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Origin and history

The Menhir de la Léque, also known as "Pierre Plantée" or "Peyrefiche", is an emblematic monument of megalithism in the Gard. Located 300 m above sea level near the hamlet of La Léque, on the town of Lussan, it overlooks the ravine of Merderis. Cut in a local limestone extracted from a nearby quarry, this block of 5.50 m high, 1.60 m wide and 0.60 m thick is distinguished by its carefully hammered fusiform shape, a rarity for the menhirs of the department, usually left raw. Its face is present with a pricked circular range, visible under razing light, while swings at its base testify to an aborted cutting attempt.

Ranked as historical monuments by order of 12 December 1910, the Menhir de la Léque aroused particular interest from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, becoming one of the most documented megalithic sites of the Gard. Its east/west orientation and geometric regularity, combined with modern engraved inscriptions, make it a subject of study for archaeologists, as evidenced by the works of Luc Jallot or A. Lombard-Dumas. The property of the menhir is now owned by the municipality of Lussan, in the department of Gard in Occitanie region.

The menhir illustrates the funerary and symbolic practices of the Chalcolithic (Copper's Age, ca. 2500–1800 B.C.), the pivotal period between the Neolithic and Bronze ages. In the south of France, these monuments often marked places of assembly, territorial borders or traffic routes, while playing a role in beliefs related to fertility or ancestors. Their erection required a complex collective organization, reflecting a sedentary and hierarchical society, capable of mobilizing human and technical resources to extract, transport and build blocks of several tons.

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