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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Dolmen de la Table is a submerged megalith located 4 km east of Noirmoutier-en-Ile, on the plateau of the Vendette in Vendée ( Pays de la Loire). Discovered in 1888 by Arsène Charier-Fillon, it was immediately identified as a dolmen, although its structure — a slab of losangic sandstone of 4.85 m by 2.63 m — suggests today that it would rather be a menhir. The slab, weighing about 3.8 tons, is based on natural limestone excrescences, excluding the presence of artificial pillars. Constantly submerged except during the great tides, it bears witness to the flandrian transgression, a geological phenomenon that has swallowed up part of the Atlantic coast.

Ranked a historic monument by order of 28 October 1895, the megalith was equipped with a bronze beacon indicating its altitude (2.535 m above the low seas in 1896). A mission of the Agence des bâtiments de France in 1955 established its first detailed plan. With the Menhir of the Pointe des Dames, he would have marked the entrance of the Goulet de Noirmoutier, a strategic maritime route from Neolithic time. Recent studies (2015 report) confirm its neolithic origin and its displacement from the Bois de la Chaise, where sandstone was extracted.

The hypothesis of a dolmen, initially dominant, is now called into question: the underlying blocks, avening natural geological formations, make the function of a cover table unlikely. The site illustrates the challenges of underwater archaeology and the adaptations of neolithic societies to rising waters. Historical sources, including the works of Arsène Charier-Fillon (1892) and the reports of the twentieth century, document its evolution, between local myths and scientific analyses.

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