Timeline

Origin and history

The Dolmen de la Palein, located in Saint-Cernin-de-Larche en Corrèze (New Aquitaine), is a megalithic monument dated to the Chalcolithic. This type of funeral construction, characteristic of prehistory, reflects the ritual and social practices of late or protohistoric neolithic communities in the region. Its listing in the inventory of Historic Monuments by order of 4 March 1988 underlines its heritage importance, although its exact location remains approximate (accuracy estimated at 6/10 depending on the sources).

Dolmens, such as that of the Palein (sometimes called dolmen de la Chassagne in administrative documents), were generally used as collective burials. Their construction reflects a complex social organization, capable of mobilizing resources to build permanent stone structures. In the Limousin, these monuments are part of a landscape marked by the infancy of agriculture and livestock, central activities of the people of the period. Their preservation now allows us to study the cultural transitions between the Neolithic and the Age of Metals.

The site is referenced in the base Mérimée under the code Insee 19191, associated with the commune of Saint-Cernin-de-Larche. The GPS coordinates available offer an approximate location, and no practical information on visits or accessibility is mentioned in the sources consulted. The photograph of the monument, licensed under Creative Commons (credit: Pymuss), illustrates its current state, but no architectural details or recent archaeological excavation are documented in the accessible data.

External links