Alignment by Clendy

Menhirs of the stone row

The Alignement von Clendy is a prehistoric stone avenue in the area of ​​the city of Yverdon-les-Bains in the Swiss canton of Vaud .

The alignment is located in a forest clearing on the eastern edge of the city at the southwest end of Lake Neuchâtel , near the main road to Estavayer-le-Lac . It consists of 45 menhirs and statue menhirs and, along with the row of stones from Lutry and Parc la Mutta near Falera, is the most impressive megalithic complex of its kind in Switzerland.

• Alignment by Clendy
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  Alignments

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  Main series to the northwest

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  Main series to the southeast

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  small series

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  Menhir

The menhirs are arranged in two rows of stones about 50 m long and three groups south of the rows. The 0.45 m to 4.5 m high stones were only discovered in 1878 as a result of the correction of the Jura waters when the lake level was lowered and they were put up again in 1975. In 1986 the entire system was restored. Some stones have been processed prehistorically and have geometric and anthropomorphic shapes. A comparison with French decorative forms points to the earliest construction of the stones by the bearers of the Chassey-Lagozza-Cortaillod culture around 4500-4000 BC. Some stones may be younger, as the complex was used in the Bronze Age .

context

In addition to the 15 single standing menhirs, 2 to 4 m high, which are primarily located in the Jura lakes, there were three large alignments up to 2002, so that around 100 menhirs and statue menhirs were known in Switzerland .

In Treytel à Sugiez near Bevaix , a row of stones made up of eleven menhirs came to light , two of which were broken and nine were completely intact. In 2002 two statue menhirs were found in Bevaix , which were probably not buried until the 16th century. The larger menhir is about 3.35 m long and 1.4 m wide and weighs 2.8 tons. The smaller one is 2.5 m long and 0.9 m wide and weighs 1.2 tons.

literature

• Jean-Louis Voruz: Hommes et Dieux du Neolithique. Les statues-menhirs d'Yverdon. In: Yearbook of the Swiss Society for Prehistory and Protohistory. Vol. 75, 1992, ISSN  0252-1881 , pp. 37-64, ( digitized version ).
• Richard Walker: Yverdon-les-Bains-Clendy megalithic complex. Analysis of the design and possible archaeoastronomical aspects. (PDF)

Web links

Commons : Alignement by Clendy  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 46 ° 46  '50.7 " N , 6 ° 39' 23.7"  E ; CH1903:  five hundred and forty thousand two hundred and seventy-seven  /  181 364