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Origin and history

The Dolmen dit de la Boixe is part of a megalithic necropolis composed of eleven tumulus located in the communes of Vervant, Maine-de-Boixe and Cellettes, in the Charente department. These monuments, built in the Neolithic, lined on a ridge at 166 m above sea level, overlooking the Charente valley. Four tumulus (A, B, G, H) were distinguished by their large size, while the others had various architectures: circular, quadrangular or polygonal chambers, covered by corbellation or covering slabs. The excavations carried out between 1874 and 1876 by Gustave Chauvet and Auguste-François Lièvre revealed archaeological remains (bones, flint tools, ceramics) attesting to an occupation of the Middle Neolithic to the Final Neolithic (Artenacien).

The first written mention of the tumulus dates back to the monumental Statistique de la Charente (1844) by Abbé Michon, who reports two of them near the Boixe forest. Chauvet and Lièvre found that the necropolis initially had about fifteen tumulus, some of which were dismantled to recover their stones, especially for the encroachment of roads. Among the most remarkable structures, the tumulus B houses a corridor serving two funeral chambers, one covered by the Pierre-des-Fades, a massive slab of 4.25 m long. The tumulus A, now extinct, was known for its Sacrifice Stone, a 15-ton cover table marked with a groove mistakenly interpreted as a laugh for the blood of sacrifices.

The Dolmen B of the Boixe was classified as a Historic Monument in 1889, then arrested in 1971, while the entire necropolis was registered in 1991. Modern excavations, such as those of José Gomez de Soto in 1998, made it possible to specify the organization of the rooms (concentric walls, engraved slabs) and their reuse over the centuries. The tumulus A, for example, served as a shelter for the shepherds before its destruction, and its slab carved with an angoumoisine butt (characteristic of the Middle Neolithic) was recovered to adorn a well in Vervant. Casts of this sculpture are preserved at the museums of Poitiers and Bougon.

Local folklore combines tumulus A with legends of small, velvety men, supposed to have carried stone blocks over their heads. These accounts, like that of the Sacrifice Stone, illustrate the fascination for these monuments, often interpreted as places of worship or mysteries. The discovered artifacts (polished axes, arrow frames, trimmings) and architectural structures (couloirs, slab cells) reveal an organized neolithic society, mastering the size of the stone and practicing complex funeral rites. The necropolis of the Boixe remains a major testimony of megalithism in New Aquitaine.

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