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Origin and history

The covered lane of La Roche aux Fées, also called La Petite Bernais or La Gentière, is a megalithic monument located on the north side of a hill of Plénée-Jugon, in the Côtes-d-Armor (Bretagne). Climbing at 135 metres above sea level, it measures 14.80 metres in length, ranging in width from 1.20 to 1.56 metres. Originally composed of thirty-five blocks (local quartz sandstone and red shale), it now has five blanket tables, fourteen orthostats (eight to the west, six to the east) and one bedside slab. Its orthostats, inclined to the inside, delimit a funeral chamber characteristic of the covered aisles.

The monument was searched in 1875 by the North Coast Archaeological Society, but no account of these excavations is available today. Ranked as historical monuments since 26 August 1970, it now belongs to the commune of Plénée-Jugon. Its present state does not allow to date its construction precisely, although its architecture and materials suggest a neolithic origin, typical of the collective burials of this period in Brittany.

The absence of detailed sources on its history limits the understanding of its exact use and its social context. Like most of the Breton covered aisles, this monument was to serve as a collective grave, reflecting funeral practices and the beliefs of local neolithic communities. Its elevation, which dominates the landscape, may indicate a desire for visibility or a link with geographical or symbolic landmarks, although this hypothesis remains unconfirmed by the available texts.

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