Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Dolmen des Aguals, also known as dolmen de la Combe de l'Ours, is a megalithic building located on horseback in the communes of Montbrun and Gréalou, in the Lot (Occitanie). Built on a ridge line overlooking a doline, it marks the administrative boundary between the two communes, having probably served as a cadastral landmark. This dolmen is distinguished by its imposing size for the region, combining a central cairn typical of Quercy, an internal circle of erect stones and an orientation towards the rising sun, suggesting Atlantic architectural influences.

Stunned in the early 2000s by Jean-Pierre Lagasquie, the site reveals a complex architecture in two phases: a first tumulus girded with vertical slabs, later reinforced by a embankment and a second circle of piled slabs. The sepulchral chamber, oriented according to the 130°azimut (aligned to the winter solstice), shows traces of careful orthostat cut for a perfect fit. The funerary furniture discovered – pearls, arrow tips, copper dagger – attests to the continued use of the final Neolithic at Bronze Age, with late reuses as evidenced by cremation burials and iron objects.

The dolmen illustrates a "remarkable continuity of funerary use", with bone remains (mandibules, teeth) and a variety of furniture: flint objects (19 shrapnel, 7 arrow tips), stone (meule, polisher), and metal (bracelet in bronze, knife blade). Some artifacts, such as the Fontbouisse or campaniform copper dagger, highlight links with Languedoc. Two external burials – including a newborn with a bronze bracelet – confirm late funeral practices between the Middle Bronze and the First Iron Age.

Ranked a Historic Monument in 2001 (decrees of 19 October 2001 and 7 January 2002), the Dolmen des Aguals is a rare example of preserved megalithic architecture in the Causses du Quercy. Its tumulus of 29 m in diameter and 3.80 m in height, as well as its internal structure with concentric circles, make it a key site for understanding the religious and funeral practices of the Chalcolithic to the final Bronze in southwestern France.

The study of materials reveals limestone slabs from the Lot Valley for the first circle, while later embankments use local blocks. Erosion and successive embankments partially masked the internal structures, but the excavation returned a precise chronology of architectural changes. The site, although shared between two municipalities, remains associated with Montbrun due to its proximity to the Combe de l'Ours, a landmark geological site.

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