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Table des Marchants

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fitzcoraldo F
fitzcoraldo Oct 15, 2007 12:06:33
Replying to tiompan

tiompan wrote:
Hi G . , The before and after pics of Table des Marchands are intriguing . I've never been but assume that there is some justification for the huge amount of covering rocks that had gone missing , or is it a Newgrange x10 type leap of imagination .
Howdo G.
There was an initial restoration in 1938. Between 86 & 89 the archaeos explored previous untouched levels and discovered the original barrow, this led to the current restoration. I'm not sure but I suspect the initial 1938 cairn was built to protect the wonderful carvings.

I'm not sure how much of the "Newgrange x10 type leap of imagination" was employed in the restoration. Considering that in this part of France you are tripping over these lovely structures, I guess there is enough evidence left to have a decent stab at interpretation.
I was there 15 years ago and everything was looking rather shiney. Wonderful place though.

G minor
:-)

S Spaceship mark
Spaceship mark Oct 15, 2007 12:20:20
Replying to fitzcoraldo

It was reconstructed based on similar, better preserved monuments and also based on the archaeology. Although the mound had been denuded to the present ground level there was still a lot of archaeology below the present ground level which revealed a reasonable amount about the original design.
From memory the passage is pretty much all reconstruction but there are many many similar sites with the passage intact to use as model (the nearby Tumulus de Kercado for example.
In a land so rich with sites in various states of repair and don;t really have a problem with one or two 'show sites' like this, and, lest we forget, a vast number of the stones in the Carnac Alignements were re-erected a hundred or so years ago...

http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/post/59095/images/cromlech_de_menec.html

F fitzcoraldo
fitzcoraldo Oct 15, 2007 12:25:32
Replying to fitzcoraldo

I've had a squint through the books, Piggott was no help. Burl tells us that the oval mound with inner retaining walls was completely removed in 1811 and that the dolmen was lived in for a while around 1850 . The monument was restored several times in 1883, 1905, 1921 & 1937 when the cairn was reconstructed to protect the decorated stones.
You can always rely on Burl.

G.