Dolmen de la Barraca, dolmen in Tarerach, France
The Dolmen de la Barraca is a burial chamber in the Pyrenees-Orientales made of schist with a large horizontal stone slab resting on three vertical supports. The chamber was originally surrounded by a circular mound of stones, now mostly disappeared, and access was through a narrow passageway marked by two standing stones.
Built between the 5th and 2nd millennia before Christ, with most structures dating to around 3000 before Christ, the site later served as shelter after its funeral use ended. Its name 'La Barraca' meaning 'the hut' in Catalan suggests people in later times used it as a refuge from weather.
Park at the Mas Lluçanes farmhouse about 100 meters from the site, then walk up a small path marked by cattle fencing toward the dolmen. The site is free to visit and open to the public, though visitors should respect the stones and treat the location as the historical space it is.
The name 'La Barraca' reveals that later inhabitants reused the ancient burial chamber as shelter, showing how resilient the structure was. Excavations uncovered pottery fragments and bones from different periods, indicating that multiple generations visited this spot across thousands of years.
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