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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Guinirvit covered driveway, also known as the Kernic driveway, is a megalithic site located on the shores of Kernic's Lanse in Plouescat (Finistry). This monument, dated from the final Neolithic, consists of two parallel alleys measuring about 10 meters long, today deprived of their covering slabs. It is partially submerged during the high tides and has suffered from marine erosion as well as subsequent re-uses (gateway, mooring of boats). A massive bedside slab of more than 4 tons marks the end of the master bedroom, extended by a triangular cella.

The first descriptions of the site date back to 1896, when Paul du Châtellier observed a "large megalithic monument" composed of three rows of stones, partially sanded. In 1912, Alfred Devoir interpreted the site as a gallery dolmen with accompanying rooms, accompanied by a support cromlech. The plans drawn up around 1920 by Commander Morel reveal disparities between the north and south, possibly due to sluggishness or choice of representation. Pierre-Roland Giot was awarded the title of historical monuments in 1960, after a request in 1957.

Two excavation campaigns, led by Yannick Lecerf in 1983 and 1984, partially restored the site and collected abundant archaeological furniture despite erosion. Exhumed artifacts include flint tools (gratters, aileron arrow tips), comb-decorated ceramic teasses ( Seine-Oise-Marne and campaniform) and a fibrolith pendant. An average of 0.75 m deep calving pits and coarse quartz and granite paving were also discovered. A subsequent pen, made up of two ditches in the northeast, suggests post-construction developments.

The site illustrates the conservation challenges of coastal monuments, subject to both natural hazards (erosion, tides) and human intervention (reuse of stones, port facilities). Its classification in 1960 and the excavations of the 1980s allowed to document its complex architecture, including an incomplete peristalith and auxiliary chambers, while stressing its role in funeral and ritual practices of the final Neolithic in Brittany.

The covered driveway of Plouescat is part of a rich megalithic Breton landscape, marked by alignments, dolmens and menhirs. Its coastal location makes it a privileged witness to changes in the sea level for 5,000 years, as evidenced by associated geomorphological studies. Ceramic and lithic discoveries confirm links with extensive cultural networks, including campaniform cultures and Seine-Oise-Marne, characteristic of the late Neolithic and Chalcolithic.

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