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Peyro-Hitto
Date Added: 26th Oct 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Midi:Haute-Garonne (31))
Visited: Couldn't find on 9th Sep 2005
Log Text: Drive north up the Garonne to St Gaudens. Its still not too late so I head on, and decide to head for St Girons. I miss a turn and end up in St Martory, I think there's a stone here. Having spent ages trying to park, I wasn't thinking straight because it was getting late and I had a fairly long way to travel.
No mention of it on the village maps, and I didn’t read my notes first, and thought it to be near the bridge, but found nothing. I didn’t think of looking at the obvious place by church, where it supposedly is.
It is a nice old bridge though.
Sarrat de Cousseillot Cromlechs
Trip No.205 Entry No.66 Date Added: 26th Oct 2020
Site Type: Stone Circle
Country: France (Midi:Haute-Garonne (31))
Visited: Yes on 9th Sep 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 5 Access 3
Sarrat de Cousseillot Cromlechs submitted by ocdolmen on 5th Aug 2009. Site in Midi: Haute-Garonne (31) France: Larboust site near Benqué village.
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Log Text: The first cromlechs I arrive at are about 200 metres from the track, and signposted down a little footpath past some sheep pens at 1345 metres altitude. I saw 4 cairn circles up here, plus perhaps one large open circle. At first I thought I had seen a big open circle, but I am not completely sure. If it is one, it is made of natural rocks pushed into position, with a diameter of about 40 metres, and the stones 8 to 10 metres apart. I will look at this more later.
Just beyond the first fence is a group of 4 cromlechs on the ridgetop. The uppermost is diameter 6 metres and a nicely formed circle using a couple of large natural rocks. There are 19 tightly packed stones around the circumference, and the ground level is substantially higher within. The next nearest cromlech is a small circle 2.5 metres in diameter, with 12 stones around the circumference, and again the ground level is higher within than outside. This is right adjacent to the third cromlech, again 6 metres in diameter and there are 17 visible stones surrounding slightly higher ground within. In the centre of this ring are a few stones which probably once made up a burial cist. One or two of the stones in this circle are quite large, up to 1 metre high.
The fourth cromlech, a bit further down the hillside, is a bit ruinous. 5 metres in diameter, the upper half is well defined, but the lower half is just big natural rocks and a few packing stones. There are 18 stones still to be seen making up this circle, and again a possible burial cist in the middle.
Musée Fenaille
Trip No.203 Entry No.183 Date Added: 19th Apr 2020
Site Type: Museum
Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 29th May 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 5 Access 5
Musée Fenaille submitted by thecaptain on 4th Jul 2005. The Fenaille museum in Rodez, Aveyron, which has the most wonderful collection of statue menhirs from the region.
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Log Text: This magnificent museum is found in the old city of Rodez, inside a beautiful old building which is as much part of the museum as all the collections of items within it. The museum is perhaps best known for its superb collection of statue menhirs, extremely well presented on the top floor, but there is much more besides.
Genévrier Dolmen
Trip No.203 Entry No.153 Date Added: 16th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 26th May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 4
Genévrier dolmen submitted by thecaptain on 4th Jul 2005. Genévrier dolmen 1, Salles-la-Source, Aveyron.
The village community of Salles-la-Source, is known to have 66 burial mounds and dolmens within its boundary. There are probably more, which makes it the richest parish in the whole of France.
But most of them are not much more than piles of stone with a chamber inside, like this one.
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Log Text: Up on the causse above Salles-la-Sources are supposed to be 66 dolmens. There is supposed to be a dolmen trail with map and information available. But I found no such thing. I couldn’t even buy a 1:25000 map of the area (which is notably right on the corner of four. But there is a lovely cascade down over a cliff edge, with a splendid pool at the bottom, and caves going back into the rock. Theres lots of that calcitic stuff that you get like those falls in Croatia. I spent quite some time here in the shade, watching the swallows building and feeding young on the cliffs.
There is a signpost towards this dolmen, but when you get nearby, there are no more signs. I found a mound nearby the road which was larger than most of the other multitudes of mounds round here, so stopped for a look. The mound is probably about 25 metres in diameter, and up to 4 metres high. There is the remains of a chamber in the centre, about 5 metres in length, 1.5 metres wide, with a nice capstone in place. it opens to the east at 085°.
Buzareingues dolmen 2
Trip No.203 Entry No.169 Date Added: 16th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 26th May 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4
Buzareingues dolmen 2 submitted by thecaptain on 28th Nov 2005. Buzareingues 2 dolmen, these days not much more than a broken capstone.
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Log Text: This dolmen is a wreck, just really the broken remains of a capstone, although the remains of one of the side slabs can be made out. As with its much better condition neighbour, it aligns towards the east, facing directly to a significant hill, the Puech de las Fadès, with a cliff face and what looks to be a shaped top.
Buzareingues Dolmen 1
Trip No.203 Entry No.168 Date Added: 16th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 26th May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4
Buzareingues dolmen 1 submitted by thecaptain on 28th Nov 2005. Buzareingues 1 dolmen is a nice little thing, still almost completely contained within its mound.
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Log Text: This is a lovely little dolmen sitting on top of a nice little mound, which is still a couple of metres high, but which is not much larger than the by now standard chamber 4 metres long, 1.8 metres wide, facing 104°. It aligns directly to a significant hill, the Puech de las Fadès, which has a significant cliff face and what looks to be a shaped top, to which many legends are attached. It is quite easily found, and signposted, but there isnt anywhere to park a camper van without obstructing the track, so I was in a bit of a hurry here.
Puech de las Fadès
Trip No.203 Entry No.170 Date Added: 16th Apr 2020
Site Type: Hillfort
Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Saw from a distance on 26th May 2005
Puech de las Fadès submitted by thecaptain on 29th Nov 2005. Puech de las Fadès, or Hill of the Fairies in the local Occitain language.
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Log Text: A significant hill of the region, which at the top has some significant cliff faces, making it an obvious place for a defended settlement in ancient times. Puech de las Fadès means Hill of the Fairies in the local Occitain language, and many stories and legends abound about the fairies who live on the hill, who are said to have built the nearby Buzareingues and Galitorte dolmens.
Galitorte Dolmen
Trip No.203 Entry No.167 Date Added: 16th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 26th May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 5
Galitorte dolmen submitted by thecaptain on 26th Nov 2005. Perhaps importantly, the chamber opening frames perfectly a significant hill on the horizon.
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Log Text: This one is a nice find in the evening sun towards the end of a long and mostly fruitless day, and is signposted from several places around.
The dolmen stands proud on the eastern end of a long oval mound, its chamber made with two enormous side slabs each 4 metres long by 2 metres high. The capstone sits nicely on top, but is not as long as the chamber below, which faces east with a bearing of 102°. Perhaps more importantly than the bearing is that the opening frames perfectly a significant hill on the horizon.
After taking the picture from within the chamber, I nearly knocked myself out by quickly standing up inside. I can report that the capstone gives a nice ringing clang when hit in this manner, and I had to sit down to recover for several minutes afterwards, before I could walk back to the van !
Dolmen de Combets 1
Trip No.203 Entry No.179 Date Added: 19th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 27th May 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4
Dolmen de Combets 1 submitted by thecaptain on 19th Dec 2005. In a field just to the southwest of St Michel-de-Larzac in Aveyron, can be found the remains of this dolmen, which arent much these days.
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Log Text: Too windy to write anything as I visited this one, it was blowing my book and everything away, so only small notes !. There is not much left of this dolmen, just a single large sideslab and one end stone. There is no sign of any capstone remaining, and its mound has been well eaten into with ploughing. There are the remains of many other mounds to be seen nearby.
Dolmen de Combets 2
Trip No.203 Entry No.178 Date Added: 19th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 27th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4
Dolmen de Combets 2 submitted by thecaptain on 19th Dec 2005. In a field just to the southwest of St Michel-de-Larzac in Aveyron, can be found this dolmen with a chamber 4 metres long by 1.8 metres wide.
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Log Text: In a field just to the southwest of St Michel-de-Larzac can be found this dolmen with a chamber 4 metres long by 1.8 metres wide. There is not much sign of a mound, but the chamber floor is below ground level of the field surrounding it. It is still enclosed on all four sides, and faces towards east at 100°. The capstone is broken, with a further two metres of stone a bit to the west, which would have made a 5.5 by 2.5 metre capstone originally.
Its very blowy up on this high plateau this afternoon, on the way with Ellie to go and cross the Millau viaduct, otherwise known as "the bridge in the sky".
Tiergues Dolmen
Trip No.203 Entry No.180 Date Added: 19th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 28th May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 5
Tiergues Dolmen submitted by thecaptain on 18th Dec 2005. The lovely Dolmen de Tiergues, in its splendid Aveyron scenery.
This is the southern side view, with strange linear markings on the sideslab.
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Log Text: Near to the village of Tiergues, in Aveyron, this is a lovely dolmen, as used in postcards and much Aveyron tourist publicity. It is not far from the D.250 road and signposted from the main D.992 road nearby.
The dolmen is 4 metres long, and 2 metres in both height and width, it has two good long side slabs, with a broken and falling back stone. On top of these there is a good capstone, which is very level, covering a chamber which opens to the northeast at 065°.
While posing for a picture here, the dolmen bit me, as I stood up and hit my head on the capstone, which overhangs the sidestones at the front quite considerably. There are meagre remains of a mound, and a few other large bits of stone surround it.
La Baraque Dolmen
Trip No.203 Entry No.182 Date Added: 19th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 28th May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4
La Baraque dolmen submitted by thecaptain on 19th Dec 2005. This is a nice little dolmen still well contained within its mound which can be found about 150 metres down the footpath to the north of the road to Baraque Farm
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Log Text: This is a nice little dolmen still well contained within its mound which can be found about 150 metres down the footpath to the north of the road to Baraque Farm / Gite about 150 metres before you reach it. The chamber is only about 2 metres in length, 1 metre wide and 1 metre high, much smaller than a lot round here, but it is very neat, and has a little information sign.
Dolmen de Bel-Air 1
Trip No.203 Entry No.172 Date Added: 19th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Couldn't find on 27th May 2005
Dolmen de Bel-Air 1 submitted by thecaptain on 22nd Mar 2006. I saw no obvious signs of this one, but it is supposed to be a bit of a wreck with no capstone, under some trees the far side of a field beyond a little ravine.
Is that it under the trees to the right of centre ?
Dolmen de Bel-Air 1
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Log Text: No obvious signs of this one, but it is supposed to be a bit of a wreck with no capstone, under some trees the far side of a little ravine. I gave up fairly easily.
Dolmen de Bel-Air 2
Trip No.203 Entry No.171 Date Added: 19th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 27th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 3
Dolmen de Bel-Air 2 submitted by thecaptain on 22nd Mar 2006. This dolmen is in the middle of a field of barley, so I didn’t get right to it. It looks a bit of a mess, and not much more than an overgrown pile of stones.
Dolmen de Bel-Air 2
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Log Text: This dolmen is in the middle of a field of barley, so I didn’t get right to it. It looks a bit of a mess, and not much more than an overgrown bump in a field.
Sermels menhir
Trip No.203 Entry No.174 Date Added: 19th Apr 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 27th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5
Sermels menhir submitted by thecaptain on 22nd Mar 2006. This is a lovely menhir, 3 metres tall, right beside the D.2 road at the hamlet of Sermels, to the south of Séverac-le-Château in Aveyron.
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Log Text: I was not expecting this one as I drove past on the way west along the D.2 road. It is a lovely menhir, 3 metres tall, on the edge of a valley. There are some interesting holes in it.
Azinières Dolmen 1
Trip No.203 Entry No.177 Date Added: 19th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 27th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 2 Access 5
Azinières dolmen 1 submitted by thecaptain on 23rd Mar 2006. This little dolmen sits right beside the busy D.911 road a few kilometres to the north of Millau, continuously passed by masses of heavy lorries which I guess do not like to pay the toll charges for the new motorway.
There was once another one near here, destroyed when the road was made bigger.
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Log Text: This little 3 m by 2 m dolmen sits right beside the busy D.911 road a few kilometres to the north of Millau, continuously passed by masses of heavy lorries which I guess do not like to pay the toll charges for the new motorway. There was once another one here, destroyed when the road was made bigger.
Pèira Levada (La Glène)
Trip No.203 Entry No.175 Date Added: 19th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 27th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4
Pèira Levada (La Glène) submitted by thecaptain on 22nd Mar 2006. High up on the windswept, sunbaked plateau, not far from the D.911 road north of Millau, this is one heck of a big dolmen which has sadly collapsed on one side.
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Log Text: High up on the windswept, sunbaked plateau, not far from the D.911 road north of Millau, this is one heck of a big dolmen which has sadly collapsed on one side. The views to the southeast over the river Tarn are astonishing, with the new motorway snaking its way down the distant hillside adding some interest.
The giant capstone must be 6 metres by 4 metres, and was sitting on two 4 metre long by 2 metre high side slabs, the eastern of which has tipped inwards letting the capstone fall this side. Its backstone has broken, allowing this to happen. The chamber faces unusually south of southeast at 154° - most of the dolmens round here are pretty close to due east. The back has at some point been walled up for use as a shelter.
Its a pity about the dirty modern buildings and busy road nearby.
Dolmen du Devès des Gleyettes 1
Trip No.203 Entry No.190 Date Added: 20th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 30th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4
Dolmen du Devès des Gleyettes 1 submitted by thecaptain on 5th Jul 2005. Another nice dolmen, just a few hundred metres further round the signposted woodland walk north of Martiel.
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Log Text: A few more hundred metres round the signposted footpath is this dolmen with no name sign. Still in much of its long mound, the capstone is broken into three pieces, and partly fallen. The chamber is 3.5 metres long by 1.5 metres wide, and faces southeast at 125°.
Tombeau des Geants
Date Added: 29th Oct 2019
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 8th Jun 2007
Tombeau des Géants submitted by TheCaptain on 8th Jun 2007. The signboard near the site.
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Log Text: None
Menhirs de Lunac Alignement
Date Added: 29th Oct 2019
Site Type: Stone Row / Alignment
Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Yes on 12th Feb 2011
Menhirs de Lunac Alignement submitted by TheCaptain on 12th Feb 2011. Lunac alignement by Anthony Wier (Greywether).
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Log Text: None