Contributory members are able to log private notes and comments about each site
Sites alchemille has logged. View this log as a table or view the most recent logs from everyone
Dolmen de Ressegayre
Date Added: 10th Jan 2014
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Midi:Lot (46))
Visited: Yes on 10th Jan 2014. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 5 Access 4
Dolmen de Ressegayre submitted by thecaptain on 5th Jan 2006. A slightly bigger than average dolmen for round here, and still mostly within its mound, this one can be found in a bit of scrubland just off the road between Miers and Floirac, although it took a fair bit of looking.
(View photo, vote or add a comment)
Log Text: A short walk distance from the road between Floirac and Candare. Judging by the debris and the stones under the capstone, this is really a dolmen. However, I think the cap stone has been mutilated, it is much smaller than the big and heavy capstone that could be seen ten minutes walking distance on Le Pech Cayrou.
Nieudan burial chamber
Date Added: 23rd Dec 2013
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Auvergne:Cantal (15))
Visited: Yes on 23rd Dec 2013. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 3
Nieudan burial chamber submitted by alchemille on 23rd Dec 2013. Nieudan Mound in Auvergne:Cantal (15) France
(View photo, vote or add a comment)
Log Text: Nieudan burial mound ( also known as a barrow or a tumulus) is visible from the Route National to Argentat D120, though the area is not accessible.
Dolmen de Laborderie
Date Added: 23rd Dec 2013
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Limousin:Corrèze (19))
Visited: Yes on 22nd Dec 2013. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5
Dolmen de Laborderie submitted by alchemille on 23rd Dec 2013. Altillac, Corrèze, Limousin. Dolmen de Peyre Levade de la Borderie.
(View photo, vote or add a comment)
Log Text: This is a dolmen in the village of la Borderie, 17km away from Altillac, near Beaulieu Sur Dordogne in the south of the Corrèze department of the Limousin.
This dolmen is called "peyre levade", typical Occitain expression which means dolmen.
The dolmen resembles a giant tortoise, the cap stone is almost round and concave, similar to the one observe in Saint Jory de Chalais, in the east of Dordogne. The two main orthostats are leaning towards the south. the mound of earth is difficult to distinguish, as the structure is located between farms in the centre of the village, there has always been lots of human activity around it. A few metres from it we can found some big stones, protected by a barrier, so it is difficult to find out whether it is another prehistoric structure.
St Simon menhir
Date Added: 27th Oct 2013
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Auvergne:Cantal (15))
Visited: Yes on 27th Oct 2013. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 5
St Simon menhir submitted by alchemille on 27th Oct 2013. Menhir de Saint Simon, near Aurillac, Cantal, Auvergne.
(View photo, vote or add a comment)
Log Text: Hexagonal menhir with an iron cross on top. It's 1.65m high and 40cm wide. It is found in the intersection of the road to Mazeyrac, following the route d'Estive, or otherwise the Departmental road D58 to Giou de Mamou.
Dolmen d'Ayrens
Date Added: 26th Oct 2013
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Auvergne:Cantal (15))
Visited: Yes on 26th Oct 2013. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 5
Log Text: The remains of the Dolmen d'Ayrens are visible from the road leading to Ayrens from St Paul de Landes, in the department of Cantal, 15, in the region of Auvergne.
The dolmen is found along the D53 approximately a kilometre away before the junction with the D59. It is also called the Dolmen du Ruisseau de la Vaurette, because of the brook which runs a few metres from the site, it is also called Le Colin because of a hamlet perched on the hill near the site, and it also has a third name: le dolmen du Champ de bataille. It is believed that a farmer used the capstone sometime last century; two parallel standing stones are all that is left.
Dolmen d'Ayrens
Date Added: 26th Oct 2013
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Auvergne:Cantal (15))
Visited: Yes on 26th Oct 2013. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 5
Log Text: The remains of the Dolmen d'Ayrens are visible from the road leading to Ayrens from St Paul de Landes, in the department of Cantal, 15, in the region of Auvergne.
The dolmen is found along the D53 approximately a kilometre away before the junction with the D59. It is also called the Dolmen du Ruisseau de la Vaurette, because of the brook which runs a few metres from the site, it is also called Le Colin because of a hamlet perched on the hill near the site, and it also has a third name: le dolmen du Champ de bataille. It is believed that a farmer used the capstone sometime last century; two parallel standing stones are all that is left.
Menhir de Fixard
Date Added: 20th Oct 2013
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 19th Oct 2013. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 5 Access 4
Menhir de Fixard submitted by alchemille on 20th Oct 2013. Menhir de Fixard, Perigord Vert, Dordogne.
(View photo, vote or add a comment)
Log Text: Easy to find, taking the road D88 from St Estephe to Fixard, the Menhir is in a little wood near the road pass the junction to Fixard and before the junction with the D92, following the walking path marked on the right of the road and indicated with a typical wooden pole capped with a yellow hat.
Dolmen des Coutoux
Date Added: 17th Aug 2013
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 16th Aug 2013. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 2 Access 1
Dolmen des Coutoux submitted by alchemille on 17th Aug 2013. Jambe Grosse, Dolmen des Coutoux, Sancenhac-Puy de Fourches, Dordogne.
(View photo, vote or add a comment)
Log Text: Jambe Grosse
Megalithe de Coutoux, or jambe Grosse.
Latitude: 45.321683
Longitude: 0.66100
Jambe Grosse is an ancient farm near Sancenhac-Puy de Fourches, Dordogne, which takes its name from an standing triangular shape stone found in a wood nearby.
The wood is private and the access is very difficult. I asked permission of the owner to gain access to the woods and take some pictures, the permission was granted. These woods are protectet by barbed wired, and have not been visited nor had the paths been cleared for a long time. There are lots of brambles, dead trees, spider webs with oak trees and silver birches inhibiting the access. However I managed to follow the remains of the path of a tractor, visible in some stretches, to gain access to the site.
The village near the wood is called La Besse (from latin: botus >bettius >bette >besse> betula, bes, bouleau, in English: “silver birch” ). The Megalithe site is associated with the community of Valeuil. The owner has approached them requesting that this area should become a visiting site of the megalithic era. Unfortantly this project has never materialised and the owner would now like to sell the plot for a reasonable price.
I have found some articles published about this megalithic site mentioning the name of Megalithe de Coutoux.
In fact, there are two triangular stones 3 metres apart approximately, one is laying down and covered with ivy and moss, the other is still standing more than a metre high from the ground; the northwest side is covered with moss. I found a small hole or cavity,commonly found in dolmens, this was a medieval practice to place a cross on the stone to christianised the site. Nothing proves that this is the case in Jambe Grosse.
The Jambe Grosse stone is of similar colour to those of Peyre levade de Fouret, near Condat sur Trincou, and the Dolmen of Laprougès, lieu dit le Bourland, Valeuil; the stone is a sandstone which contains iron “grès rouge ferrugineux.”
I do not think these two stones were the orthostats of a dolmen, they served a different purpose. All around the wood there are several cairns of similar type of reddish stone, four or these cairns are clearly tumuli. It makes me think that the area was probably a necropolis. I looked around for a possible stone circle, but instead I found a sort of a stone bank, or a ruined wall or a rampart running along to the edge, where the slope of the nearby hill starts. I went up to this hill but I could not find nor see anything of interest.
In many religions the triangle represents a divinity, and the triangular shape is often associated to protection and with God itself. Oracles use the triangular shape to block unwanted spirits. A particular thing about Jambe Grosse is one stone with a double triangle carved out, with the large on dominating a smaller one in front of it. Is it perhaps a symbol of femininity, or a divinity and the trinity? Mother and son/daughter?
In some cultures the triangle is the symbol of light, the symbol of time (present, past and future) or birth, life and death; it could also symbolise the aspirations: liberty, equality and fraternity.
At the moment, this is an insolite, unique stone in Dordogne, but there are triangular menhirs in Britany, although not many.
This raises many questions:
Why plant these triangular stones?
Are menhirs the simbol of the male sexual attributes and triangular shape menhirs representing the female vulva?
Was this area consacrated ground to a female divinity?
La Pierre Levée (Brantôme)
Date Added: 6th Aug 2013
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 9th Aug 2013. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 5 Access 5
La Pierre Levée (Brantôme) submitted by theCaptain on 22nd May 2012. The remains of this dolmen stand on a sort of village green thing just on the eastern outskirts of the delightful old town of Brantôme
(View photo, vote or add a comment)
Log Text: None
Peyre Levade (Condat)
Date Added: 3rd Aug 2013
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 2nd Aug 2013. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 2 Access 1
Peyre Levade (Condat) submitted by alchemille on 6th Aug 2013. Dolmen de Peyre Levade de Fouret. Dordogne.
(View photo, vote or add a comment)
Log Text: The dolmen of Peyrelevade (raised stone in occitan ) is found in a privetly own wood before we reach the hamlet of Fouret coming from the D78, near the commune of Condat-sur-Trincou, Dordogne, France. There is an homonymous dolmen in the outskirts of Brantome, a few kms near Condat.
The capstone is red and gray; the stone is a sidérolithique, a very hard rock composed mainly of iron and silicon, found probably in the Correze department, in the Limousin region. The dolmen is partly distroyed, the capstone is tilted on a side and measures 3.40m by 2.40m.
There is a path to get to the dolmen once you enter the wood, but it is very difficult to find this path. At one time the council tried to attract punters there, but that seems to be some time ago, there are brambles everywhere and overgrown bushes. The signs are all broken and scattered about.
La Pierre Folle (Montguyon)
Date Added: 24th Jul 2013
Site Type: Passage Grave
Country: France (Poitou:Charente-Maritime (17))
Visited: Yes on 24th Jul 2013. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 5 Access 5
La Pierre Folle (Montguyon) submitted by TheCaptain on 22nd Feb 2011. This superb monument is signposted to the north of the town of Montguyon, and has its own parking and picnic area. It is a double monument, with an Aquitaine allée-couverte combined with a dolmen.
(View photo, vote or add a comment)
Log Text: La pierre folle (the mad stone) of Montguyon is and allée couverte of 16 m long, 4.20 high. The biggest stone is said to weight 30 tonnes. As often applied to megalithic sites, the main stone is said to tumble three times when the bell of Vassiac calls for the Xmas mass, hence the name: pierre folle. It is actually own by Jean Moucheboeuf, a local Pinot and Cognac producer. This monument is a good advertisement for the selling of local Pinot de la charente. La pierre folle was built about 5000 years ago. Easy to find, it is signposted when taking the D730 to Montguyon, or follow signs to l'Aire de loisirs Beau Vallon.
Dolmen de la Faille
Date Added: 15th Jul 2013
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Would like to visit
Dolmen de la Faille submitted by Team-Omega-25 on 28th Sep 2007. West side of the dolmen
(View photo, vote or add a comment)
Puy de Bon Temps Dolmen
Date Added: 13th Jul 2013
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 5 Access 4
Puy de Bon Temps dolmen submitted by ocdolmen on 7th May 2006. Puy de Bon Temps dolmen (also called Peyrelevade de la Prunerède dolmen), near Périgueux, Dordogne, France
(View photo, vote or add a comment)
Log Text: Easy to find following the D68. lots of stone heaps all around, maybe the area was a necropole.
Dolmen de la Chassagne
Date Added: 4th Jul 2013
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Limousin:Corrèze (19))
Visited: Would like to visit
Dolmen de la Chassagne submitted by shamrockstone on 2nd Jul 2006. Site in Limousin:Corrèze (19) Dolmen de la Chassagne
(View photo, vote or add a comment)
Dolmen de Puy Landry
Date Added: 28th Jun 2013
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Aquitaine:Gironde (33))
Visited: Would like to visit
Dolmen de Puy Landry submitted by thecaptain on 9th Jan 2006. In fine wine country near Salles-de-Castillon, atop a ridge in woodland can be seen a standing stone.
Closer inspection reveals a fallen companion and that the stones are on top of a mound running in an easterly direction with several other stones lying about in the vicinity. This leads me to suspect that this is in fact the remains of a dolmen or allée couverte.
(View photo, vote or add a comment)
Menhir de Clotte
Date Added: 28th Jun 2013
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Aquitaine:Gironde (33))
Visited: Would like to visit
Pierre Levée (Salles-de-Castillon)
Date Added: 27th Jun 2013
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Aquitaine:Gironde (33))
Visited: Would like to visit
Pierre Levée (Salles-de-Castillon) submitted by thecaptain on 4th Jul 2005. La Pierre Levée, Salles-de-Castillon, Gironde.
This was one of the more interesting sites I found in my last session in France. It comes with its own wine, made by the chap in the picture, in his "chateau" at which this menhir is at the entrance.
(View photo, vote or add a comment)
Beauroulet Dolmen
Date Added: 22nd Jun 2013
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 5th Jun 2012
Beauroulet dolmen submitted by alchemille on 5th Jun 2012. Site in Aquitaine:Dordogne (24) France
(View photo, vote or add a comment)
Log Text: None
Dolmen de Chez Vinaigre
Date Added: 22nd Jun 2013
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Poitou:Charente (16))
Visited: Yes on 12th Jun 2012
Dolmen de Chez Vinaigre submitted by alchemille on 12th Jun 2012. Site in Aquitaine:Dordogne (24) France
(View photo, vote or add a comment)
Log Text: None
Dolmen du Pech Cayrou
Date Added: 22nd Jun 2013
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Midi:Lot (46))
Visited: Yes on 23rd Feb 2013
Dolmen du Pech Cayrou submitted by alchemille on 23rd Feb 2013. 19 February 2013. Floirac
Site in Midi:Lot (46) France
(View photo, vote or add a comment)
Log Text: None