Peyre-Brune is a Neolithic

dolmen A dolmen () or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic (40003000 BCE) and were somet ...

situated near

Saint-Aquilin Saint-Aquilin (; Limousin: ''Sent Agulin'') is a commune in the Dordogne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Dordogne department The following is a list of the 503 communes of the Dor ...

in the department of the Dordogne, France.

Geographical position

The dolmen Peyre-Brune is situated next to a forest track leading from ''Seyssac'', a little hamlet in the commune of

, to Segonzac. The dolmen appears about a mile after Seyssac on the right hand side of the track. Its name is derived from the

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language Occitan (; o ...

word ''peyre'' meaning ''stone'' and the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

adjective ''brune'' for brown. It is also known as ''Pierre-Brune'' or ''dolmen of Belet''. The dolmen is completely surrounded by woods and is positioned on a topographic high at about 200 meters above sea level.

Orientation, structure and geology

The rectangular, one-chambered dolmen is about 2.75 meters long and 2 meters wide, its long axis is oriented towards the south-east. The dolmen was built on sands from the Upper Eocene belonging to the ''Formation de Boisbreteau''. It consists of seven uprights 80 centimetres tall and 65 centimetres wide. Unfortunately the massive covering roof block meanwhile has tilted to the south-east. The stones consist all of the same material - a very hard, silicified and iron-bearing, very fine-grained sandstone of orange-brown colour, which explains the dolmen's name. These recrystallized rocks belong to the ''Formation de Beau-Repos'' ( sidérolithique), a Middle Eocene formation of the Aquitaine Basin. This formation occurs now only very erratically on the underlying Campanian. At the end of the Campanian the sea withdrew and the chalky sediments started to become

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

ified. Continental sediments of the Lower Eocene ( Cuisian) and Middle Eocene started to fill in depressions in the karst surface. These pockets were later diagenetically altered and recrystallized. This very hard stone was much appreciated by the megalithic builders, and Peyre-brune is not the only structure, where the sidérolithique was used (another example is the dolmen Peyrolevado near Paussac). The stones must have been transported a fair distance judging by the nearest Middle Eocene outcrops being more than a quarter-mile away.

Finds

The dolmen was a burial tomb of a local chieftain. Excavations by the ''Societé archéologique du Périgord'' in 1874 unearthed the following objects: * earrings * pottery fragments * broken vases * one

biface A hand axe (or handaxe or Acheulean hand axe) is a Prehistory, prehistoric stone tool with two faces that is the longest-used tool in human history, yet there is no academic consensus on what they were used for. It is made from stone, usually f ...

* axes * knives * burins *

arrow An arrow is a fin-stabilized projectile launched by a bow. A typical arrow usually consists of a long, stiff, straight shaft with a weighty (and usually sharp and pointed) arrowhead attached to the front end, multiple fin-like stabilizers c ...

heads Furthermore, were found stone fragments, plant ash and

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...

derived from oaks. Due to the pottery and stone fragments the dolmen can be attributed to the Artenac Culture. Analyses showed that the defunct was not incinerated. All these objects can be seen in the Musée du Périgord in Périgueux.

Folklore

According to local folklore the chieftain was married to a fairy and was killed in a fight. The fairy ordered her servants to erect a dolmen at the site of her husband's death. She also cast a spell for all those who ever should dare to touch the grave.

Conservation

Today the dolmen is in a very bad state of conservation. The dolmen also gets more and more overgrown by sweet

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelat ...

Importance

Peyre-Brune is one of the very few megalithic monuments in this region, that can be attributed to a local culture.

Sources

* Description of ''Les amis de Saint Aquilin'' – Conseil Général de la Dordogne *

References

{{European megaliths History of Dordogne Prehistoric sites in France Dolmens in France Buildings and structures in Nouvelle-Aquitaine Monuments historiques of Dordogne