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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The dolmen of Pierre Couverte, located on the former commune of Pontigné (now Baugé-en-Anjou, Maine-et-Loire), is a megalithic building emblematic of the Neolithic. Ranked a historic monument in 1910, it belongs to the architectural type Angelvin, known for its rectangular sepulchral chambers and massive covering slabs. This dolmen consists of a chamber delimited by six orthostats (vertical galls) and covered with two tables of eocene sandstone, extracted from a local deposit. A trilithic gate (three stones) precedes the east-facing entrance, while a slab near the south pillar may have served as a closure. The 1872 excavations, conducted by Mr. Leboeuf, revealed human bones, sandstone tools (including two glossy hammers), cut flint fragments, and a coarse black pottery fragment. Six polished axes were also discovered within a 500-metre radius around the site, suggesting an active human occupation in the vicinity.

Dolmen is associated with persistent local legends. The first relates that laying a plough and a silver coin under the stones allows, if the sum is sufficient, to find the sharpened tool the next day – otherwise it remains intact. Another tradition asserts that fiancés entering the room together would find happiness. The stories also evoke fairies removing animals from too close proximity, illustrating the sacred and mysterious character attributed to these monuments by ancient communities. These beliefs reflect the symbolic importance of dolmens, perceived as places of transition between the worlds of the living and the dead, but also as spaces of propitiatory rituals related to fertility or protection.

Architecturally, the Pierre-Couture embodies neolithic expertise in the size and transport of megaliths. The choice of eocene sandstone, a local material, reflects an adaptation to the available resources, while the structure in portico and closed chamber reveals a mastery of sustainable construction techniques. The artifacts discovered (polished axes, flint tools) confirm its funeral and perhaps ceremonial use, typical of Neolithic agro-pastoral societies, which erected these monuments as territorial markers and places of collective memory. Its early classification (1910) underscores its heritage value, both for the study of funeral practices and for the understanding of ancient cultural landscapes in Anjou.

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