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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Dolmen de Saint-Fort-sur-le-Né, also known as Pierre Levée de Saint-Fort, is a megalithic building located on a ridge halfway around the town of Saint-Fort-sur-le-Né, in Charente, New Aquitaine. This monument, dated from Neolithic, is distinguished by its unusual height for the region. The sandstone cover table is 5.40 m long for 4.40 m wide and weighs about 40 tonnes. It rests on three pillars of shell limestone, 2.20 m high, perfectly squared. Several orthostats bear marks of wear or of attempts to debit by carriers.

The dolmen has lost its original tumulus and access corridor, probably destroyed over the centuries. The sepulchral chamber, open to the southeast, presents a plan dictated by the shape of the table, making it an atypical example among the regional dolmens. The building was mentioned as emptied in 1826, and its oldest known description dates back to 1844, in the monumental Statistique de la Charente de Jean-Hippolyte Michon. It was declared a historic monument on August 16, 1983.

The materials used, shell limestone for orthostats and sandstone for the table, reflect local resources. Traces of flow suggest subsequent exploitation attempts, possibly linked to the scarcity of stones of this size. The dolmen illustrates neolithic funeral practices, although its present state no longer permits the exact reconstruction of its original use. Its classification among historical monuments underlines its heritage importance, despite the disappearance of many original architectural elements.

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