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Origin and history

The Dolmen de Nelhouët is a dolmen-style megalithic monument located in the municipality of Caudan, Morbihan. Discovered and searched in 1898 by A. Martin, it consists of a 3.90 m long corridor leading to a circular chamber of 4.80 m in diameter, bounded by twelve orthostates (vertical stones) reaching up to 2 m in height. The site, which is now partially buried under re-membering debris, has delivered modest archaeological remains: ceramics, a shale archer armband, and flint tools. No covering slabs were identified suggesting an original open or degraded structure.

The excavations of 1898 revealed three distinct vases, one with a round bottom in polished red-brown paste, and another in coarse black paste with campaniform decorations (rays). These artifacts, associated with coals, attest to a human occupation in Neolithic, a period when dolmens served as collective burials. The monument, which was listed as a historic monument in 1978, illustrates the Armenian funeral architecture, marked by the use of local micaschist and a symbolic orientation towards the southeast.

The Nelhouët dolmen is distinguished by its circular plan, rare in the region, and by the reuse of two of its pillars before excavations: one as a pile stone, the other as a bridge over a stream. This practice reflects the re-appropriation of megaliths by local communities after their ritual abandonment. The pebbles and bells closing the corridor intervals suggest a desire to gradually close the structure, possibly linked to evolutionary funeral rites.

The current state of the site, covered by agricultural debris, limits its archaeological study. The only documents available are plans and descriptions of Martin, published in the Archaeological Review (1898). Despite this partial disappearance, the dolmen retains a major heritage value, representative of neolithic know-how in southern Brittany and their integration into the contemporary landscape.

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