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Origin and history

The dolmens de la Pierre Levée are two megalithic monuments located in the commune of La Vallée in Charente-Maritime (Nouvelle-Aquitaine). These funeral buildings, erected between 4000 and 3600 BC, bear witness to the ritual practices of Neolithic. The best preserved dolmen South has a rectangular cover table of 5.20 m long and 4 m wide, weighing about 50 tonnes, supported by five orthostats. Nearby, the partially ruined North dolmen retains six orthostats delimiting a funeral chamber, while its broken cover table rests on the ground. A third dolmen, now disappeared, completed this ensemble, probably covered by a common tumulus.

Several excavations carried out in the 19th century, notably by François Daleau, revealed significant archaeological remains: human jaws, fragments of pottery dated from Neolithic and Bronze Age, as well as flints of flint. These findings confirm the funeral and ritual use of the site over a long period of time. The ensemble was classified as historical monuments in 1938 and transferred to the property of the municipality in 2007. A local legend tells us that the Blessed Virgin, by losing the stones of her apron, gave birth to these buildings.

The south dolmen structure includes a partially visible access corridor with slabs up to 1.30 m high. The north dolmen, although degraded, still allows to identify the perimeter of its room. The objects discovered during excavations, such as pottery and flint tools, illustrate the cultural and craft practices of the Neolithic communities of the region. Today, the site remains a major testimony of megalithic architecture in Charente-Maritime, accessible to the public and studied for its historical and archaeological importance.

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