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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Dolmen de la Pierre-Plate, also known as the Stone-Plate covered walkway, is a megalithic monument built in the Neolithic near Presles (Val-d'Oise), in the present Isle-Adam forest. Known since the Middle Ages, this collective burial was initially found in an agricultural landscape before being covered by the forest. Its typical architecture — a 10.90 m long room preceded by an antechamber — makes it a remarkable example of the covered alleys of Île-de-France. The local limestone and sandstone slabs originally supported five roof tables, three of which remain today.

The first scientific explorations took place in 1912-1913, followed by studies by Paul de Mortillet, Fouju and Bossavy, without extensive excavations. It was only in 1926 that Bernard Bottet undertook a complete search, revealing a hundred of the buried individuals, trepanous skulls (with traces of healing) and bones of animals (cerf, boar, beef). The monument, classified as a Historic Monument in 1932, was restored in 1970-1971. Its furniture — including 285 flints of flint — is preserved at the Musée départemental de Préhistoire d'Île-de-France.

The funerary chamber, paved and facing south-west/north-east, housed ash deposits and organized bones (long bone fagots, skull clusters), suggesting structured funeral rites. The antechamber, undalled, was filled with earth from Neolithic. The entrance slab, pierced with a rectangular opening, had a stick lock system and a cavity interpreted as a lamp receptacle. The excavations confirmed a prolonged reuse of the site, with intentional embankments and unintentionally introduced objects.

The study of traces of consolidated trepanations and fractures on skeletons reveals advanced medical practices for the period. The dolmen, built at an altitude of 85 m on a plateau, illustrates the importance of collective necropolises in neolithic societies, where monuments served as both a place of memory and a territorial marker. Its ranking and restoration in the 20th century now make it a key site for understanding megalithism in Île-de-France.

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