Menhir des Demoiselles
The Menhir des Demoiselles (also called Pierre Debout or Menhir la Pierre) is in Colombiers-sur-Seulles in the Calvados department in Normandy in France .
The menhir , just over 2.0 meters high, stands on a small meadow east of the village on an old Roman road near the Calvary . It is a square column with multiple holes and indentations. It was broken in 1845 and is now mounted on a concrete post.
In 1902 the prehistorian Leon Ticking wrote: “The girls on a pilgrimage to 'Notre-Dame de la Délivrande' (in Douvres-la-Délivrande, 10 km away ) climb on the stone to jump on the ground in one leap, after depositing some coins on the top of the monolith in the hope of finding a man in it. The menhir was broken because of the large number of pilgrims who climbed it. ”On the menhir there is a probably non-historical bowl .
The stone is very regular, and its location on a Roman road suggests that it is not a real menhir. There are several menhir-like milestones along this old road.
The Menhir des Demoiselles was classified as a Monument historique in 1889. The area around the menhir was protected as an archaeological site in 1914. Several Merovingian tombs have been discovered nearby.
The Colombiers-sur-Seulles tumulus lies about 900 m to the east .
literature
- Vincent Carpentier, Emmanuel Ghesquiére, Cyril Marcigny: Archéologie en Normandie . Edition Quest-France, Rennes 2007, ISBN 978-2-7373-4164-9 , ( Collection Histoire ).
Web links
Coordinates: 49 ° 17 '48.1 " N , 0 ° 30' 25.2" W.