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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Curton Dolmen, located in Jugazan, Gironde, is a covered aquitaine-type driveway, west-northwest/east-southeast. It is 7.55 metres long and is bounded by orthostats and a bedside slab decorated with engravings (solar circles, horse iron motifs). These symbols, common in European megaliths, suggest a ritual or astronomical function. The ground, consisting of the bedrock, supports a single cover table still in place.

The history of the monument is marked by destruction and excavations. Around 1850, the first north orthostats disappeared. In 1904, Abbé Labrie discovered bones (eight individuals) and funerary furniture (pendeloque, flint tools, pottery, Gallo-Roman vases). An underground search took place around 1975. The dolmen was listed as a historical monument in 1995, protecting one of the rare girondin megaliths with an intact table and a preserved tumulus.

Labrie's excavations reveal collective funeral practices: six skeletons two by two, accompanied by bone objects, shells and polished flint. Two Gallo-Roman vases, found in the west, show further reuse of the site. Part of the furniture, including tesses and an axe, is preserved at the Museum of Aquitaine. The engravings of the bedside slab, although eroded, offer a rare example of regional megalithic art.

Architecturally, covered gangway is between 0.75 and 1.35 metres wide, with side slabs from 0.90 to 1.70 metres long. The height varies from 0.30 metres at entrance to 1.30 metres at bedside. The remaining cover table (2.50 x 2.10 metres) rests on three pillars. This monument, built directly on the rock, illustrates neolithic construction techniques and their adaptation to the terrain.

Curton's dolmen is part of a network of Aquitaine megalithic sites, characterized by covered aisles and recurring engraved motifs. Its protection in 1995 underscores its heritage importance, despite the damage suffered. The studies by Devignes (1995) and Beyneix (2009) cite him as a notable example of girondin megalithism, rare in an area where these monuments are few.

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