La Roche-aux-Fées ( en, The Fairies' Rock) is a Neolithic
gallery grave
A gallery grave is a form of megalithic tomb built primarily during the Neolithic Age in Europe in which the main gallery of the tomb is entered without first passing through an antechamber or hallway. There are at least four major types of galler ...
, or
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 ...
, located in the commune of
Essé
Essé (; br, Ezieg) is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France.
Population
Inhabitants of Essé are called ''Esséens'' in French.
See also
*Communes of the Ille-et-Vilaine department
The following ...
, in the French department of
Ille-et-Vilaine
Ille-et-Vilaine (; br, Il-ha-Gwilen) is a department of France, located in the region of Brittany in the northwest of the country. It is named after the two rivers of the Ille and the Vilaine. It had a population of 1,079,498 in 2019. in
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
. Its name comes from a legend that claims that the stones were placed by fairies. The dolmen consists of more than forty stones forming a corridor four times longer than wide. Its northwest-southeast axis is on an alignment with sunrise at the winter solstice.
Description
The tomb is one of the most famous and largest neolithic dolmens in Brittany.
It consists of a covered passage of stone blocks, with roofing stones laid across them.
It is about 20 metres long,
and there are around 48 blocks, of which the heaviest weighs about 45 tonnes.
the interior is divided into two separate chambers.
The entrance is aligned with the rising sun at the
winter solstice
The winter solstice, also called the hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the winte ...
.
The original structure would have been covered with a mound of stones and earth.
It is thought to date from between 3000 and 2500 BC.
See also
*
Prehistory of France
Prehistoric France is the period in the human occupation (including early hominins) of the geographical area covered by present-day France which extended through prehistory and ended in the Iron Age with the Roman conquest, when the territory ...
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roche-aux-Fees, La
Megalithic monuments in Brittany
Dolmens in France
Monuments historiques of Ille-et-Vilaine