Le Gros Caillou (Oisy-le-Verger)
The menhir Le Gros Caillou ( German "the great pebble" ) is about two kilometers west of Oisy-le-Verger near Douai in the Pas-de-Calais department in France .
The 2.9 m high and about one meter wide menhir made of sandstone stands in the swamp of the Sensée valley . The installation in a river bed makes access difficult, especially in rainy periods. The menhir, registered as a Monument historique since 1981, is surrounded by a belt of reeds. Its origin goes back to the Neolithic Age (5000 to 2500 BC). The swamp of the land came later.
Many historians believe that the high concentration of megaliths and unusual stones along the Sensée Valley is not accidental. There are six places within about 15 kilometers where menhirs, dolmens or whetstones are found. This applies in particular to the menhir of Aubigny-au-Bac, that of Lécluse, the Hamel's Dolmen, the Polissoir of Féchains and the bizarre stone circle Les Sept Bonnettes in Sailly-en-Ostrevent . Other megaliths were still visible in the 19th century.
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Other objects with this name
Le Gros Caillou is also one of the landmarks of the Croix-Rousse district in Lyons . It is a large, hard gray-white stone, the mineralogical composition of which suggests that the boulder was transported to Lyon by glaciers in the Alps.
Coordinates: 50 ° 15 ′ 11.4 " N , 3 ° 5 ′ 38.3" E
