Tumulus de Dissignac
Dolmen de Dissignac · Dissignac passage grave
Early Neolithic·Atlantic Breton / Loire Neolithic (Castellic / Chasséen contact)·🇫🇷 Pays de la Loire, Loire-Atlantique, Saint-Nazaire, France
About
About Tumulus de Dissignac
Unique Neolithic tumulus with two parallel passage graves sharing a single 28 m × 12 m mound near Saint-Nazaire: northern passage (11 m) leads to chamber with decorated slabs (polished axe engravings), southern passage (9 m) to separate chamber with cup marks, sharing long axis but opposite orientation. Built c.4300–4500 BCE, among earliest megalithic long mounds in France, predating Egyptian pyramids by 2000 years. Excavated by de Kerviler (1873) and L'Helgouach (1970s), now covered shelter.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Double independent chambers under one mound — family division or reuse?
Theories
- 01Early collective tomb experimentation before single-chamber norm
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 4500–4300 BCE
- Period
- Early Neolithic
- Culture
- Atlantic Breton / Loire Neolithic (Castellic / Chasséen contact)
- Purpose
- Double passage-grave tumulus for successive burials
- Abandoned
- Late Neolithic
- Rediscovered
- Discovered 1873 (de Kerviler); excavated 1970s (J. L'Helgouach)
- Excavation
- Excavated
c. 4500–4300 BCE
Initial construction
c. 1444 CE
Rediscovery
On the ground
Structures & features
Gallery