Pech Menel dolmen

From the foot to the non-existant , or broken, chevet

This was quite easy to find : turn off La Minervoise (Trebes to Beziers super-backroad) just before Capestang, at La Croisade. Fork right to Quarante. Take the D37 out of the village towards Creissan and go past the rubbish-dump, la Dêchetterie, for a kilometre or so, until the sign for Pech Ménel on L. This lane takes you past a big wine domaine and then some houses, and on up to to the farm/winery on the ridge. Introduce yourself and ask directions – they are friendly and helpful. And then a 5 minute walk due west up their farm-track, to a 3-way cross. It’s a step off to the left.

To visit the other neolithic sites, go back to the Dêchetterie and turn up there over the narrow bridge. The Iron Age necropolis at Recobre with its Urn-field vestiges is right behind the dump. The Bel-Air chalcolithic ruines are marked on the IGN map as being on the right of this road. Nothing is marked at Fontanche, a domaine at the top of this little escarpment in a stand of pines, but there too is claimed to be a ‘copper-stone age settlement. To look for the cromlech at Malviés one must return to Quarante and out on the D184 towards Pigasse. Just after the domaine of Les Parets on right, a narrow road forks off left, signed Malviés.

It measures 5 m. long, by 2 m. wide, and 60 cm. high.

The sifted earth pile is at the rear, with round logs for seating. It faces SSW at 210.

Its location was taken from http://www.geoportail.fr – set the visualisation to ‘exploration’. 2.59’15” E , 43.22’03” N. DD 2.987500 E , 43.367500 N

 

The site had already been explored by Paul Ambert, along with a further tomb close to Malviés, at Pech Laurier:

Le dolmen de Pech Menel à Quarante (Hérault). Annexe 2. La sépulture de Pech Laurier à Quarante (Hérault)AMBERT P. ; Sauvetage d’une sépulture individuelle néolithique contenant 180 perles plates en test de cardium.

Archéologie en Languedoc. Revue de la Fédération Archéologique de l’Hérault, Sète. 1982 vol. 5, pp. 17-18 (notes)