Grotte de Bernifal

Trip No.203  Entry No.216  Date Added: 21st Apr 2020
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 2nd Jun 2005. My rating: Access 4

Log Text: This was closed to visitors when I arrived but nevertheless it was a nice walk through splendid woodland with a little stream running nearby up to the entrance. The cave was discovered in 1905 and contains engravings of humans as well as the more usual animals.

Grotte de Lascaux 2

Trip No.203  Entry No.90  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 20th May 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: It’s obviously not the same as seeing the real thing but this copy of the two main chambers of Lascaux cave (which contains 90% of all the paintings) is pretty impressive. OK so it’s a concrete corridor built on the site of an old quarry a couple of hundred metres down hill from the real Lascaux but they tell you that it is nowhere more than 5 millimetres in error from the real thing and at least you can get to see it. It took about 20 years to build and the paintings were recreated using the same methods and materials as the ancient people estimated to have been 17000 years ago.

In the first room with a rounded ceiling there are four massive bulls one being 5.5 metres long and also lots of horses cows and some exquisite reindeer. Three colours are used here red black and yellow and the whole thing is quite magnificent. There is also a frieze on one of the walls with 4 or 5 large horses painted on it with the legs of each all in different positions which when seen one after the other make a perfect representation of a horse galloping across the room. There is also a weird animal at the entrance end of the chamber which seems to consist of the head of a lion the body of a bison and horse and the aft legs of a human and with a couple of long horns and strange markings.

The second chamber is more like a corridor with paintings along both sides. There are lots of little horses following one another with a big brown cow jumping over them. On the other side is a scene where there are several bulls painted one on top of the other which gives the impression o a large herd. Further toward the end of the chamber is a jumping horse and at the bottom of the chamber a fallen horse on its back legs in the air.

As with many of the other caves with paintings or engravings in them the artists have used the natural shapes of the rocks upon which to base their animals. They also have several animals merging into each other and using the same lines for more than one animal. And every animal in Lascaux is depicted in motion none are stationary. There are also lots of strange markings which are referred to as “enigmatic symbols” which again seem to appear in all the painted caves. Fantastic.

Le Rigourdou

Trip No.203  Entry No.88  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Saw from a distance on 20th May 2005

Log Text: Within this cliff shelter just a bit up the hillside from Lascaux found in March 1954 had the discovery made on 22 September 1957 of a complete Neanderthal skeleton in it. Not only this but also several burials of at least 5 bears were found suggesting some strange bear cult or activity. These days its fenced off with a little visitor centre and bears.

Abri de la Madeleine

Trip No.203  Entry No.85  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 20th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 2

Log Text: You don’t actually really get to see the Abri de la Madeleine where all the prehistoric finds were made which gave their name to an epoch including the carved bison and the first harpoons. I guess to see this best you would need to canoe down the river but you can see the overhang and bits of it from the village and there is some display material in the visitor centre.

Source de la Madeleine

Trip No.203  Entry No.87  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 20th May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: On a cliff face on the west side of the river Vézère near the village of Tursac is the Troglodytic village which has been inhabited since 50000 years ago and gave its name to an epoch the Madeleinian which was about 12000 years ago. What you mostly see now for your visit money is medieval with several cliff houses built into the terrace on the cliff. There is also a couple of chapels and a gatehouse which guards over where there was a sort of drop bridge which nowadays has a permanent footpath over it. Above the whole lot is the remains of a 12th century castle.

At the centre of the village near a sort of village square is a strange spring which only flows in times of great drought due to some sort of capillary action and the last time in which it flowed was summer 2001. This very strange effect has given the place a sort of magic throughout the millennia.

A bit further along the cliff and down at the base is the original abri shelter within which all the important prehistoric finds were made including the carved bison and the first harpoons.

Village de la Madeleine

Trip No.203  Entry No.86  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 20th May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: On a cliff face on the west side of the river Vézère near the village of Tursac is the Troglodytic village which has been inhabited since 50000 years ago and gave its name to an epoch the Madeleinian which was about 12000 years ago.

What you mostly see now for your visit money is medieval with several cliff houses built into the terrace on the cliff. There is also a couple of chapels and a gatehouse which guards over where there was a sort of drop bridge which nowadays has a permanent footpath over it. Above the whole lot is the remains of a 12th century castle. At the centre of the village near a sort of village square is a strange spring which only flows in times of great drought due to some sort of capillary action and the last time in which it flowed was summer 2001. This very strange effect has given the place a sort of magic throughout the millennia.

A bit further along the cliff and down at the base is the original abri shelter within which all the important prehistoric finds were made including the carved bison and the first harpoons.

Pierre Plantée (Lisle)

Trip No.203  Entry No.62  Date Added: 5th Apr 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 17th May 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: As I was driving south along the D78 road coming into Lisle I saw a sign saying Pierre Plantée and there was a stone about a metre high stood just by the roadside. I cant be sure whether this is the actual Pierre Plantée referred to or indeed whether it is ancient but it isn’t new !

Dolmen de Palus

Trip No.203  Entry No.63  Date Added: 5th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 17th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: In a field of Barley just beside the country lane from Douchapt to Ségonzac near the hamlet of Margot can be found the remains of this dolmen. Its not much more than a collection of four large brownish black rocks which I would guess are a capstone and three fallen supports. There’s still enough room underneath for the local wildlife to enjoy its shelter despite being ploughed right up to the stones.

Cayra Levada

Trip No.203  Entry No.98  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 21st May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Just beside a little road northwest of Belvès but fenced in a garden and becoming overgrown this 1.5 metre high dolmen had several polished axes found within it. There’s a raised capstone on a couple of supports but its difficult to make out much more.

While sitting making notes here I got overrun and attacked by a lot of vicious little ants and am still paying the price for sitting down carelessly 12 hours later. Bastards !

Dolmen de Peyre Nègre

Trip No.203  Entry No.100  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 21st May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: 500 metres to the west of the Le Blanc allée couverte in a field just beside the road to Naussannes this dolmen has become covered in brambles and bushes. It is still 2 metres high the large capstone resting on at least three big support stones of which at least one has collapsed.

This one is guarded by a tricky barbed wire gate which caught my shirt on the way in and on the way out I tripped on it and it ripped my trousers and leg to shreds. Its obviously one of those days.

Bonarme Dolmen

Trip No.203  Entry No.96  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 21st May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: This was a pleasant find northwest of Belvès where there is a nicely arranged forest park area with a waymarked and signposted walk. The dolmen is still partially buried in its tumulus with remains of a stone circle or perhaps two still surviving around its outside. The capstone is about 3 m by 2.5 m and still covering a rectangular chamber which is completely dry which can be seen down below the level of the surrounding ground.

It has been dated to 3000 BC and the capstone has several markings in the top of it which are probably natural and caused by freezing and thawing action. However there is a legend surrounding the dolmen about the marks in the top being the imprints of cows feet on the stone. To me a couple at the north end could well have been cows feet but at the other end of the capstone there are most definitely two imprints of a giant’s feet.

Bonarme polissoirs

Trip No.203  Entry No.97  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Polissoir Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 21st May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Further into the forest from the Bonarme dolmen are two polissoir stones dated to about 3000 BC which can also be found by following the marked and signposted forest walk for a kilometre or so. It’s a nice little spot on a hillside with an ancient spring below and some hut circles above. While I was there it was very humid and buzzing with insects.

One of the two stones has about 6 grooves in it with a natural basin for holding water a necessity for the polishing action. The other stone is superb and has about 10 grooves and flat polishing areas on it all of different sizes and in different parts of the stone almost a complete toolkit. Unfortunately the end of the stone has been broken off which may have had more grooves. I was not the first person here to rub a bit of stone up and down in the grooves as some are still well polished.

Its quite moving sitting rubbing a stone up and down in a groove thinking people were doing exactly this thousands of years ago. There's a little signpost telling about the stones which reckons that the sort of polished axes found around here would have taken about 70 hours each to have polished properly into shape. Too much like hard work !

Dolmen dit la Peyrelevade (Beaumont)

Trip No.203  Entry No.109  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 22nd May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: What a palaver it was finding this one despite being on my map and signposted from the road. The trouble is that’s where the signposts stop and its more than a kilometre walk to the thing. There is no way I would have found this had I not spoken to a chap at the farm out doing jobs in his shed who told me where to go and even then I was close to giving up on more than one occasion.

It’s down the lane till it runs out then continue on down the track on the left. This track then runs out and had an electric fence across it (The man had warned me of the electric fence to keep the cows in). It should normally be continue on down to the bottom of the valley through the cows field and the dolmen is up on a mound to the left of the field but as I entered the field several very inquisitive and tough looking cows with big horns rushed towards me bellowing. So I did as the man suggested and skirted round the outside of the electric fence in a couple of fields with very long grass which soaked me right though. Then down another lane into the valley bottom and search for the stones. Nothing can be see at all. So I remember the bit about it being on a mound and there's two possibilities. The cows are guarding one so I climb to the top of the nearer one and eventually find the dolmen a small little thing for so much effort !

The capstone sits on top of a rectangular chamber about 2 metres in length and a metre wide which has collapsed on one side. This really is one for the enthusiast and I would never have found it without the mans directions but its surrounded by lovely orchids and even on a wet grey day like this it was nice to have been there. And it gave a great deal of satisfaction for having found this a good adventure despite all the obstacles. A real feeling of triumph ! And of course a cheery Merci to the man on the way back.

Point du Jour dolmen

Trip No.203  Entry No.110  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 22nd May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: This one is signposted from the D104/D2 between Villereal and Montpazier and has a little picnic area by it. It was pouring with rain when I arrived and it looks for all the world to be in somebody’s private garden. In fact I think it is but they have been good enough to create a little sort of public area near it and a sign as well ! What Good people.

A single giant capstone 6 metres by 2 metres sits on top of about half a dozen supports in two parallel rows making a sort of alleyway within woodland on a slope which is very steep at the end of the dolmen and indeed has probably been quarried away at some point in the past. In the wet it’s a strange reddish orangish stripy sort of rock with lots of moss growing on top of it. From certain angles this one looks like its come straight out of a fairy story.

Allée couverte de Blanc

Trip No.203  Entry No.99  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 21st May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: At last I have found one which is signposted and looked after. It’s a couple of kilometres south of Beaumont on the D.676 towards Villereal and is in a little signposted area with parking and lots and lots of orchids around everywhere. Its said to be one of the best preserved megalithic remains in the Perigord region and if that’s the case the rest aren’t much to look out for !

The original allée was supposedly 12 metres in length but its now cut short and I only counted 6 metres length of remains. The main chamber is in two parts facing on an alignment of 100° and consists of only two capstones sitting on 3 or 4 side slabs each side. Interestingly the western end is only about a metre wide and a metre high but the eastern end is much larger easily double the size of the closed west end. The south side is continuous while the northern side is stepped out

Puy de Bon Temps Dolmen

Trip No.203  Entry No.91  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 20th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: This dolmen can be found about a kilometre walk up a forest track from the D68 between Ajat and Cubjac just north of where it passes under the new motorway and opposite a quarry entrance. It is just about signposted from the road but they are very easy to miss and when the track gets to the top of the hill you need to turn left and then left again.

The dolmen is all a bit of a jumble with many of the stones fallen and broken but the main part of the capstone about 3 by 2 metres in size is still there in position although held up by what I can only assume are roof timbers from some old building.

Just beside the dolmen is one of the cute little drystone beehive shelters (Gariotte?) that they have round here (and you can buy guide books and coffee table picture books of). Its in excellent condition with a terrific roof all covered in moss. I assume its been made using stone from the cairn for the dolmen although there is no shortage of stone round here.

Giverzac Dolmen

Trip No.203  Entry No.215  Date Added: 21st Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 16th Jan 2012. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Remains of a little dolmen now outside the gates to the Banque de France’ Giversac Enterprise Centre and it shelters a couple of floodlights. The capstone is about 2.5 by 2 metres broken at one end and it sits on a few various support stones. I suspect it’s been jumbled about a bit.

Finding this involved some extremely steep and narrow lanes up the vertiginous sides of the Dordogne river from Vitrac and getting away again after was just as bad as the roads through Domme are banned to campervans due to the small narrow cliff face hanging roads so although you can park next to the dolmen an access rating of 5 is perhaps a bit high ! There are no signs.

Peyrebrune (Seyssac)

Trip No.203  Entry No.64  Date Added: 5th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 17th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: A kilometre or so down a rough track called Chasse de Pierre Brune from the D109 near Segonzac can be found the remains of this rectangular chambered dolmen. The chamber has dimensions of about 3 m by 2 m and made with well positioned stone blocks. There is a capstone which only covers the western end.

It’s a pity about the chestnut trees growing in it.

Beauroulet Dolmen

Trip No.203  Entry No.61  Date Added: 5th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 17th May 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 2 Access 5

Log Text: A 4 metres by 2.5 metre capstone of strange dark reddish brown/black rock sits slightly off the ground on top of some fallen grey limestone support stones. Its in a field just opposite a factory near a roadside restaurant at a junction with the busy D939 Brantôme to Périgueux road. Despite being in such a busy noisy and unsightly place it somehow felt calm as I sat here on the stone eating my lunch.

La Pierre Levée (Brantôme)

Trip No.203  Entry No.59  Date Added: 5th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 17th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 2 Access 5

Log Text: This dolmen stands on a sort of village green thing just on the eastern outskirts of the delightful old town of Brantôme about 50 metres north of the D78 road. A single large capstone about 4 metres by 2 metres sits on 3 (or is it 4) support stones with the help of some modern building work about 2 metres off the ground. A couple of other stones remain fallen or broken nearby.