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Origin and history

The Dolmen de la Pierre à la Marte, located in Montchevrier, in the department of Indre (Centre-Val de Loire region), is a megalithic building dated from the Neolithic period. It was first described in 1804 by Prefect Dalphonse in his Statistical Memory of the Department of Indre, although he was mistakenly located in Saint-Plantaire, confused with another dolmen. The monument is represented on the cadastral plan of Montchevrier under the name of "durid altar" and was classified as a historical monument in 1862, under the mistaken name of Pierre à la Marque.

From an architectural point of view, the dolmen adopts a rectangular shape, facing east-west, with an opening to the east. It measures 5 meters in length at a height of 2.50 meters. Its roof table, in the shape of a diamond (4 m x 3.25 m), rests on four of the eight original orthostats that bound the funeral chamber. The bedside, once closed by two slabs of 1 metre high, is now partially collapsed. The building stands on a mound of 5 meters in diameter, possible vestige of a tumulus or resulting from agricultural tillage that has spared the structure.

The name Pierre à la Marte refers to a local Berrichonne legend evoking the marte, an evil fairy known to chase men. According to oral tradition, this dolmen would be the grave of a general who died in combat, or later, a Druidic altar dedicated to human sacrifices. These folk stories, although after the Neolithic period, illustrate the symbolic re-appropriation of the monument over the centuries.

The dolmen has been protected as historical monuments since the list of 1862, under the cadastral reference E 42. Its state of conservation, although altered (partial collapse, disappearance of some slabs), makes it a rare testimony of neolithic funeral practices in Berry. The sources available, including the works of Gérard Coulon and Frédéric Lontcho, underline its importance in the megalithic heritage of Indre.

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