Timeline

Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The tomb of the Martyrs, also called dolmen of the Masters or dolmen of Ros and Trevineuc, is a dolmen under cairn located in Nivillac, Morbihan. This megalithic monument is located in a wood west of the road leading to the hamlet of Ros, about 250 meters north of the latter. It is a corridor dolmen, built in granite blocks, still partially covered by its original cairn, although very degraded by time and stone sampling for later constructions.

The funerary chamber, with an estimated diameter of 2.5 metres, has only three orthostats (one of which is 2 metres high) and a large slab of more than 40 cm thick, whose exact function (covering or paving) remains uncertain. The corridor, about 2 meters long, is facing southeast. Missing stones were probably reused as building materials in later periods, a common practice for megaliths.

Dated from Neolithic, around 4500 BC, the site was the subject of a search campaign in 1954 led by the archaeologist P.-R. Griot. This research revealed a statue in white earth representing anadyomen Venus, as well as fragments of pottery, some of which date back to the Gallo-Roman period. These artifacts suggest reuse or use of the site well after its initial construction. The dolmen was classified as a historic monument by order of 9 March 1957, recognizing its exceptional heritage value.

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