Construction of tumulus Âge du bronze (≈ 1500 av. J.-C.)
Estimated period of its construction.
25 janvier 1972
Registration for Historic Monuments
Registration for Historic Monuments 25 janvier 1972 (≈ 1972)
Official site protection.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Heritage classified
Tumulus (Case ZZ 57): entry by order of 25 January 1972
Key figures
Information non disponible - No historical character cited
Sources do not mention any related actors.
Origin and history
The tumulus of Plogonnec is an artificial funeral monument built during the Bronze Age. Like most tumulus, it presents itself in the form of a terre of earth and stones, erected to cover and protect one or more burials. These structures, frequent in Brittany, bear witness to the funeral practices of prehistoric societies, where megalithic architecture played a central role in the cult of the dead. Their shape, often circular, could also adopt various geometric contours, depending on local techniques and traditions.
The tumulus were designed to permanently mark the landscape, serving as both a tomb and a collective symbol. Their construction reflected a social organization capable of mobilizing significant resources, as evidenced by some monuments disproportionate to the size of the graves they housed. In Plogonnec, this tumulus is part of a broader tradition, present on all continents, where these funeral buildings have evolved according to cultures and times. In Europe, their development in Neolithic continued during the Bronze Age, as confirmed by the dating of this Breton site.
Over the centuries, tumulus has often suffered degradation, whether through looting, reuse of materials (stones for construction, land for agriculture), or destruction related to human activities. Plogonnec, which was registered with the Historical Monuments in 1972, was preserved enough to be studied and protected. Its official inscription underlines its heritage importance, both for archaeology and for the understanding of bronze age societies in Brittany.
The location of the tumulus, near the road from Quimper to Plogonnec (Finister), makes it an accessible vestige of prehistoric funeral practices. These monuments, although often discreet today, were at the origin of visible landmarks in the landscape, playing a role both practical (protection of the deceased) and symbolic (collective memory). Their study partially reconstructs the beliefs and organization of the communities that built them, although many questions remain in the absence of exhaustive searches.
