Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Dolmens de Changefège (or Chamgefège) form a megalithic complex located on the Causse de Changefège, near the hamlet of the same name, in Balsièges en Lozère. These funerary monuments, dated from Neolithic, were searched at the end of the 19th century by M. de Vibraye and Emile de More. Local tradition referred to them as giants, such as Baoumo des Geons ("Gigant Cave") or Teoulo de la Geonto ("Gigant Tile"), reflecting their mythical dimension in collective memory.

The dolmens have various architectures: some have sewn corridors with trapezoidal or rectangular chambers, up to 4.85 m long, while others, such as double dolmen, have two successive chambers. Their tumulus, initially circular (up to 15 m in diameter), were partially deformed by agricultural spies. The found archaeological material — crude pottery vases, flint blades and bone beads — attests to their sepulchral function and ritual use.

Ranked as historical monuments by 1889, these dolmens are spread over less than 80 m, with cover tables sometimes displaced or cracked. Their strategic location, overlooking the Lot Valley, suggests a deliberate choice to mark the landscape and serve as a visible landmark from the surrounding area. Their preservation, despite the alterations, offers a rare testimony of neolithic funeral practices in Occitanie.

The 19th-century excavations, though partial, documented these structures before their progressive degradation. The names of the searchers, M. de Vibraye and Emile de More, remain associated with these first investigations, while the local legends recall the mysterious aura of these erect stones, perceived as remains of an era when the giants still populated the collective imagination.

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