Cazarils dolmen
The oval dolmens of Cazarils 1 to 3 are located in the forest west and east of the Chemin de Pailhas road, north of Viols-le-Fort near Montpellier in the Hérault department in France and are dated to the Copper Age (2800–2200 BC) . In France, dolmen is the generic term for megalithic structures of all kinds (see: French nomenclature ).
Cazarils tombe ovale 1
The small oval grave ( location ) consists of the remains of a chamber without the upper end. The outer diameter is about 8.0 × 6.0 m, the inner about 4.0 × 2.5 m. The access is in the north. The remaining part of the chamber is partially formed by upright panels that are a little more than half a meter high. Originally there was probably a cantilever vault .
In the middle of the south side is a copy of a limestone statue menhir, discovered in 1952, measuring 72 × 35 × 17 cm (the original is in the museum) with the face and the chain of a mother goddess .
Excavations led to the discovery of objects from the Bronze and Early Iron Ages (razors with side handles). These elements indicate a renewed use of the facility, which could have led to the subsequent incorporation of the statue menhir.
Cazarils tombe ovale 2
About 50 meters from Cazarils tombe ovale 1 is the second, structurally similar oval grave (preserved as a more U-shaped complex) ( location ).
It's not much bigger than the first. The walls of the chamber are still about 1.0 m high. The cairn is bigger and better preserved. The Dolmen de la Draille is about 100 m away.
Cazarils tombe oval 3
The rather round tombe 3, which is otherwise built in the same way as No. 2, is on the other side of the street ( location ).
Bruno Marc examined 20 oval systems in the Herault. He considers it a testimony to the arrival of new peoples and rites in Languedoc in the Copper and Bronze Ages . The only innovative thing about these facilities is their oval shape (e.g. “Tombe ovale de Boussagues”, “Tombe ovale des Camps”, “Tombes ovales du Truc de Marti”, the Escout tumulus (with the oval dolmen “Peyrecor II ”) and the dolmen of Cambous ).
See also
literature
Bruno Marc: Fragiles témoins de l'âge du Bronze: Les tombes ovales = Fragile witnesses of the Bronze Age: The oval tombs In: Société archéologique de Montpellier, France Journal Archeology 1995 pp. 40–45.
Map with all coordinates: