Tumulus à double dolmen dit Er-Voten-de-Mané-Lavarec
MonumentHidden Treasure
Tumulus à double dolmen dit Er-Voten-de-Mané-Lavarec, 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
- 47.6304, -3.0802
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00091132
In the heart of the Carnac region, this Neolithic tumulus with its double dolmen conceals two stone burial chambers beneath its mantle of earth, silent witnesses to a megalithic civilisation over 5,000 years old.
History
Er-Voten-de-Mané-Lavarec is one of those funerary monuments that the Carnac peninsula preserves with an almost jealous discretion. Buried beneath an oblong tumulus, it contains two separate dolmens, making it a remarkable example among the hundreds of Neolithic burials dotted around Morbihan. Unlike the Carnac alignments, which attract huge crowds, this site invites you to have an intimate encounter with Armorican prehistory. The unique feature of this monument lies in its double-chamber configuration: two independent burial spaces, each accessible via a corridor demarcated by slabs of local granite, topped by a mass of earth and small dry stone blocks that can reach several metres in height. This type of tumulus with multiple entrances is characteristic of the elaborate funerary traditions of the Middle Neolithic in Brittany, bearing witness to a society capable of mobilising considerable collective resources to honour its dead. A visit to this monument requires a break from Carnac's ordinary tourist rhythm. There are no fences or crowds here: you approach the mound with the sensation of entering a timeless space. The granite orthostats, rough and weathered by thousands of years, exude a mineral presence that contrasts with the green, open landscape of the surrounding Morbihan countryside. Lichen and moss have colonised the stones, giving them a golden and silvery hue that changes with the time of day. The natural setting amplifies the sense of sacred isolation that Neolithic builders must have sought. Set in the typical agricultural land of the Carnac hinterland, the tumulus offers an uninterrupted view of the hedgerows and moors from its flattened summit, reminding us that these monuments were also territorial markers visible from afar, stone beacons for the living as much as burial places for the dead.
Architecture
Er-Voten-de-Mané-Lavarec belongs to the category of double-dolmen tumuli, a relatively rare form that distinguishes the monument from the vast majority of single-chamber Neolithic burials. The tumulus has an elongated plan - probably oriented along an east-west axis like most of its Armorican counterparts - and is probably between 30 and 50 metres long, with a preserved height of around 3 to 4 metres. Its outer shell, made up of compacted earth and small granite blocks arranged in layers, still presents a legible silhouette despite the subsidence caused by the passage of time. Each of the two interior dolmens follows the classic layout of the Armorican corridor dolmen: an access corridor delimited by vertical orthostats, leading to a polygonal or rectangular chamber covered with granite slabs. These cover slabs, sometimes weighing several tonnes, were erected without any mortar, their stability relying on the precision of their fit and the mass of the mound that compressed them. The local granite, rich in quartz and feldspar, is coarse-grained, giving it the rough texture characteristic of Carnac megaliths. The presence of two separate entrances to the same burial mound raises fascinating architectural and ritual questions: were these spaces reserved for different family or social groups, or were they successive extensions of the original monument? This architectural duality is attested at other Breton sites, such as Mané-Lud in Locmariaquer and Kercado in Carnac, and is one of the most enigmatic - and remarkable - features of the megalithic tradition in Morbihan.
Related Figures
Zacharie Le Rouzic — préhistorien et fouilleur des mégalithes de Carnac, conservateur du musée James Miln, figure tutélaire de l'archéologie carnacéenne au XXe siècleJames Miln — archéologue écossais installé à Carnac à la fin du XIXe siècle, pionnier des fouilles mégalithiques de la régionProsper Mérimée — inspecteur général des Monuments Historiques, défenseur de la protection du patrimoine préhistorique breton dans les années 1830-1860Gabriel de Mortillet — préhistorien français du XIXe siècle ayant contribué à la classification typologique des monuments mégalithiques armoricainsRené Galles — archéologue morbihannais du XIXe siècle ayant répertorié et décrit de nombreux tumulus de la région de Carnac
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Tumulus à double dolmen dit Er-Voten-de-Mané-Lavarec located?
Tumulus à double dolmen dit Er-Voten-de-Mané-Lavarec is located in Carnac, Département 56 department, Bretagne region, France.
Is Tumulus à double dolmen dit Er-Voten-de-Mané-Lavarec open to visitors?
Tumulus à double dolmen dit Er-Voten-de-Mané-Lavarec is currently closed to visitors.
