Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The alignments of the Justice Camp, located near Autun in the former commune of Saint-Pantaléon (Saône-et-Loire), were identified in 1872 as a neolithic station rich in carved flint and fossilized wood. In 1882 Jean Rigollot, seeking silicified wood, discovered non-local stone blocks and made them straight with a subsidy from the General Council. The owner of the land, Mr. Parise, demanded that they be rehabilitated in order to resume the cultures, triggering a judicial conflict.

On 8 December 1885, Rigollot was condemned to re-infiltrate the stones (except those of the hedge) after the failure of the negotiations to redeem the land. Despite this, three menhirs were classified as historical monuments on 19 November 1921. The 1882 readings by Ernest Chantre and the photographs of Rigollot reveal a dispersal over 200 m, without formal evidence of a structured alignment. The 30 original blocks (26 granite, 4 sandstone) suggest a local origin for sandstone, but granite comes from a 6 km deposit.

The absence of settling pits (except for Menhir No. 2) and the dispersion of stones fuel doubts about their intentional megalithic character. In 1907, the prehistoric congress of France used Chantre's documents to study the site. In 1976, J. Joly recognized the blocks as menhirs but challenged the idea of an alignment, highlighting the persistent archaeological uncertainty.

Today, only five menhirs remain, witnesses to a poorly documented human intervention. The site illustrates the tensions between heritage preservation and agricultural activities in the 19th century, as well as the limitations of archaeological reconstructions based on fragmentary sources. Its classification protects three stones, symbols of a neolithic past still enigmatic.

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