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Origin and history

The Dolmen des Rien, also known as the dolmen de Saint-Pierre, is a megalithic building located at 831 meters above sea level in the commune of Mons, in the department of Var. This funerary monument, built in local limestone, consists of a rectangular room 2 meters long by 1.50 meters wide, extended by a corridor of 2.30 meters. Its tumulus, round in shape and measuring 10 meters in diameter, consists of piers. A notable feature is the presence of a cover table, broken but still visible, as well as two pillars at the entrance of the room, carved in ogival form, a unique feature in the Var.

The dolmen was the subject of archaeological excavations, first by Count Edmond de Pas in 1910, then by Gérard Sauzade in 1972. Although the funerary furniture collected by Edmond de Pas is now lost, the one discovered by Sauzade, preserved in Vaison-la-Romane, includes canine pendelos of fox and wolf, discoid pearls in limestone, green rock and steatite, as well as a metal ring. These artifacts were used to date the Campaniforme and Bronze Age sites. The dolmen was restored in 1990 by Hélène Barge and has been listed as historical monuments since 1988.

The Dolmen des Rien is distinguished by several rare elements in the region, including its still-in-place, though broken, cover table and the ogival shape of its entrance pillars. These features, combined with its funerary furniture, make it an important testimony to funeral practices and megalithic architecture of the Bronze Age in south-eastern France. The site is now protected and studied for its archaeological and historical interest.

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