Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Covered walkway and the Menhir de Prajou-Menhir, located in Trebeurden in the Côtes d'Armor, are emblematic remains of the Breton Neolithic. The building, classified as a historical monument in 1956, is distinguished by its architecture in two parts: a 9.50 m long master bedroom, extended by a trapezoidal terminal cell. Its entrance, oriented to the east (azimut 105°), includes a vestibule and a narrow passage, a recurring arrangement in the covered aisles of the region, as in La Roche-aux-Fées or Lesconil.

The interior decor is exceptional, with betting sculptures and engravings representing pairs of breasts, stylized square idols, and spear tips. These motifs, some of which evoke northern influences (Kragenflaschen vases) or Cypriots (flattened spear points), suggest both a funeral and a sanctuary function. Three orthostats of the chamber and four of the terminal cell bear these decorations, including a square idol surmounted by a lacrosse appendix, unique in the Breton covered aisles.

The excavations revealed a modest but revealing funerary furniture: flint tools (arrow points, scraper), quartz beads, and coarse ceramics associated with Seine-Oise-Marne culture. The absence of charcoal prevents precise radiocarbon dating, but the style of pottery and engravings would place the monument between 2,100 and 2,400 B.C., during the final Neolithic. The adjacent menhir, 2.20 m high, probably served as an indicative marker for the grave.

The archaeologist Jean L. Helgouach, who studied the site in the 1950s-1960s, emphasized the richness of the setting of the terminal cell, interpreted as a sanctuary. Comparisons with other megalithic sites (Mougau-Bihan, Crec Despite its partial state (an original engraved slab is preserved at the National Archaeology Museum), the site remains a major testimony of neolithic art and funeral practices in Armoric.

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