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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Dolmen des Issières, also known as Pierre des Gaulois, is a megalithic building located in Brevilliers, Haute-Saône department. Mentioned for the first time in 1885 by Prehistorian H. The Sword, he underwent clandestine searches in 1924 before being studied scientifically in 1968. Ranked a historic monument in 1979, it is distinguished by its complex architecture, with a square burial chamber (2 m side) bounded by four grey limestone orthostats, implanted in foundation pits. No blanket slabs were found, but a neat pavement surrounded the trunk.

The excavations revealed very fragmented bones belonging to at least 25 adults and two children, dated from the final Neolithic. The objects discovered include fourteen frames of flint arrows, a dagger, campaniform ceramic teasses and an ochre pellet. These elements suggest a collective funeral use, typical of the Neolithic societies of the region. The natural groove of slab II and the traces of frost on the stones testify to the local climatic and geological conditions.

The history of the site is marked by disturbances: a second nearby dolmen, reported in 1885, was destroyed, and the clandestine excavations of 1924 caused the loss of part of the funeral furniture. Despite these alterations, the 1968 studies partially reconstructed funeral rites, such as the placement of long bones along the walls. The dolmen thus illustrates the cultural and religious practices of the sedentary agricultural communities of the time, while highlighting the challenges of preserving archaeological sites in the face of human activities.

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