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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

La Pierre poissant de Reviers is a menhir located at the place known as les Champs Pluvieux, in the commune of Reviers (Calvados, Normandy). This Bathonian limestone monolith, with irregular surfaces, is between 0.30 and 0.75 m wide. Originally, it was only 0.80 m high, but it has since been dug up and now lies on its entire length. One of its ends presents two quasi-circular bowls, mistakenly interpreted as prehistoric cuplets. According to Léon Coutil, these cuts would have instead served to fix a cross to Christianize the menhir.

The menhir was first reported in 1894 by A. de Mortillet, but it was Léon Coutil who provided the first detailed description. It has been classified as historical monuments since 21 February 1934. This megalith is part of an alignment of several stones erected on the right bank of the Mue, extending over 7.5 km, including the Menhirs de la Demoiselle de Bracqueville, the Grosses Currencyes and the Pierre Tourneresse.

The region, rich in megalithic remains, bears witness to an ancient human occupation and a spatial organization linked to cultural or religious practices. The standing stone of Reviers thus illustrates the importance of menhirs in the Norman landscape, often reinvested by later Christian symbols, as evidenced by the traces of cross fixation. This monument offers a characteristic example of the reappropriation of prehistoric sites throughout the centuries.

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