Ferrussac-Esquirol dolmen
The Ferrussac-Esquirol dolmen is the largest "dolmen à couloir" in the south of the Causse du Larzac plateau near La Vacquerie-et-Saint-Martin-de-Castries, in the Hérault department in France . In France, dolmen is the generic term for megalithic structures of all kinds (see: French nomenclature ).
The chamber is approximately three feet long, three feet wide and two feet high. The capstone is 4.6 m long and weighs over 13 tons. The corridor is 6.8 m long, the side plates are approximately 3.5 m long, 0.9 m high and 0.2 m thick. The chamber is covered with the remains of a mound, which is enclosed by a stone wall that protrudes on both sides of the entrance and consists of larger blocks. A simple stone table made of three slabs stands on the ceiling of the dolmen. The view along the passage gives the impression of a double-decker dolmen. A restoration was carried out by the Lodévois Archaeological Group (GAL).
The dolmen was first mentioned in 1866 by Father Vinas and has been the subject of several excavations. In the 1960s, the archaeologist Gaston Combarnous archaeological material found (bone tools, 1,500 beads of steatite and some of copper, fragments of bronze bracelets and arrowheads and human bones of more than 60 individuals).
The remains of a lime kiln lie between the road and the dolmen.
See also
literature
- Gaston Combarnous: Le grand dolmen à couloir de Ferrussac-Esquirol et son site archéologique. In: Bulletin de la Société préhistorique de France, Volume 55, Nos. 5-6, 1958, pp. 326-335.
Web links
- Description and pictures
- Description (French)
Coordinates: 43 ° 47 ′ 24.7 " N , 3 ° 29 ′ 1.7" E