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Origin and history

La Cham des Bondons is a 10 km2 limestone plateau located southwest of Mount Lozère, in the Cevennes National Park (Lozère, Occitanie). Its name derives from the " plateau" and the neighbouring municipality of Bondons. This remarkable geological site is home to two Jurassic control mounds, the Puechs of Allegre and Mariette, made up of fossilized black marnes protected by dolomitic limestone. A local legend attributes their formation to Gargantua, whose hooves would have fertilized the earth by derotating. To the south, a flaw created the Even of Malaval, giving access to a cave explored since the 1950's, famous for its daragonite concretions.

The plateau concentrates 154 menhirs in granite, divided into groups (Fage, Veissière, Colobrières, etc.) or isolated, on a limestone base. These fusiform monoliths, often ogival, have been extracted from local quarries such as Fontpadelle, where slabs ready for transport are still visible. Their erection dates back to an indefinite period, but their modern rediscovery began in the 1940s with Dr. Charles Morel, who inventoried 120. In the 1980s-1990s, the DRAC Occitanie and the Parc des Cevennes straightened many lying menhirs, such as the Pierre des Trois Parosses (5 m originally), marking the limit of three communes.

Menhirs are organized into seven main groups, some of which are aligned (e.g. Menhirs de Chabusse, south-east/north-west axis). The Veissière group is home to the largest (up to 5 m), while the Colobrières group includes a 4.10 m monolith weighing 7 tonnes. Twenty-three menhirs have been listed as historical monuments since 1941, following the work of Morel and Gilbert Fages (service of Antiquities of Lozère). A stele near Fontpadelle commemorates two teachers who died in 1941, carved in a block of granite similar to menhirs.

The site illustrates a complex transport of granite from quarries (800–1 200 m above sea level) to limestone areas, with traces of size and flow. Menhirs, often associated with tumuli or dolmens (as in Combes), suggest a funeral and ritual occupation from the Iron Age. Their standardized form (conical sumlets, polished edges) and concentration make it a unique set, studied for its connection to the Carnac alignments.

The Malaval Cave, known since the 8th century but scientifically explored from 1950 by Jacques Rouire (BRGM), reveals galleries decorated with dragonweed. The plateau, partially reforested, masks some menhirs, while marked trails (such as the Menhir trail) allow their discovery. The site remains a major testimony of Cevenol megalithism, integrated with a karst and legendary landscape.

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