<< Our Photo Pages >> L'alignement d'Espiaub - Stone Row / Alignment in France in Midi:Haute-Garonne (31)
Submitted by TheCaptain on Monday, 23 July 2007 Page Views: 4901
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: L'alignement d'Espiaub Alternative Name: Carnac PyrénéanCountry: France
NOTE: This site is 1.546 km away from the location you searched for.
Département: Midi:Haute-Garonne (31) Type: Stone Row / Alignment
Nearest Town: Bagnères-de-Luchon Nearest Village: Benqué
Latitude: 42.814700N Longitude: 0.542300E
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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TheCaptain visited on 9th Sep 2005 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 5 Access: 3 I have seen nothing definite about what is to be found up here, but it is possible to imagine/envisage that there are perhaps 4 or 5 lines of stones running across the hillside, with one or more crossing them, but it is very difficult to know exactly what is what. I walked down from the second set of cromlechs to something I could see, and found a manhole cover for a little cattle trough reservoir !
Looking back up the hillside from here, I would swear that I can see lines of stones coming down the hill from the first set of cromlechs. The stones are all in the bracken, but the bigger stones stand out above this. I think I can see 4 or 5 parallel rows of stones running down the hillside, with the stones looking evenly spaced. They extend to beyond where I am - perhaps 500 metres or more in total length, and I would estimate about 20 metres between rows. This is very difficult to photograph. But am I seeing things ? Not for nothing is there something up here called the Espiaube alignments.
While searching around on the slopes for closer signs of the parallel rows, and I still believe that I can see them, I clearly see a row running up and down the slope, across the lines of possible alignments. The top of the row starts at a spring, which has several large stones standing within a little pool, and continues downslope for about 100 metres, with perhaps more lost in the thick bracken. The stones are spaced evenly, about 8 metres apart from each other. I started to count the stones while walking up from the bottom, but part way up I am sure I saw another line running in parallel with the obvious one. The second line is in the bracken, while the first is in clear grass, as if lots of people have walked up and down here. This all reminds me very much of various Dartmoor and Exmoor rows.
I walked down from the second set of cromlechs to something I could see, and found a manhole cover for a little cattle trough reservoir !
Looking back up the hillside from here, I would swear that I can see lines of stones coming down the hill from the first set of cromlechs. The stones are all in the bracken, but the bigger stones stand out above this.
I think I can see 4 or 5 parallel rows of stones running down the hillside, with the stones looking evenly spaced. They extend to beyond where I am - perhaps 500 metres or more in total length, and I would estimate about 20 metres between rows.
While searching around on the slopes for closer signs of the parallel rows, and I still believe that I can see them, I clearly see a row running up and down the slope, across the lines of possible alignments.
The top of the row starts at a spring, which has several large stones standing within a little pool, and continues downslope for about 100 metres, with perhaps more lost in the thick bracken. The stones are spaced evenly, about 8 metres apart from each other. I started to count the stones while walking up from the bottom, but part way up I am sure I saw another line running in parallel with the obvious one, and lost count.
The second line is in the bracken, while the first is in clear grass, as if lots of people have walked up and down here. This all reminds me very much of various Dartmoor rows.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Position of site taken from gps receiver.
Note: With the Tour-de-France race passing right beside the Carnac Pyrénéan as they race through the Pyrénées mountains today, I thought it was time for some details and pictures of this wondrous collection of stone sites, which includes several sets of cromlechs, and some rows.
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