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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

La Pierre Drette, also known as Pierre-Righte, is a menhir located in the Cailloux Valley, south of the village of Guitrancourt (Yvelines). This Lutetian limestone block is 2.40 m high, 3 m wide at the base and about 0.60 m thick. His east/west orientation and a natural hole near the summit earned him the nickname of "Ringing Gargantua ear". The monument is explicitly depicted on the coat of arms of the municipality.

Ranked a historic monument by order of 8 March 1957, the Pierre Drette now belongs to a private company. Its precise location, noted as "passable" (level 5/10), is near the address referenced in the Merimée database: 78440 Guitrancourt. The menhir, dated from the Neolithic, bears witness to the megalithic practices of that time in the Île-de-France region.

The site is sometimes associated with local legends, such as the one evoking Gargantua, a mythical character of French literature. Although its exact function remains uncertain, menhirs were generally linked to funeral, astronomical or territorial rites during Neolithic time. The Pierre Drette, by its size and singularity, constitutes a remarkable vestige of the prehistoric heritage of the Yvelines.

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