum collections, the Plogonnec stela represents an example of this monumental type on a human scale - generally between one and three metres high for specimens from Finistère. Its position in the landscape, probably in a slightly dominant position or close to an ancient road or a locality with territorial significance, is consistent with the layout that archaeologists have identified for comparable monuments throughout the Armorican peninsula.
Related Figures
Peuple gaulois des Osismes — tribu celtique habitant le Finistère actuel, probable commanditaire de la stèlePaul du Châtellier (1833-1911) — archéologue finistérien pionnier qui répertoria de nombreuses stèles armoricainesJoseph Déchelette (1862-1914) — archéologue dont le Manuel d'archéologie préhistorique fournit le cadre classificatoire des stèles celtiquesPierre-Roland Giot (1919-2002) — préhistorien breton qui contribua à l'inventaire systématique des monuments protohistoriques du FinistèreSociété archéologique du Finistère — fondée en 1844, elle joua un rôle déterminant dans la reconnaissance et la protection des monuments comme celui de Plogonnec
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Stèle protohistorique located?
Stèle protohistorique is located in Plogonnec, Département 29 department, Bretagne region, France.
Is Stèle protohistorique open to visitors?
Stèle protohistorique is currently closed to visitors.
