Dolmen des Barrières 2

Trip No.203  Entry No.121  Date Added: 7th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Lot (46))
Visited: Yes on 23rd May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: This nice freestanding dolmen is to be found in a little tended garden like area near to the Barrières farm. There are no signs of a mound around it, no doubt all the stone having been used in construction of the farm and its walls. It was probably once similar to the nearby Pierre Levée, but is now just a 3 metres square capstone doing a balancing act on one side and one end stone from the rectangular chamber.

Dolmen dit la Pierre Levée (Lecusses)

Trip No.203  Entry No.120  Date Added: 7th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Lot (46))
Visited: Yes on 23rd May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Another beauty, this time almost completely still within its mound, which is about 25 metres in diameter and a couple of metres high. The single chamber is about 3 m by 1.5 metres, and covered by what must have been a shaped capstone, about 4 by 2.5 metres and very rectangular. This one is a bit of a long walk from anywhere, but it is signposted.

Dolmen du Pech Cayrou

Trip No.203  Entry No.119  Date Added: 7th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Lot (46))
Visited: Yes on 23rd May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: This one's a bit of a walk up a track and then into a field, but well worth the small effort. Its almost totally enclosed within its mound, with just the large 4 by 3 metres capstone showing above the ground, except to one side where the chamber has been dug into. Most of the chamber is obscured by a large sideslab which has fallen into it, so its difficult to make anything out here.

Apart from the by now normal orchids everywhere, there are the most amazing and vividly coloured butterflies all around this dolmen, and some fantastic views over the Dordogne river valley to the north. There is another mound close by, but thickly covered by bushes and scrub. I could see no obvious remains of a dolmen there, but I wouldnt be surprised if it was one.

Dolmen de Ressegayre

Trip No.203  Entry No.118  Date Added: 7th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Lot (46))
Visited: Yes on 23rd May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: 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.

The capstone is about 3.5 by 3 metres, and is sitting only on some fairly basic supports, just off the ground. I cannot make out the chamber below, or its inside the mound still.

Its lovely here, with insects and birds chirrping and tweeting, with a cuckoo going at full tilt, and loads of wildflowers everywhere. I have just seen two sorts of orchid which I haven't seen before. From some research after my visit, I learn that this is perhaps not a dolmen, but a capstone in the process of being extracted and moved. However, if this is the case, why the mound ?

Dolmen de Candare 1

Trip No.203  Entry No.116  Date Added: 7th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Lot (46))
Visited: Yes on 23rd May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Tiny little dolmen sitting on the remains of its mound, under a bush just to the south of the road between Miers and Floirac. It has a rectangular chamber, less than 2 by 1 metre in size, with the entrance facing 060°. Not far from this dolmen is a peculiar, almost spherical black stone which looks most out of place.

Dolmen dit Peyrebru (Miers)

Trip No.203  Entry No.115  Date Added: 7th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Lot (46))
Visited: Yes on 23rd May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: This one's a little beauty, about 50 metres up a track from the road between Miers and Floirac. Still sitting on top of its mound, 18 metres in diameter, it has a 2.5 by 1.5 metres chamber with a single slanted capstone. The chamber opens eastwards on an alignment of 118°.

Le chaos de Roquebert

Trip No.203  Entry No.114  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Rock Outcrop Country: France (Midi:Lot (46))
Visited: Yes on 22nd May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Not quite sure what to make of these. There are three massive stones (probably up to 7 metres high) within about 20 metres of each other looking for all the world like they have been stood upright surrounded by lots and lots of other stones. There is a signpost saying something about the prehistoric stones and area. I have no idea what they are and suspect that they might be natural a bit like the top of a tor but it doesn’t all look fully natural and I suspect there has been some rearrangement of the rocks around them by man in the distant past.

But in the thick forest getting pictures was not easy especially in the rain and by now I was getting very anxious about getting down off the top of this hill with the campervan in one piece. Eventually I do get back to a tarmac bit of road and its not long before I pass a parking area with footpath signs pointing off in various directions the “Circuit des Dolmens” being one of them. It gives the impression there's lots more historic stuff up here including an ancient fort of some kind.

La Bertrandoune Dolmen

Trip No.203  Entry No.113  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Lot (46))
Visited: Yes on 22nd May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: Further still round the “Circuit des Dolmens” after driving for miles along the rough stone mountain tracks and bashing my way through the undergrowth after several signposted things to see including several of the little huts they have round here and I come to this dolmen. By now I have realised that this “Circuit des Dolmens” is a walking circuit and not for driving round let alone doing it in reverse in a campervan and am getting desperate to get out of these woods and onto a proper road again which rather spoiled the enjoyment of what would be a lovely afternoons walk !.

This is a big single chambered dolmen about 3 m by 2 m a single capstone sitting on top of three uprights with still a good amount of its mound surrounding it. But there's no time to enjoy it I want to get down !

Les Trois Pierres (Les Junies)

Trip No.203  Entry No.112  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Lot (46))
Visited: Yes on 22nd May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: What the hell am I doing here in the campervan ? It’s a road on my map and it starts off as a road with a “circuit des dolmens” sign so of course I followed it. It was very steep to start and lots of hairpin bends so was using first and secod gear only. It has to get better I thought. It levelled out a bit but then the tarmac disappeared. And the trees closed in. And the gravel surface gave way to bare rock and grass and puddles. Nowhere to turn round and go back so thought I’d continue past a bemused looking lady outside her house but still following the “Circuit des Dolmens” signs but in reverse. Of course its raining and misty up here in the clouds.

Ah a sign to “Les Trois Pierres”. This is a nice dolmen in a woodland setting lots of little oak trees growing in the rough limestone rock. I was by now hoping for three ! Its about 4 metres long by 1.5 m wide and high with a single capstone remaining in place. The chamber was obviously much longer once and there are traces of its mound.

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.

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.

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.

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

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 !

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 !

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.

Pierre du Diable (Vitrac)

Trip No.203  Entry No.93  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 2 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: What I found here was a tiny little dolmen right beside the road which is being incorporated into a garden wall a few kilometres south of Sarlat-le-Caneda on top of a hill towards Vitrac. The capstone is not 2 metres by 2 metres and sits on a couple of stones both less than a foot in size. Its probable that there was more to this dolmen which is now under some trees and in the garden wall.

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.

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.

Grotte de Lascaux

Trip No.203  Entry No.89  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 20th May 2005

Log Text: This world famous cave has not been opened for visitors since about 1962 after the paintings had started to seriously deteriorate. It was found in September 1940 by two boys out walking their dog which fell down a hole underneath the roots of a freshly uprooted tree. It is now fenced off and not even opened up to specialist groups since 2001. The fence of course has its UNESCO World Heritage site plaque proudly on display.