Peyre-Brune is aNeolithicdolmen situated nearSaint-Aquilin in the department of theDordogne,France.
The dolmen Peyre-Brune is situated next to a forest track leading fromSeyssac, a little hamlet in the commune ofSaint-Aquilin, toSegonzac. The dolmen appears about a mile after Seyssac on the right hand side of the track. Its name is derived from theOccitan wordpeyre meaningstone and theFrench adjectivebrune for brown. It is also known asPierre-Brune ordolmen of Belet. The dolmen is completely surrounded by woods and is positioned on a topographic high at about 200 meters above sea level.
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 onsands from theUpper Eocene belonging to theFormation 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 andiron-bearing, very fine-grainedsandstone of orange-brown colour, which explains the dolmen's name. These recrystallized rocks belong to theFormation de Beau-Repos (sidérolithique), a Middle Eocene formation of theAquitaine Basin. This formation occurs now only very erratically on the underlyingCampanian. At the end of the Campanian the sea withdrew and the chalky sediments started to becomekarstified. Continental sediments of the Lower Eocene (Cuisian) and Middle Eocene started to fill in depressions in the karst surface. These pockets were laterdiagenetically altered andrecrystallized.[1] This very hard stone was much appreciated by themegalithic builders, and Peyre-brune is not the only structure, where the sidérolithique was used (another example is the dolmenPeyrolevado nearPaussac).
The stones must have been transported a fair distance judging by the nearest Middle Eocene outcrops being more than a quarter-mile away.
The dolmen was a burial tomb of a local chieftain. Excavations by theSocieté archéologique du Périgord in 1874 unearthed the following objects:
Furthermore, were found stone fragments, plant ash andcharcoal derived from oaks.
Due to the pottery and stone fragments the dolmen can be attributed to theArtenac Culture.[2]
Analyses showed that the defunct was not incinerated.
All these objects can be seen in theMusée du Périgord inPérigueux.
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.
Today the dolmen is in a very bad state of conservation.[3] The dolmen also gets more and more overgrown by sweetchestnut.
Peyre-Brune is one of the very few megalithic monuments in this region, that can be attributed to a local culture.
45°11′43″N0°27′26″E / 45.19528°N 0.45722°E /45.19528; 0.45722