Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The dolmens de Magnez, also called dolmens de la Garenne de Magné, are two megalithic monuments located in the commune of Courcôme, near the hamlet of Magné, in the woods of the Old Garenne in Charente. These buildings, dated Neolithic, would have been more numerous, but many were destroyed after the French Revolution by a local owner, who made them rock in excavations. They were classified as historical monuments by decree of 11 February 1930.

The first dolmen rests partly on its western pillar, with a square table of 2.80 m side and 0.80 m thick, weighing about 15 tons. Stunned in the 19th century by Touzaud, Chauvet and Puymoyen, he delivered some human bones, a flint scraper and a pork tooth drill. In 1987, Daniel Bernardin discovered engravings interpreted as prehistoric symbols, later studied by Emmanuel Mens in 2016.

The second dolmen, damaged in the 1980s during work, is now heavily ruined. In 2009, a limestone slab was straightened by the Marpen association using supposed megalithic erection techniques, creating a false menhir. These monuments illustrate the funeral and symbolic practices of Neolithic in Charente.

The Dolmens de Magnez are located at the approximate address of 6 Rue du Logis in Courcôme, in the Charente department (code Insee 16110), in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. Their GPS location is considered to be of poor accuracy (level 5/10).

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