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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The covered road of Mélus, located in Ploubazlanec in the Côtes-d-Armor, is a megalithic monument dated from the recent Neolithic (3000–2500 BC). Oriented east-west, it is 14.50 m long for 1.70 m wide, with two rows of granite and microgranite orthostates supporting nine cover tables. Its lateral entrance, south side, and its structure make it a rare covered driveway with non-axial access in northern Brittany.

The site was searched in 1933 by G. Fournier, revealing a rich funerary furniture: cut flint (including two blades of the Grand-Pressigny), eight polished axes, seven whole vases and tenons. These artifacts, preserved at the Museum of National Antiquities, the Moscow Museum and the University of Rennes-I, attest to European cultural contacts. The monument, initially covered with a silt tart today eroded, was linked to the Neolithic community of the nearby promontory of Roc.

Ranked a historic monument on June 6, 1951, the covered road of Mélus benefited from a development in the 1990s, with a signpost and an interpretation panel. Its name could derive from Breton mell (tas, sheaves), evoking the accumulation of stones or the form of the original terre. The site, long accessible by a private road, illustrates the collective funeral architecture of the Breton Neolithic.

The objects discovered, such as the campaniform cups and the polished axes, underline its role in a network of exchanges covering Western Europe. The presence of flint from Grand-Pressigny (Touraine) confirms these distant connections. Today, the monument dominates the Trieux estuary, offering a tangible testimony to the funeral and social practices of Breton Neolithic communities.

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