Menhir from Ger
The menhir of Ger (also called menhir of Roye ) is northeast of Ger in the district of Roye or Pirhourquet, west of Tarbes in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in France .
The menhir is one of the many megaliths on the Ger plateau. It dates back to the Neolithic and is the largest in the western Pyrenees . It measures 4.8 m, of which about ⅔ are visible, with an estimated mass of 17 t, a width of 1.7 m and a thickness of 1.1 m. During World War I , soldiers at Camp de Ger experimented with dynamite, which resulted in part of the stone breaking off while the rest was split in two and overturned.
When the municipality of Ger decided in 1962 to cultivate the town's moors, Leopold Pyhourquet was made aware of the presence of a long stone in the moors. After the approval, the excavation of the stone, which was partially buried, made of heavily veined slate and broken lengthways, took place. He was surrounded by pottery shards, a flint and iron fragments. The prehistorian Roland Coquerel confirmed that it is a menhir of exceptional volume.
It was found that the longitudinal grooves in the stone were the result of a very long period of erosion and provided evidence of a vertical position over many centuries. The base of the menhir was crooked and this deficiency was compensated for by a stone packing when it was erected. There was a layer of charcoal under the stone.
The foot of the menhir has a large notch due to the split. The missing part was found but not reattached during restoration. A piece was placed at the foot of the menhir.
See also
literature
- Jean Clottes: Dolmens et Menhirs du Midi . Edition Loubatiéres, Portet-sur-Garonne 1987, ISBN 2-86266-048-5 ( Terres du Sud 26).
Web links
- Menhir in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
- Description and picture (English)
- Description and picture (French)
- Description and picture (French)
- Description and picture (French)
Coordinates: 43 ° 15 '52.9 " N , 0 ° 1' 46.2" W.