Table des Marchants

Also known as:
La Table Des Marchand
Latitude:
47° 34' 18.19 N
Longitude:
2° 57' 1.55 W
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Images

Image of Table des Marchants (Chambered Cairn) by CianMcLiam

The large stone Cian is standing next to was most likely to have once been a standing stone, perhaps one of the now vanished alignment that ran past the cairn of this passage tomb. It was carved on both faces and shaped into the ‘buckler’ motif which was carved in outline on the stones of several sites in Brittany. Some feature what looks like hair or fur coming off the rounded top of the motif and these are carved into the edge of the stone here as well.

There are some other faint carvings on the bottom of the stone but some are now below ground level. There’s a few gadgets set up in front of the stone, the little sign at Cian’s feet says something about scientific monitoring but not sure what they are recording, don’t remember seeing them there last time.

Image credit: Ken Williams/ShadowsandStone.com 2013
CianMcLiam
CianMcLiam Aug 3, 2013
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Image of Table des Marchants (Chambered Cairn) by Moth

Tuesday 12 April 2005 Rare pic with me in! (Squeezing through initial entrance.) Le Grand Menir Brise in background.

Image credit: Tim Clark
Moth
Moth Nov 11, 2009
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Image of Table des Marchants (Chambered Cairn) by fitzcoraldo

Postcard
“The Table des Marchand (Merchants Table) at the beginning of the century and the present state of the excavations and restoration of the cairn (1992).

Image credit: Editions AS Postcard
fitzcoraldo
fitzcoraldo Oct 15, 2007
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Articles

Table des Marchants

markj99
markj99 Sep 24, 2023
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Visited 14.09.23

Table des Merchants is one of Locmariaquer’s big three sites. It is only accessible via the Site des Megalithes Visitor Centre for 6 euros. To be fair, there are three impressive monuments, unrestricted visiting time and free parking so what’s not to like?

La Table des Merchants is a cairn constructed in 1993 around the surviving naked dolmen for the preservation of the antiquity. It was interesting to see the carved rear stone and ceiling in the chamber. However, the new cairn reminds me of the reconstructed cairn at Newgrange. I prefer my ancient monuments unadulterated.

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Table des Marchants

postman
postman Aug 27, 2014
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Due to sneaking in after hours there would be no getting into the Table des Marchants, which is a shame, I tried the gate blocking the entrance but it was of course locked. Ive been in before, but there was a sign saying no photography, like an idiot I obeyed the sign now I have no photos of it’s wondrous interior.

But is it wondrous ? Older pictures of it show it as a simple, massive, but simple dolmen. But today there is a long passage, impressive entrance, and strange stepped cairn covering it all, it all looks great, but its very modern. The dolmen was covered solely to protect the carvings, so, what they’ve done is erect a modern folly over an awesome megalithic site, I think I might have preferred it the way it was.

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Table des Marchants

Jane
Jane Aug 3, 2007
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Within 15metres of Grand Menhir Brise is the large stony cairn of Table des Marchants. Today there were a few visitors around and it would be impossible to have it to ourselves, though most visitors didn’t stay long. Bowing our heads to enter the 6 metre long passageway, it soon opened up and increased in height to perhaps nine feet tall, lined all around by vast walling slabs, some gloriously carved repeatedly with crooks, axe-shapes and other unknown symbols (which will probably be interpreted by someone somewhere as breasts or pubes.) The ceiling slab of the main chamber particularly impressed me – it was simply vast.

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Table des Marchants

Spaceship mark
Spaceship mark Jul 29, 2007
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The most popular misconception about how this site gets its name is that it was knowns as ‘The Merchant’s Table’. In fact its name comes from the former land owners, whose name was Marchant.
These days the Table des Marchants is covered by a wholly reconstructed cairn, which serves not only to protect the carvings within but also to demonstrate how many of the, now uncovered, local dolmens would have originally looked. Although the accuracy of this reconstruction cannot be guaranteed, it was based on detailed study of the underlying archaeology.
Within the mound the fabulous rear upright stone is decorated with many crooks, but in many ways the main attraction is the capstone. For here one can see a partial carving of two horned beasts. This capstone was once a section of a large carved menhir, the tip of which now covers the Er-Grah mound next door. However it was only realised fairly recently that the third section is now the main capstone of the Gavrinis mound, a few kilometres away on an island in the Gulf of Morbihan. This was one of the discoveries which lead to the theory of older menhirs being destroyed and used in passage-gave construction.
The Table des Marchants forms a complex with the Grand Menhir Brise and the Er- Grah mound, but many of Locamariaquer’s other sites are in close proximity.

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Topics

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tiompan
tiompan
Oct 2007

Sites within 20km of Table des Marchants

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