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Gallery Grave of Pors Poulhan

 In 1835, the French antiquarian ‘Chevalier de Fréminville’ noted that the ancient gallery grave (or allée couverte) near Pors Poulhan was one of the most beautiful and extensive collections of standing stones within Finistère. This recognition didn’t stop the monument from being damaged when stone was needed for local construction work or indeed prevent it being used as a storage shed for handcarts and wheelbarrows in the early 20th century! Eventually, the Germans destroyed this ancient site during World War Two because it hampered visibility for the artillery they had set up along the coast.

 

This remarkable Neolithic monument was nevertheless reinstated between 1986 and 1987, when the original pieces were searched for and found. The national archaeological service restored the stones to their original setting in 1988-9.

 

Pors Poulhan’s Gallery Grave (also known as a Passage Grave) consists of sixteen upright pillars in two parallel lines, which originally supported three or four horizontal covering stones, although only two of these remain in existence today. 

 

The digs also revealed a particular style of construction that is more usually found on the Iberian peninsular, and a wealth of artefacts suggesting that it had been used as a burial place over a very long period of time, from the Neolithic era (around 6000 BC) right through to the Gallo-Roman period (around 5 AD). The bodies laid to rest here were apparently buried along with various personal possessions such as pottery, weapons, tools and even jewellery.