Tumulus avec dolmen du Mamé-er-Hroëk, dit aussi du Ruyk
MonumentHidden Treasure
Tumulus avec dolmen du Mamé-er-Hroëk, dit aussi du Ruyk, located in Locmariaquer (Département 56), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- Locmariaquer, Département 56, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.5627, -2.9386
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00091392
Colossal tumulus néolithique de Locmariaquer, le Mamé-er-Hroëk dissimule un dolmen à chambre monumentale sous un manteau de terre : l'un des témoins les plus imposants de la civilisation mégalithique bretonne.
History
In the heart of the Locmariaquer peninsula, the sacred land of megalithic Brittany, the Mamé-er-Hroëk tumulus - whose Breton name evokes the "mound of the old witch" - rises like a telluric anomaly in the Morbihan countryside. This artificial mound, erected over five thousand years ago by agro-pastoral communities in the Middle Neolithic, contains a corridor dolmen whose granite slabs bear witness to an architectural mastery that was astonishing for its time. What sets Mamé-er-Hroëk apart from its illustrious neighbours - the Great Broken Menhir or the Merchants' Table - is precisely its enigmatic, unspoilt character. Less frequented than the listed monuments on the site managed by the Centre des monuments nationaux, it offers a more intimate encounter with prehistory, a form of silent communion with the anonymous builders who shifted tens of thousands of tonnes of sediment and rock with no tools other than stone, wood and collective human strength. The experience of visiting the site is striking: gently climb the grassy side of the tumulus to get a feel for its mass, then descend to the level of the access corridor to the dolmen, where the light changes and time seems to stand still. The cold stone, the proportions of the orthostats and the half-light of the burial chamber reveal something essential about the beliefs of the first Armorican peasants, their relationship with death, the afterlife and the land. The surrounding setting amplifies the emotion: the Locmariaquer peninsula is bathed in the calm waters of the Gulf of Morbihan and the Bay of Quiberon, and the Atlantic light - silvery in the morning, golden at sunset - lends the site an atmosphere conducive to contemplation. Mamé-er-Hroëk is part of a constellation of megalithic monuments whose density here is unparalleled in France.
Architecture
The Mamé-er-Hroëk tumulus belongs to the category of corridor dolmen tumuli, an architectural form characteristic of the Armorican Middle Neolithic. The oval-shaped mound rises to an estimated height of between four and six metres above the surrounding level, with a base length of over forty metres. This imposing mass is the result of the careful accumulation of alternating layers of earth, gravel and dry stone blocks, forming a protective mantle around the central megalithic structure. At the heart of the tumulus is a dolmen with a corridor whose orientation, as in the majority of Neolithic funerary monuments in the region, favours the east-west or south-east axis, allowing the light of the rising sun to penetrate the chamber during the equinoxes. The corridor, made up of upright slabs (orthostates) of local granite, leads to a sub-rectangular burial chamber covered with one or more granite tablets, whose thickness and weight ensured that the burial would last. The inner walls probably bear traces of engraved signs - cupules, meanders or stylised axes - recurring motifs in Morbihan dolmens from this period. The materials used are exclusively Armorican granite and gneiss, quarried from rocky outcrops on the nearby coastline. The absence of rendering or worked facings is compensated for by the care taken in choosing and fitting the blocks, whose flat surfaces were selected to ensure the stability of the whole. This building know-how, handed down within specialised communities, is one of the hallmarks of the megalithic civilisation of Morbihan.
Related Figures
Les bâtisseurs néolithiques anonymes de la presqu'île de Locmariaquer (vers 4500-4000 av. J.-C.)Prosper Mérimée — inspecteur général des Monuments Historiques, dont l'action contribua à la sauvegarde des mégalithes bretons au XIXe siècleRené Galles — archéologue morbihannais du XIXe siècle, pionnier des fouilles mégalithiques à LocmariaquerZacharie Le Rouzic — préhistorien et conservateur du musée de Préhistoire de Carnac, dont les travaux systématiques documentèrent l'ensemble des monuments de la région au début du XXe siècleJames Miln — antiquaire écossais établi à Carnac, dont les fouilles et publications contribuèrent à faire connaître le Morbihan mégalithique à l'échelle internationale
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Tumulus avec dolmen du Mamé-er-Hroëk, dit aussi du Ruyk located?
Tumulus avec dolmen du Mamé-er-Hroëk, dit aussi du Ruyk is located in Locmariaquer, Département 56 department, Bretagne region, France.
Is Tumulus avec dolmen du Mamé-er-Hroëk, dit aussi du Ruyk open to visitors?
Tumulus avec dolmen du Mamé-er-Hroëk, dit aussi du Ruyk is currently closed to visitors.
