Tumulus-dolmen de Kercado
MonumentHidden Treasure
Tumulus-dolmen de Kercado, 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
- 47.5957, -3.0543
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00091139
Sentinelle de pierre dressée depuis 5 000 ans, le tumulus-dolmen de Kercado est l'un des monuments mégalithiques les mieux préservés de Bretagne, couronné d'un menhir solitaire et niché au cœur des forêts de Carnac.
History
In the heart of the Quiberon peninsula, just a few hundred metres from the famous Carnac alignments, the Kercado tumulus-dolmen stands like a magnificent anomaly in the wooded Morbihan landscape. Covered by a mound of earth and stones several metres high, it conceals a megalithic burial chamber whose design reveals remarkable architectural expertise for the 5th millennium BC. Its relative intimacy, away from the massive influx of tourists that invades the neighbouring alignments, gives it an almost mystical atmosphere. What sets Kercado apart from the many other megalithic monuments in the region is the remarkable integrity of its ensemble: the circular burial mound, the accessible corridor chamber and the menhir planted at the top of the mound form a complete structure, rare on this scale of preservation. The menhir at the top of the mound is the site's signature feature, marking a symbolic practice found on only a handful of Breton burial mounds, and one that still has archaeologists wondering about its ritual significance. The visitor experience is unique: after crossing a perimeter of standing stones around the perimeter of the mound, they enter a corridor of monumental flagstones that lead into the heart of the burial chamber. The darkness, silence and coolness of the stone create a total immersion in a time long gone. Lanterns or telephones in hand, we can make out slabs decorated with engraved motifs - cupules and abstract signs - bearing witness to elaborate symbolic thought. The natural setting amplifies the emotion: the oaks and pines that envelop the site filter the light and muffle the noise of the modern world. At dawn or dusk, when the low-angled light makes the granite surfaces vibrate, Kercado reveals an austere, timeless beauty that is unlike anything else on the Breton coast.
Architecture
The Kercado tumulus-dolmen belongs to the family of corridor dolmens covered by a circular mound, an architectural type characteristic of the Atlantic Neolithic of Morbihan. The mound measures around 30 metres in diameter at its base and rises to a height of around 3 to 4 metres, forming a prominent feature in the surrounding undergrowth. Its base is encircled by a peristalith - a circle of upright stones joined together - which delimits and retains the earth and pebble filling of the mound. At the top of the mound sits an isolated menhir, a singular feature that gives the whole a symbolic verticality rare among tumuli in the region. The interior architecture is that of a corridor dolmen: a narrow passageway, formed of large slabs of local granite standing vertically and covered with horizontal cover slabs, leads to a more spacious polygonal chamber. The entire chamber is several metres long, with the access corridor facing roughly south-east. The orthostats - the vertical slabs - are engraved in places with cupules, broken axes and escutcheon motifs, all part of the Neolithic graphic repertoire common to the great dolmens of Morbihan. The materials used are exclusively granite blocks quarried from local outcrops, cut and squared with stone tools before being used.
Related Figures
James Miln — antiquaire écossais, pionnier de l'archéologie carnacéenne au XIXe siècle, parmi les premiers à documenter le siteZacharie Le Rouzic — archéologue autodidacte carnacéen, continuateur de Miln et inventorieur du patrimoine mégalithique de CarnacCharles-Tanguy Le Roux — préhistorien breton du XXe siècle, spécialiste des monuments néolithiques du Morbihan ayant étudié KercadoProsper Mérimée — inspecteur général des Monuments Historiques, promoteur de la protection du patrimoine breton au XIXe siècleCommunautés néolithiques armoricaines (v. 4700-4500 av. J.-C.) — bâtisseurs anonymes du monument, premiers agriculteurs sédentarisés de la presqu'île
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Tumulus-dolmen de Kercado located?
Tumulus-dolmen de Kercado is located in Carnac, Département 56 department, Bretagne region, France.
Is Tumulus-dolmen de Kercado open to visitors?
Tumulus-dolmen de Kercado is currently closed to visitors.
