Seven thousand years later we are able to witness 33 of these monuments in the department of the Alpes Maritimes, one of which is located in Le Rouret: a dolmen (from Breton dol=table + men=stone) in the Clamarquier sector of Le Rouret. Until recently this dolmen has been left in relative tranquility on private property. The Dolmen of Clamarquier dates from 2,500 years before Christ, the Chalcolithic period (Copper or Iron Age which is a transition period from the Neolithic era and covers the years of approximately 3,300 to 1,000 before Christ). It is composed of three large slabs; the most important is the back wall which is 2.20m x 1.10m. Like most dolmens in the area, it no longer has the massive slab that covers the chamber and works as a ceiling. Archeological digs were performed on the dolmen in 1935 by Archeologist P. GOBY of Grasse. Many archeologists from the 1930s simply used dynamite to move stone slabs, weighing more than a ton, covering dolmen chambers rather than preserving the stones. Goby found a skull, some bones, stone tools and pottery shards. The dolmen faces south-west like the church of Notre Dame de Brusc, where there were also vestiges of a dolmen revealed during excavations.
The civilization that raised these stone monuments was a society where we find the beginning of farming and domesticated animals. They were an agrarian people, believed to have been of Celtic origins, who developed a cultural and religious society in which they raised great monuments of massive stones, of which the most ancient can be found in Bretagne (Brittany). Several theories exist as to what these massive monuments represented; one is that this was a way to observe the stars, predict eclipses, or the most popular for dolmens that they functioned as funerary sights. None of these theories have been completely confirmed, but what is strongly believed is that this was an ancient society most likely greatly connected to the sun and moon.
The tranquility in which the Dolmen of Clamarquier has existed, today, unfortunately remains no longer. A piece of property next to the dolmen was sold in 2006 where a house was built. This year, the owners of this property tried to build their fence smack in the middle of the dolmen, even after they were informed that they did not have the right to alter an archeological site. The Mairie of Le Rouret was notified but they were not keenly interested and had to be pushed to interfere, even though they consider the dolmen to be part of the patrimony of Le Rouret in their tourist literature. Also this year, the property on which the dolmen rests, which has gone into inheritance, was submitted for a building permit. Currently the property owners of this land would like to construct some tract housing and the Mairie would like to build a road. Consequently all plants and the dolmen would be in danger of either being drastically altered or eliminated. This terrain is a beautiful piece of land with many wild flowers (including protected species of wild orchids), restanques (terracing), olive trees, many indigenous plants and wildlife which are threatened by short-sighted development. Botanists are involved in taking an inventory of plants, and avenues will be pursued to attempt protecting these plants, but this is private property and it will be difficult, if not unlikely, to completely stop the pouring of concrete on this land.
An association has been formed called Association pour la Protection du Dolmen de Clamarquier which is working with the Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles in Aix-en-Provence to protect the dolmen with the goal of having the dolmen classified. A dolmen exists in Roquefort les Pins but has unfortunately been greatly damaged by construction, which could be the fate of the Dolmen of Clamarquier if no one gets involved. For the time being the work permit asked by the owners of the land has been denied, but there certainly will be another request made in the future. The Association must remain dedicated to the goal of preserving our memory, our history, our roots and our future.
Contact details:
Gilda Camuto, President
Association pour la Protection du Dolmen de Clamarquier
Email:
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