Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The twenty-three menhirs located in the hamlet of the Veyssière, near the source of the stream of Ruas, are part of a vast megalithic complex located on the Cham des Bondons, a limestone plateau in the southwest of Mount Lozère, in the department of Lozère. This site, included in the Cevennes National Park, is home to the second largest concentration of menhirs in Europe after Carnac, with 154 monoliths divided into several groups. These menhirs, carved in granite despite their implantation on limestone soil, testify to a transport and complex organization in the Neolithic era.

The Cham des Bondons has been systematically surveyed since the 1940s, notably by Dr. Charles Morel, who recorded about 120 menhirs. In the 1980s-1990s, many lying menhirs were rearranged through joint operations between the DRAC Occitanie and the Cevennes National Park. The menhirs of this site are mostly fusiform, with warhead or slightly flattened peaks, and some reach more than 5 meters high.

The Veyssière group, located to the west/southwest of the hamlets of the Veyssière and the Fare, has about 40 menhirs, including the most imposing of the Cham des Bondons. Twenty-three of these menhirs were registered as historical monuments by order of 5 June 1941. Their layout follows parallel ridge lines, oriented north-south, separated by a ravine. These monoliths, often associated with tumuli or dolmens, illustrate the ritual and symbolic importance of the site during the Neolithic period.

Menhirs have been extracted from local quarries, such as the one identified at Fontpadelle, where inclined granite slabs attest to old extraction methods. Another, smaller, career was found in Pranleri. The transport of menhirs from these extraction sites, located between 800 and 1,200 meters above sea level, highlights the collective and organized effort of neolithic communities to erect these monuments.

The Malaval Cave, located south of the plateau, is another geological and archaeological curiosity of the site. Known since the 8th century but only explored from the 1950s, it houses remarkable daragonite concretions. This cave, like the menhirs, is part of a landscape marked by residual limestone formations, such as the puechs of Allègre and Mariette, which according to the local legend were formed by Gargantua.

Finally, the menhirs of the Cham des Bondons, often grouped in pairs or in alignments, reflect an intentional spatial organization. Their protection as historic monuments since 1941 bears witness to their exceptional heritage value, both archaeologically and landscaped. Their study continues to shed light on the practices and beliefs of neolithic societies in this region of the Cevennes.

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