<< Our Photo Pages >> Tumulus de la Boixe B - Chambered Tomb in France in Poitou:Charente (16)
Submitted by TheCaptain on Saturday, 03 December 2005 Page Views: 7318
Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Tumulus de la Boixe B Alternative Name: Forêt de BoixeCountry: France Département: Poitou:Charente (16) Type: Chambered Tomb
Nearest Town: Angoulême Nearest Village: Vervant
Latitude: 45.842900N Longitude: 0.148800E
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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I have visited· I would like to visit
rrmoser andre-22-08-1642 would like to visit
johnstone visited on 21st Jun 2014 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 5 Access: 5
TheCaptain visited on 16th May 2005 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 5 Access: 5 This wonderful tumulus can be found signposted just to the west of the D.116 as it runs through the Forêt-de-Boixe. Said to be one of about 15 such tombs here in the 19th century, but now mostly destroyed.
It’s a lovely tomb, which has been restored, with a chamber still contained fully within its cairn, which must be between 25 and 30 metres in diameter, with two walled and stepped rings around it. A large capstone is still visible from the top which covers the chamber. The entrance passage is slightly curved, and about 8 metres in length.
It looks to me as though many of the stones are new, and indeed some seem to be concrete slabs. There is a side chamber on the right as you go in, which has nicely carved entrance stones giving a fine rounded doorway, with a finely carved edging. Its all very dark inside and you need to take a torch, although the birds like it as it is for nesting inside. The chamber is rectangular, about 3 metres by 1.5 metres. The passageway into the main chamber is exceptionally well made, with most of the stones being very squared, which turns out to be a feature of many of the dolmens around here. The main chamber, more than 8 metres into the tumulus, is another rectangular structure formed with well fitting and squared slabs, and is about 5 metres by 3 metres, wit slab floorstones also.
At the opposite corner of this chamber to where the entrance is, is found another entranceway into a further chamber, this one being about 2 metres square, again made with fantastically fitted stone slabs. The entranceway is carved from two well fitted slabs, and has two grooves carved around it, rather like moulding round a more modern doorway. Above and to the right of this doorway, in the main chamber is a very visible axe carved onto the wall slabs.
Since visiting this tomb, I have found that there are said to be carvings of crooks and axes on one or two of the stones. The monument is in a lovely flower filled clearing in the forest, with the air filled with birdsong, a cuckoo being particularly prominent this morning. It has a noticeboard which states that it is dated to between 4500 and 3700 BC, and that the corridor side stones are original. I went back to my van to get a torch and returned.
neolithique02 have visited here
Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 5 Ambience: 5 Access: 5
It’s a lovely tomb, which has been restored, with three chambers still contained fully within the large cairn, which must be between 25 and 30 metres in diameter, with two walled and stepped rings around it. A large capstone is still visible from the top which covers the main chamber.
The entrance passage is slightly curved, and about 8 metres in length. The passageway into the main chamber is exceptionally well made, with most of the stones being very squared, which turns out to be a feature of many of the dolmens around here. It looks to me as though many of the stones are new, and indeed some seem to be concrete slabs, including the roof, although the notice outside states that the sidestones are original.
There is a side chamber on the right as you go in, which has nicely carved entrance stones giving a fine rounded doorway, with a finely carved edging. Its all very dark inside and you need to take a torch, although the birds like it as it is for nesting inside. The chamber is rectangular, about 3 metres by 1.5 metres.
The main chamber, more than 8 metres into the tumulus, is another rectangular structure formed with well fitting and squared slabs, and is about 5 metres by 3 metres, with slab floorstones also. At the opposite corner of this chamber to where the entrance is, is found another entranceway into a further chamber, this one being about 2 metres square, again made with fantastically fitted stone slabs. The entranceway is carved from two well fitted slabs, and has two grooves carved around it, rather like moulding round a more modern doorway. Above and to the right of this doorway, in the main chamber is a very visible axe carved onto the wall slabs.
Since visiting this tomb, I have found that there are said to be other carvings of crooks and axes on one or two of the stones.
The monument is in a lovely flower filled clearing in the forest, with the air filled with birdsong, a cuckoo being particularly prominent this morning. It has a noticeboard which states that it is dated to between 4500 and 3700 BC, and that the corridor side stones are original.
Base Mérimée (Historic Monument)
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