Image: Le dolmen de Barzun

Description: The dolmen of Barzun dates from 3500 to 4000 years ago, around the end of the Neolithic and start of the Bronze Age. It was discovered in 1968 in a field in Barzun. The original structure was about 20 x 10 metres This oval burial mound had a height of 1,5 m at its highest point. As it was excavated, two tangent circles made of boulders appeared. In the second circle was discovered the dolmen itself. The room was to have received one or more burials accompanied by furniture and various valued items such as vases, polished axes, and flints. Unfortunately, the interior of the dolmen had certainly been violated at an early date, and archaeologists discovered nothing in it, neither bones nor vases or worked stone. The dolmen was then dismantled in 1968 and moved in 1972 to Arudy (a village about 50 km from Barzun) by Georges Laplace, research fellow at the CNRS. In 1990, Laplace moved from Arudy to Coarraze and gave the dolmen to the Municipality of the commune, which installed it on the Town Hall Square. Barzun, in 1995, tried to have the dolmen brought back to the village, but with no success. In 2010, a understanding was reached between Jean Saint-Josse (the Mayor of Coarraze) and , Maurice Minvielle (Mayor of Barzun). Coarraze Council then authorised the return of the dolmen to its barzunaise origins. It was described in several stories as "the travelling dolmen." The transfer from Coarraze took place in January 2011, and the installation on an old cemetery by the church of Barzun took place on January 13, 2012.
Title: Le dolmen de Barzun
Credit: Own work
Author: Bollystolly
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0
License: CC BY-SA 4.0
License Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
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