Menez Dregan, Menez Korriged (the Pors Poullan covered walkway) and the dolmens of the Pointe du Souc’h are three wonders to discover in the town of Plouhinec, near Audierne in southern Finistère.

The recent interpretation center of Menez Dregan reveals the specificities of these archaeological sites (but also the men who frequented them) and presents the methods and contributions of archeology. Over a modern and interactive scenography (texts, mediation tools and video on the excavations of Menez Dregan), you will go back 500,000 years BC in the footsteps of our ancestors.

You can also relax in the small adjoining garden, admire the Bay of Audierne from the observatory at the end of the garden, or walk along the interpretation trail, which, in 9 stages, evokes the evolution of the climate, the different practices human beings and the work of archaeologists.

Menez Dregan cave

The Cave at Menez Dregan, discovered in 1985 by geologist B. Hallégouet is a major site of the Paleolithic period.

Surveys were made in 1988 and 1989 and the site has been excavated since 1991. Clues found in the oldest layers of the cave date its occupation back to 465 000 BC years.

Excavations have revealed the presence of pebbles tools (Colombanien culture), bones (including large mammals such as perissodactyl, or an ancient elephant tooth), and hearths, which suggests that the use of fire in this site is one of the oldest in the world.

The dolmens at the Pointe du Souc’h

A few tens of meters above the cave of Menez Dregan, is the Neolithic necropolis of the Pointe du Souc’h, classified as an historic monument since 1979.

They were excavated a first time in 1870-1871 by A. Grenot. During these excavations, a type of vase was unearthed and bears the name of the site: the Souc’h type pottery (a fine paste vase, with round bottom and pierced handles).

The site is excavated a second time between 2001 and 2006 by the Departmental Department of Archeology. Four dolmens dating from the Middle Neolithic and one dating from the Late Neolithic constitute this necropolis.

At the end of it, a pit grave dating from the Middle Neolithic.

The Gallery Grave at Pors Poulhan

The gallery grave of Pors Poulhan is described, as early as 1835, by the Chevalier de Fréminville as one of the finest and largest dolmens in Finistère.

During the Second World War, it is dynamited for strategic reasons.

This Neolithic burial was excavated in 1986-1987 and restored in 1988-1989. The rich material discovered attests to quite a long use, from the late Neolithic to the Gallo-Roman era.