Mehnirs and Dolmens - Saint-Raphaël megaliths

All monuments, normally of a reasonable size, built in stone, are grouped together under the term of megalith.

Only the commune of Saint-Raphal is lucky enough to harbour a considerable number of them so as to be of interest.

Megalithic culture, for Provence, goes back to the end of the Neolithic-chalcolithic period, that is to say that it developed from the second half of the third century BC, and that for at least five centuries, which means it could be as much as 4500 years old.

Dolmens are funeral monuments in a variety of shapes and sizes made of vertical flagstones set in the ground (sometimes finished off with dry stone walls) topped with a covering of vegetation or of stones, with the entrance facing the setting sun. Our Town has three that have been identified beyond any doubt. The best known is the Valescure Dolmen. It stands near the hotel and sports facilities of the Latitudes golf course. The excavation of what remained of the archeological layer provided fragments of charred human bones (proof of a cremation rite) a few pottery shards, some flint fragments and two arrow heads foliated with flint, making up the remains of funeral offerings.

Probably contemporary to these dolmens are the Menhirs, (standing stones), monoliths that have been erected, but whose purpose is not so clear but they are doubtless linked to a cult that we do not know about. The absence of archaeological elements linked to them makes it difficult to authenticate them, especially when they are no longer upright. Only their different petrographical nature from that of the soil around them, the presence of obvious signs of stone cutting or filling in or sculpted drawings can assure us of their age. The oldest one known is the one of Aire Peyronne. It is situated near the present end of the new road, called the Var Corniche which goes to Cap Estérel inland. It is strangely studded with many engraved cupules (acorn cups) whose meaning we do not understand. Added to that is the « Veyssières group», 4 menhirs in various places on the Z.A.C.land of the same name. The most remarkable, engraved with a human figue and a snake is now embedded in the gardens of the archeological museum.. The three others are still where they were. Each one of the menhirs is about 2 metres above the ground, which differentiates them from their Breton cousins