Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The covered road of the Bois-Couturier, discovered in 1915 by a farm worker in Guiry-en-Vexin (Val-d Oriented north-north-east/south-south-east, it is 8.50 m long and consists of a 7 m sepulchral chamber, covered with three limestone slabs, and an antechamber decorated with symbolic sculptures, including the so-called "destiny of the dead", characteristic of the sites of Seine-Oise-Marne culture. Its entrance, pierced by a circular "Soul Hole", was closed by a 158 kg stopper today kept at the departmental archaeological museum.

The excavations, interrupted between 1915 and 1919 due to weather conditions and World War I, were conducted by Romain Branchu (instructor), Léon Plancouard (archaeologist), and Adrien de Mortillet. They revealed about 200 mundane burials, flint tools, pottery, and a neolithic foyer in the antechamber. Ranked a Historic Monument in 1958, the driveway underwent degradation and clandestine excavations before its final restoration in 1973. Analyses at C14 date back to the late third millennium BC site, confirming its membership in the recent Neolithic.

The architecture of the monument illustrates megalithic construction techniques: cemented limestone slab walls, massive roof tables (up to 3.75 m long), and undalled ground. The antechamber, delimited by two carved orthostats, housed three complete skeletons and scattered bones of twenty individuals, including women, men and young adults. The skulls studied at the École des hautes études revealed an average size of 1.62 m for men and 1.54 m for women, providing insight into local neolithic populations.

The collected archaeological furniture includes flints (gratters, arrows), bone tools, and pottery coats, some of which are decorated. The inlet stopper, equipped with a ring for a wooden bar, is a replica — the original being exhibited at the Val-d'Oise Museum. The site, a departmental property, bears witness to the collective funeral practices and megalithic art of the Paris region, while having inspired contemporary works, such as the fiction "The adventures with my neighbour" (2023).

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