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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The covered alley of Saint-Eugène, located in the municipality of Laure-Minervois in Aude, is an exceptional megalithic monument dated to the Chalcolithic. This large corridor dolmen, facing south-north, consists of three distinct parts: a corridor of 4 meters, an anteroom of 5.60 meters and a funeral room of 5 meters. The set, bordered by orthostats, was initially covered with stone tables now missing. A circular tumulus of 22 metres in diameter, consolidated by 20 raised slabs, surrounds the structure. According to archaeologist Jean Guilaine, it is more of a "dolmen to a corridor" than a classic covered alley, due to its gradual shrinking towards entry.

The site was searched between 1924 and 1928 by Germain Sicard, who discovered the remains of about 300 individuals as well as remarkable funerary furniture: copper objects (signal, alenes, rings), gold pearl, flint and obsidian arrow tips, pendants, and incised ceramics. These artifacts, supplemented by the excavations of Jean Guilaine in 1964 (calcareous pearls, steatite, pottery studs), date from a pivotal period between the Chalcolithic and the early Bronze Age. The monument, which has been violated since the Roman era (traces of amphoras), bears witness to collective funeral practices and large-scale cultural exchanges.

Ranked a historical monument by decree of 12 November 1931, the dolmen of Saint-Eugène received a restoration in 1964 under the direction of Jean Guilaine. The work helped stabilize the structure and refine knowledge of its architecture and use. The archaeological discoveries, now preserved and studied, offer valuable insight into the prehistoric societies of southern France. The building thus illustrates the evolution of funeral practices between the final Neolithic and the metal age, marking a transition to more hierarchical societies.

The exhumed furniture also includes symbolic or ritual elements, such as 17 green shale pallets, perforated shells (porcelain and cardium), and animal teeth (anglar, bovids, cervids). These objects suggest complex beliefs related to the death and protection of the deceased. The diversity of materials (gold, copper, obsidian, shale) attests to extensive supply networks linking the region to distant areas such as the Mediterranean or the Alps. The site, now accessible, remains a major testimony of occitan megalithism.

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