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Origin and history

The Dolmen dit La Cave aux Fées or Chambre aux Fées is a megalithic building located in Saint-Cergues, Haute-Savoie, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Dated from the Neolithic, it consists of a rectangular burial chamber of 3.20 m long by 2.30 m wide, covered with a single slab of broken arkosis weighing about 15 tons. Six orthostats in protogin, sandstone and serpentine delimit the interior space, with visible traces of size. Access is through a 1.40 m wide north-west opening, while flat stones support vertical pillars.

Ranked as historical monuments in 1889, the dolmen was studied in the 19th century. Henri Gosse raised its dimensions in 1886, and Louis Revon cleared its foundations. Partly buried after a landslide, its ground is now 1.50 m below the surrounding level. Underground excavations reportedly revealed calcined bones and fragments of geometrically decorated pottery, attributed to the campaniform culture, confirming its funeral and ritual use.

Archaeological research, such as that of Marc-Rodolphe Sauter and Jean-Christian Spahni (1949) or Pierre-Jérôme Rey and Olivier Veissière (2019), has allowed us to revise the knowledge on this site. The dolmen illustrates the megalithic construction techniques of the time, with adjoining slabs and interstices filled with stones. Its north-east/south-west orientation and structure make it a remarkable example of the Savoyard prehistoric heritage, linked to the funeral and cultural practices of the final Neolithic.

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