Allée couverte de Crec'h Quillié - Saint-Quay-Perros, Côtes-d'Armor, FRA
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member André de Montbard
N 48° 46.269 W 003° 26.661
30U E 467350 N 5402111
The covered alley of Crec'h Quillié is a covered alley located in the town of Saint-Quay-Perros in the Côtes-d'Armor department.
Waymark Code: WM13EB1
Location: Bretagne, France
Date Posted: 11/22/2020
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member RakeInTheCache
Views: 2

Rediscovered in 1961 by a teacher from Perros-Guirec, Théo David, the site was the subject between 1963 and 1966, of archaeological excavations carried out by Jean L'Helgouach then of a restoration.

Originally, the covered walkway was covered by a loose tumulus. Its current length is 28.50 m for 8.50 m to 9 m in width and a maximum height of 1 m.

The driveway is oriented along an east / west axis (azimuth 78 °), the side entrance being located on the southeast side, 4.20 m from the eastern end. A 2 m long corridor leads to the actual sepulchral chamber (15.20 m long). The width of the chamber varies from 1 m at the narrowest to 1.80 m at the widest. The path is delimited by twelve orthostats on the north and south sides and by a bedside slab on the east. Given the slope of the ground, these slabs are sunk much deeper into the ground in the eastern part of the driveway (up to 1.40 m deep) and their height above ground varies from 1 m to is up to 1.80 m to the west. All the slabs are in Perros granite except two which are locally sourced dolerite. They were erected contiguously to the base, the upper interstices being probably filled in by dry stone walls.

At the exit of the corridor into the chamber, a safe-type structure was discovered during excavations about 0.30 m to 0.40 m below the original floor of the chamber. It contained a series of five vases.

Only four cover tables remained in place in the eastern part of the aisle but "none appearing to be in their original place".

Several slabs of the peristalith surrounding the tumulus and an orthostat in the chamber have engravings and sculptures.

The engravings on the slabs correspond to lines arranged in no precise order and intersecting each other, but no precise figure could be identified. The engravings were dug more or less deeply, generally in the upper part of the stones, except in one case where they appear at the base. A slab located roughly in the middle of the south facade has been the subject of a more particular treatment: the surface has been regularized by bush hammering, the top is slightly rounded and the edges are slightly raised. The engravings are made up of large parallel lines engraved perpendicular to the vertical axis of the slab. Jean L'Helgouach underlined the resemblance which exists between this slab and certain statues-menhirs of Aveyron.

The orthostat located opposite the entrance on the north wall of the chamber has two relief sculptures: a pair of breasts (5 cm to 6 cm in diameter) surmounting a necklace. The shape of the slab suggests an anthropomorphic figure with a well-marked shoulder 0.45 cm from the top, the well-rounded and flat upper part appearing to have been worked to suggest a head. If this representation of the "mother goddess" is fairly classic and is found in at least two other covered alleys of Trégor (the covered aisle and menhir of Prajou-Menhir in Trébeurden and the covered aisle of Kerguntuil in Trégastel), the positioning of the collar under the breasts is quite unusual.

The entire western part of the alley had already been emptied before the excavations by Jean L'Helgouach. The furniture collected on site consists of lithic material (2 polished axes, 2 flint blades, 1 scraper and shards), ornamental objects (3 black schist pendants) and pottery (8 vases with bottom round, 4 flat-bottomed vases). According to Jean L'Helgouach, "the influence of the civilization of Seine-Oise-Marne, or of an Armorican facies which is very close to it, is indisputable".

The whole can be dated to the Armorican Late Neolithic. According to the dating carried out on the charcoals found, the monument was erected in the 3rd millennium BC. AD (between 2,500 and 2,000 BC).

Source: (visit link)
Type: Dolmen

Number: 52.00

Parking: Not Listed

Size: Not listed

Source: Not listed

Purpose: Not listed

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