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Origin and history

The Dolmen du Bois de la Lieu, located in Ambazac in the Haute-Vienne, is a megalithic monument dated to the Neolithic. Long hidden by vegetation, it does not appear in inventories of the early twentieth century. It was classified as historical monuments on 26 December 1984, after its rediscovery. This site, built on a hillside at an altitude of 400 metres, probably underwent material removals by carriers, which explains its partial condition.

Today, there is only one part of the cover table (3.50 m long and 0.65 m thick), supported by two of the original five pillars. The funerary chamber, rectangular (2.50 m x 1.80 m), contained disturbed archaeological remains: human bones (including some incinerated), fragmented pottery studs, and flint tools (arrows, daggers, scrapers). These artifacts attest to an occupation extending to the Bronze Age and Iron Age, although the dolmen itself dates back to the Neolithic.

The excavations revealed an archaeological layer of about 1 metre thick, taken between two coarse slabs. The furniture discovered, such as the frames of arrows and burins, suggests complex funeral and craft practices. The local granulite, used for its construction, confirms the territorial anchoring of this monument, typical of the megalithic sites of the Limousin. The main source of this information comes from the work of Michel Dominique, published in 1961 in the Bulletin de la Société préhistorique de France.

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