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Origin and history

The Matafin Stone is a legendary stone located in Chardonnay, Saône-et-Loire, in the Haut-Mâconnais. Initially mistakenly identified as a dolmen at the beginning of the 20th century, this hypothesis was reversed by archaeological excavations carried out in 1980. The site consists of two parallel, north-south facing limestone slabs, one of which is natural and the other of anthropogenic origin. No evidence of burial was discovered during the excavations of 1919 and 1980, permanently excluding the idea of funeral use.

Mentioned as a stone of justice in the acts of the chapter of Saint Vincent de Mâcon, it was reported in 1915 to the Société des amis des arts et des sciences de Tournus by Jouvenceau, local teacher. He began excavations in 1919 and replaced a horizontal slab in 1922, leading to his erroneous classification as dolmen trilith. During World War II, this slab was overturned and broken. Threatened by clandestine excavations, the site benefited from a rescue search in 1979-1980, confirming its lack of connection to a megalithic burial.

The 1980 excavations revealed lithic material (43 flints, including nucleos and an arrow frame of the final Neolithic) and mostly medieval ceramic teasses, with the exception of a pre- or protohistoric fragment. The oriental slab, laid without pit or calving, and narrow space between the stones (less than 0.35 m) make any function of funeral chamber unlikely. The proximity of an ancient carriageway suggests a legendary stone, frequented since a remote time, as evidenced by the flint scattered around the site.

Ranked a historic monument on August 24, 1934 under the mistaken name of dolmen, the stone of Matafin illustrates the common misinterpretation in prehistoric archaeology. The fanciful descriptions of Jeanton and Lafay (1924), such as a non-existent roll-shaped engraving, or exaggerated measurements, were corrected by modern excavations. Today, the site is protected and belongs to the commune of Chardonnay, offering a rare testimony of local practices and beliefs since Neolithic.

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