Point du Jour dolmen

Trip No.203  Entry No.110  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 22nd May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: This one is signposted from the D104/D2 between Villereal and Montpazier and has a little picnic area by it. It was pouring with rain when I arrived and it looks for all the world to be in somebody’s private garden. In fact I think it is but they have been good enough to create a little sort of public area near it and a sign as well ! What Good people.

A single giant capstone 6 metres by 2 metres sits on top of about half a dozen supports in two parallel rows making a sort of alleyway within woodland on a slope which is very steep at the end of the dolmen and indeed has probably been quarried away at some point in the past. In the wet it’s a strange reddish orangish stripy sort of rock with lots of moss growing on top of it. From certain angles this one looks like its come straight out of a fairy story.

Dolmen dit la Peyrelevade (Beaumont)

Trip No.203  Entry No.109  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 22nd May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: What a palaver it was finding this one despite being on my map and signposted from the road. The trouble is that’s where the signposts stop and its more than a kilometre walk to the thing. There is no way I would have found this had I not spoken to a chap at the farm out doing jobs in his shed who told me where to go and even then I was close to giving up on more than one occasion.

It’s down the lane till it runs out then continue on down the track on the left. This track then runs out and had an electric fence across it (The man had warned me of the electric fence to keep the cows in). It should normally be continue on down to the bottom of the valley through the cows field and the dolmen is up on a mound to the left of the field but as I entered the field several very inquisitive and tough looking cows with big horns rushed towards me bellowing. So I did as the man suggested and skirted round the outside of the electric fence in a couple of fields with very long grass which soaked me right though. Then down another lane into the valley bottom and search for the stones. Nothing can be see at all. So I remember the bit about it being on a mound and there's two possibilities. The cows are guarding one so I climb to the top of the nearer one and eventually find the dolmen a small little thing for so much effort !

The capstone sits on top of a rectangular chamber about 2 metres in length and a metre wide which has collapsed on one side. This really is one for the enthusiast and I would never have found it without the mans directions but its surrounded by lovely orchids and even on a wet grey day like this it was nice to have been there. And it gave a great deal of satisfaction for having found this a good adventure despite all the obstacles. A real feeling of triumph ! And of course a cheery Merci to the man on the way back.

Dolmen de Peyre Nègre

Trip No.203  Entry No.100  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 21st May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: 500 metres to the west of the Le Blanc allée couverte in a field just beside the road to Naussannes this dolmen has become covered in brambles and bushes. It is still 2 metres high the large capstone resting on at least three big support stones of which at least one has collapsed.

This one is guarded by a tricky barbed wire gate which caught my shirt on the way in and on the way out I tripped on it and it ripped my trousers and leg to shreds. Its obviously one of those days.

Allée couverte de Blanc

Trip No.203  Entry No.99  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 21st May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: At last I have found one which is signposted and looked after. It’s a couple of kilometres south of Beaumont on the D.676 towards Villereal and is in a little signposted area with parking and lots and lots of orchids around everywhere. Its said to be one of the best preserved megalithic remains in the Perigord region and if that’s the case the rest aren’t much to look out for !

The original allée was supposedly 12 metres in length but its now cut short and I only counted 6 metres length of remains. The main chamber is in two parts facing on an alignment of 100° and consists of only two capstones sitting on 3 or 4 side slabs each side. Interestingly the western end is only about a metre wide and a metre high but the eastern end is much larger easily double the size of the closed west end. The south side is continuous while the northern side is stepped out

Cayra Levada

Trip No.203  Entry No.98  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 21st May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Just beside a little road northwest of Belvès but fenced in a garden and becoming overgrown this 1.5 metre high dolmen had several polished axes found within it. There’s a raised capstone on a couple of supports but its difficult to make out much more.

While sitting making notes here I got overrun and attacked by a lot of vicious little ants and am still paying the price for sitting down carelessly 12 hours later. Bastards !

Bonarme polissoirs

Trip No.203  Entry No.97  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Polissoir Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 21st May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Further into the forest from the Bonarme dolmen are two polissoir stones dated to about 3000 BC which can also be found by following the marked and signposted forest walk for a kilometre or so. It’s a nice little spot on a hillside with an ancient spring below and some hut circles above. While I was there it was very humid and buzzing with insects.

One of the two stones has about 6 grooves in it with a natural basin for holding water a necessity for the polishing action. The other stone is superb and has about 10 grooves and flat polishing areas on it all of different sizes and in different parts of the stone almost a complete toolkit. Unfortunately the end of the stone has been broken off which may have had more grooves. I was not the first person here to rub a bit of stone up and down in the grooves as some are still well polished.

Its quite moving sitting rubbing a stone up and down in a groove thinking people were doing exactly this thousands of years ago. There's a little signpost telling about the stones which reckons that the sort of polished axes found around here would have taken about 70 hours each to have polished properly into shape. Too much like hard work !

Bonarme Dolmen

Trip No.203  Entry No.96  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 21st May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: This was a pleasant find northwest of Belvès where there is a nicely arranged forest park area with a waymarked and signposted walk. The dolmen is still partially buried in its tumulus with remains of a stone circle or perhaps two still surviving around its outside. The capstone is about 3 m by 2.5 m and still covering a rectangular chamber which is completely dry which can be seen down below the level of the surrounding ground.

It has been dated to 3000 BC and the capstone has several markings in the top of it which are probably natural and caused by freezing and thawing action. However there is a legend surrounding the dolmen about the marks in the top being the imprints of cows feet on the stone. To me a couple at the north end could well have been cows feet but at the other end of the capstone there are most definitely two imprints of a giant’s feet.

Pierre du Diable (Vitrac)

Trip No.203  Entry No.93  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 20th May 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: What I found here was a tiny little dolmen right beside the road which is being incorporated into a garden wall a few kilometres south of Sarlat-le-Caneda on top of a hill towards Vitrac. The capstone is not 2 metres by 2 metres and sits on a couple of stones both less than a foot in size. Its probable that there was more to this dolmen which is now under some trees and in the garden wall.

Puy de Bon Temps Dolmen

Trip No.203  Entry No.91  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 20th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: This dolmen can be found about a kilometre walk up a forest track from the D68 between Ajat and Cubjac just north of where it passes under the new motorway and opposite a quarry entrance. It is just about signposted from the road but they are very easy to miss and when the track gets to the top of the hill you need to turn left and then left again.

The dolmen is all a bit of a jumble with many of the stones fallen and broken but the main part of the capstone about 3 by 2 metres in size is still there in position although held up by what I can only assume are roof timbers from some old building.

Just beside the dolmen is one of the cute little drystone beehive shelters (Gariotte?) that they have round here (and you can buy guide books and coffee table picture books of). Its in excellent condition with a terrific roof all covered in moss. I assume its been made using stone from the cairn for the dolmen although there is no shortage of stone round here.

Grotte de Lascaux 2

Trip No.203  Entry No.90  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 20th May 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: It’s obviously not the same as seeing the real thing but this copy of the two main chambers of Lascaux cave (which contains 90% of all the paintings) is pretty impressive. OK so it’s a concrete corridor built on the site of an old quarry a couple of hundred metres down hill from the real Lascaux but they tell you that it is nowhere more than 5 millimetres in error from the real thing and at least you can get to see it. It took about 20 years to build and the paintings were recreated using the same methods and materials as the ancient people estimated to have been 17000 years ago.

In the first room with a rounded ceiling there are four massive bulls one being 5.5 metres long and also lots of horses cows and some exquisite reindeer. Three colours are used here red black and yellow and the whole thing is quite magnificent. There is also a frieze on one of the walls with 4 or 5 large horses painted on it with the legs of each all in different positions which when seen one after the other make a perfect representation of a horse galloping across the room. There is also a weird animal at the entrance end of the chamber which seems to consist of the head of a lion the body of a bison and horse and the aft legs of a human and with a couple of long horns and strange markings.

The second chamber is more like a corridor with paintings along both sides. There are lots of little horses following one another with a big brown cow jumping over them. On the other side is a scene where there are several bulls painted one on top of the other which gives the impression o a large herd. Further toward the end of the chamber is a jumping horse and at the bottom of the chamber a fallen horse on its back legs in the air.

As with many of the other caves with paintings or engravings in them the artists have used the natural shapes of the rocks upon which to base their animals. They also have several animals merging into each other and using the same lines for more than one animal. And every animal in Lascaux is depicted in motion none are stationary. There are also lots of strange markings which are referred to as “enigmatic symbols” which again seem to appear in all the painted caves. Fantastic.

Grotte de Lascaux

Trip No.203  Entry No.89  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 20th May 2005

Log Text: This world famous cave has not been opened for visitors since about 1962 after the paintings had started to seriously deteriorate. It was found in September 1940 by two boys out walking their dog which fell down a hole underneath the roots of a freshly uprooted tree. It is now fenced off and not even opened up to specialist groups since 2001. The fence of course has its UNESCO World Heritage site plaque proudly on display.

Source de la Madeleine

Trip No.203  Entry No.87  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 20th May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: On a cliff face on the west side of the river Vézère near the village of Tursac is the Troglodytic village which has been inhabited since 50000 years ago and gave its name to an epoch the Madeleinian which was about 12000 years ago. What you mostly see now for your visit money is medieval with several cliff houses built into the terrace on the cliff. There is also a couple of chapels and a gatehouse which guards over where there was a sort of drop bridge which nowadays has a permanent footpath over it. Above the whole lot is the remains of a 12th century castle.

At the centre of the village near a sort of village square is a strange spring which only flows in times of great drought due to some sort of capillary action and the last time in which it flowed was summer 2001. This very strange effect has given the place a sort of magic throughout the millennia.

A bit further along the cliff and down at the base is the original abri shelter within which all the important prehistoric finds were made including the carved bison and the first harpoons.

Village de la Madeleine

Trip No.203  Entry No.86  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 20th May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: On a cliff face on the west side of the river Vézère near the village of Tursac is the Troglodytic village which has been inhabited since 50000 years ago and gave its name to an epoch the Madeleinian which was about 12000 years ago.

What you mostly see now for your visit money is medieval with several cliff houses built into the terrace on the cliff. There is also a couple of chapels and a gatehouse which guards over where there was a sort of drop bridge which nowadays has a permanent footpath over it. Above the whole lot is the remains of a 12th century castle. At the centre of the village near a sort of village square is a strange spring which only flows in times of great drought due to some sort of capillary action and the last time in which it flowed was summer 2001. This very strange effect has given the place a sort of magic throughout the millennia.

A bit further along the cliff and down at the base is the original abri shelter within which all the important prehistoric finds were made including the carved bison and the first harpoons.

Abri de la Madeleine

Trip No.203  Entry No.85  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 20th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 2

Log Text: You don’t actually really get to see the Abri de la Madeleine where all the prehistoric finds were made which gave their name to an epoch including the carved bison and the first harpoons. I guess to see this best you would need to canoe down the river but you can see the overhang and bits of it from the village and there is some display material in the visitor centre.

Abri de Lartet

Trip No.203  Entry No.84  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 19th May 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: This cliff shelter was discovered by Lartet in 1863 and is classed as a National Historic Monument. Its just a few metres up the valley side from its more famous neighbour Abri du Poisson.

Abri de Cro-Magnon

Trip No.203  Entry No.82  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 19th May 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Up a little track to the side of the Cro-Magnon hotel along the road to the railway station can be found this sad little UNESCO World Heritage site where the Cro-Magnon man was discovered in 1868 by Francois Berthoumeyron as they were clearing the way for the road to the railway station.

Despite all the hustle and bustle in Les Eyzies and all the attractions crying out for your visit this place does not even have a signpost. Its nothing much to see just a little rock shelter in the cliff face shaded by a couple of large chestnut trees with a little walled and fenced area around it. It looks a bit like a large garden feature or something from a cemetery tucked round the back and almost forgotten.

Once you have found it there is a sign in fact two the official UNESCO World Heritage site plate and a little plaque commemorating the discovery. I am surprised it is not a bit of a pilgrimage site like so many others around here in this village which thrives on its reputation as the home of Cro-Magnon man.

Abri du Poisson

Trip No.203  Entry No.83  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 19th May 2005. My rating: Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Located in an open garden type area where there is a gap in the cliff face at the bottom of the Gorge D’Enfer on the south west side of the road out of Les Eyzies towards Périgueux about 1 kilometre after the bridge over the river and before Laugerie Basse. These days the abri is walled up and locked shut to enable people to pay to see inside and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Apart from the traffic going past this is a nice quiet little place with a stream coming out from the cliff nearby and trickling down towards the river.

A typical little Abri at the bottom of the cliffs it was discovered in about 1912 that there is a life sized carving of a salmon on the ceiling. It has been dated to about 25000 years ago and is the oldest known representation of a fish in the world and one of only 10 known in cave art anywhere. It is thought that the ceiling was once completely painted over due to pigment found in cracks in the rocks and there is also a handprint part of a horse and some strange symbols to be seen.

Dolmen de la Faille

Trip No.203  Entry No.80  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 19th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: An out of the way dolmen a kilometre or so to the west of the village of Rouffignac along the D6 then just south along a lane by the rubbish dump. It’s on a slope in a fenced off field not far from the lane and can be seen from there. There is a brown capstone sitting on a few support stones becoming enclosed by trees.

Grotte de Rouffignac

Trip No.203  Entry No.79  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 19th May 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: This is a strange cave its all very bare and rectangular and seems more like a stone mine than a natural cave although it is completely natural and of which there are 10 kilometres of passage. The guided visit takes place in little electric trains which take you a kilometre underground. There are no stalagmites or stalactites to be seen anywhere but lots and lots of graffiti through the ages as this has always been an easy to access cave.

Of the prehistoric graffiti dated to about 13000 years ago we first see a couple of mammoths engraved into the soft side walls on the left and then some more on the right. The train then moves on to where there are some painted rhinoceros before getting to the frieze of many mammoths walking one behind the other just as elephants do perhaps even holding tails in trunks. The bottom part of the picture has become a bit obscured with calcitic build up but the heads and bodies are fantastic.

Then its back out of that passage and down deeper into the cave where there is a large chamber with a massive flat ceiling absolutely covered in the most magnificent animal paintings. There are horses goats deer reindeer cows bison rhinoceros and of course mammoths. Its not the prettiest cave I have seen recently and I think the train ride spoils the atmosphere a bit so I cant give it full marks for ambience but if you like seeing these ancient paintings then it is a must.

Musée National de Préhistoire

Trip No.203  Entry No.78  Date Added: 6th Apr 2020
Site Type: Museum Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 19th May 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Access 4

Log Text: Recently completely rebuilt this is one of the must sees of the area. There are loads and loads of tools and lots of videos of people making and using them. On the second floor there are some nice finds and again more tools. I thought that there were too many tools on display and not enough other things it seemed to be an ancient tool museum rather than a complete prehistory museum but then again I guess that they are all we have to see. But there's nothing much from the bronze age onwards nothing at all concerning megalithic structures which was a bit of a shame. There was however one representation of a very early burial found nearby where the body of a girl was found in what it called a “proto-dolmen” where the body was placed in a stone lined cist and covered by two large stones.

I have to admit I was expecting better such as more artwork statuettes explanation of how the paintings were done etc but it was an enjoyable couple of hours before it shut for lunch. I did however buy myself a little replica of the Dame de Brassempouy a 25000 year old babe to keep me company on my travels round these ancient sites.