Saint-Michel tumulus

Tumulus of St. Michel

Location	Carnac, France
Region	Brittany
Coordinates
Type	Tumulus
Length	125 metres (410 ft)
Width	60 metres (200 ft)
Height	10 metres (33 ft)

The Tumulus of St. Michel is a megalithic grave mound, located east of Carnac in Brittany, France. It is the largest grave mound in continental Europe.

History

Saint-Michel tumulus plan (by Zacharie Le Rouzic - Archaeologist who undertook new research and discovered new chests around the central chamber).

The tumulus was built during the fifth millennium BC.

The Saint-Michel tumulus consists of a mound of earth and stones 125 metres (410 ft) long, 50 metres (160 ft) wide and 10 metres (33 ft) high. Explored in 1862, researchers found there a central vault containing fairly prestigious funerary furniture : axes, pearls, flint tools and sillimanite.

It is the subject of a classification as "Monument historique" (National heritage site) since 1889.

Around 1900, the archaeologist Zacharie Le Rouzic again excavated the Saint-Michel tumulus and discovered a second dolmen and fifteen small stone chests, thus revealing the complexity of this monument.