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Origin and history

The Dolmen du Vieil Homme, also known as the Dolmen de la Jagantière or Palet de Roland, is a megalithic building located on the southeastern foothills of the Black Mountain, about 3 km from Villeneuve-Minervois, in the department of Aude. Built at an altitude of 389 metres, it dominates the plains of the Minervois and the Narbonnais. Its roof table, made of local sericite limestone, is 2.50 m long by 2.30 m wide, with an average thickness of 0.25 m. A central crack, attributed to a lightning impact, marks this stone. The monument was classified as historical monuments in 1889, and restoration works have been carried out since 1972 by local enthusiasts.

The dolmen has undergone several clandestine searches whose results remain unknown. In 1892, Germain Sicard discovered a barbed and pedunculated flint arrow, attesting to an ancient human occupation. About 200 meters to the west is another dolmen, that of Roquetrucade. A local legend tells that the stone was launched by Roland, the nephew of Charlemagne, as a giant pallet, hence his nickname "Palet de Roland". This monument dates back to the recent Neolithic or Chalcolithic, periods marked by the emergence of collective funeral structures.

Dolmens, like the Old Man, were often associated with funeral and ritual practices in neolithic societies. Their construction reflects a complex social organization, capable of mobilizing resources and a large workforce to build such structures. In the Minervois, these monuments testify to an ancient human occupation and a megalithic culture shared with other regions of Occitanie. Their preservation now allows us to study the lifestyles and beliefs of the prehistoric populations of this geographical area.

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