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Origin and history

The dolmen du Parc, also known as dolmen de Saint-Nectaire-le-Bas or Second Palet de Samson, is a megalithic monument located in the commune of Saint-Nectaire, in the department of Puy-de-Dôme. Ranked as historical monuments in 1862, it bears witness to the funeral architecture of the Neolithic. This simple dolmen, of type B, consists of four orthostats and a bedside slab, forming a rectangular chamber of 2.94 m long. Its cover table, quadrilateral and curved, rests on pillars with irregular surfaces on the outside and smooth inside side.

The site, first described by Dr François Pommerol at the end of the 19th century, is located 710 m above sea level on a plateau at the foot of the Puy de Mazeyres. Orthostats, partially cemented to strengthen the structure, suggest subsequent interventions. A small tumulus, now extinct, probably surrounded the monument originally. The room, looted at an undetermined time, delivered some artifacts: a polished stone axe, a beef tooth and coarse pottery teeth, according to Pommerol's observations.

The dolmen is now integrated into a public park, the Dolmen Park, and belongs to the municipality of Saint-Nectaire. Its precise location, near the Avenue du Dr. Roux, makes it an accessible site, although its geographical accuracy is considered mediocre (level 5/10). The monument illustrates the importance of megalithic sites in Puy-de-Dôme, a region rich in prehistoric remains.

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