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163:, has exhibits documenting the finds. It also has displays on the cemetery of Saint-Urnel, a few hundred metres away, where remains of over 100,000 people have been found. This has been determined to be a mediaeval burial ground associated with a chapel and settlement which were abandoned in the 16th century as the dunes encroached. It was declared a historic monument in 1929.
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Brittany to yield prehistoric human remains in significant numbers. Neolithic worked flints and polished axeheads have also been found at Pointe de la Torche, and the sea sometimes uncovers remnants of walls in both rectangular and circular shapes. The point and the nearby dunes are also the site of finds of
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period with five chambers, four of them arranged symmetrically, and an entrance way which forms an angle and was roofed over in the late
Neolithic. Finds from several different eras have been uncovered in the chambers and the corridor, and for reasons of soil chemistry the site was only the third in
100:, the promontory has at times been surrounded by dunes and been an island. Protective barriers have been installed to prevent its being cut off again by the sea, which would otherwise have happened. The surf and currents sometimes make the sea around it very dangerous.
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The promontory and environs show evidence of human use since the fifth millennium BCE. At the upper end of the promontory is the Pointe de la Torche Dolmen, a
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axes, swords, daggers and pottery, and human skeletons and food debris dating to after the Celtic settlement in the second half of the first millennium BCE.
65:, France. It is an officially recognised natural site and at the top of the promontory is a prehistoric settlement and burial site that is registered as a
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Sea level was some 10 metres lower in prehistory, so the promontory would have extended further into the bay and offered excellent views. The
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in 1960. Several archaeological digs have taken place at the site. The earliest evidence of human activity on the Pointe de la Torche is a
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P.R. Guiot and André Guilcher, "Essai de chronologie des successions pré- et protohistoriques de la baie d'Audierne (Finistère)",
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P. du
Chatellier. "Exploration de tumuli de Run-Aour et de la Torche en Plomeur (Finistère) et du Kjôkkenmôdding de la Torche".
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on the northeast side, consisting mostly of seashells, with some fish and cattle bones. The burial site was constructed in the
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Jean-Paul
Curnier, Henri-Pierre Jeudy, Monique Sicard and Eric Germain, with translations by Jean-Hugues de Vandière.
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Des dernières industries à trapèzes à l'affirmation du Néolithique en
Bretagne occidentale (5500–3500 av. J.-C.)
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and has been the site of several championships. There is a good beach, and the promontory is also a location for
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174:. One blockhouse or pillbox was used as a squat by the homeless until the 1980s and is now a rescue station.
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Pointe de la Torche is a rocky granite outcropping; one prominent boulder near the end is called
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81:(crow rock or raven rock). Northwards from the promontory, the beach of the community of
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Pointe de la Torche is accessible by a pedestrian path. It attracts many
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La Torche / Un haut lieu historique / Un sanctuaire de la préhistoire
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La Torche / Un haut lieu historique / La NĂ©cropole de Saint-Urnel
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In 1986 the point was the location of a project of light art by
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In summer, Pointe de la Torche is home to a nesting colony of
420:, BAR international series 1648, Oxford: Archaeopress, 2007,
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extends for several kilometres around the Baie d'Audierne to
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La Torche / Un haut lieu historique / Les niveaux marins
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have been found in the dunes and at the
Kerharo quarry.
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Mémoire de la Sociéte d'Emulation des Côtes-du-Nord
159:(Museum of Prehistory of Finistère) at Pors Carn,
366:Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française
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128:passage grave. The site was registered as a
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326:Presqu'île de la Torche ou Bogan Dorchenn
515:"Fun board : rendez-vous Ă Quimper"
23:Rocks on Pointe de la Torche, including
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45:located at the southeastern end of the
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157:Musée de la Préhistoire finistérienne
96:During the current geologic era, the
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328:, Ministère français de la Culture.
536:Les GuĂŞpiers d'Europe de La Torche
485:La Torche / Un haut lieu historique
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448:Yann Kersalé: Light for Landmarks
124:, remnants of a multi-chambered
120:containing several half-buried
16:Promontory in Finistère, France
538:, Penfoulic.com, 14 July 2008
1:
181:, was identified with French
177:The Breton word for a mound,
502:, Commune of Plomeur, p. 2
475:Guiot and Guilcher, p. 116.
407:Guiot and Guilcher, p. 117.
285:Sites de la Baie d'Audierne
680:
588:1881. pp. 1–8
500:DĂ©couverte / Mot du maire
368:44 (1947) 116–21,
613:at Bretagne Panoramique
230:Le songe est de rigueur
664:Landforms of Finistère
523:magazine 1984, p. 169
454:, Paris: Norma, 2003,
221:and flatfish angling.
130:national heritage site
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659:Headlands of Brittany
604:at Tourisme Bretagne
487:, Commune of Plomeur
395:, Commune of Plomeur
352:, Commune of Plomeur
309:, Commune of Plomeur
272:, Commune of Plomeur
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635:47.83667°N 4.35444°W
270:La Torche / Côté mer
79:le rocher du corbeau
25:le rocher du corbeau
631: /
602:Pointe de la Torche
568:, Ecosociosystèmes
242:European bee-eaters
31:Pointe de la Torche
640:47.83667; -4.35444
452:Structures lumière
391:2016-03-03 at the
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460:978-2-909283-82-1
426:978-1-4073-0082-5
67:historic monument
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39:Beg an Dorchenn
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596:External links
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416:Yvan Pailler,
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611:360° panorama
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172:Atlantic Wall
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207:wind-surfers
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638: /
606:(in French)
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433:(in French)
397:(in French)
374:(in French)
354:(in French)
330:(in French)
311:(in French)
296:(in French)
274:(in French)
236:Ornithology
203:kitesurfers
166:During the
653:Categories
623:47°50′12″N
384:Guy Riou,
248:References
211:waveskiers
146:Bronze Age
134:Mesolithic
126:Megalithic
98:Quaternary
83:Tréguennec
61:region of
43:promontory
626:4°21′16″W
566:Méropidés
520:Le Figaro
372:, p. 118
161:Penmarc'h
141:Neolithic
91:Penmarc'h
73:Geography
63:Finistère
551:GuĂŞpiers
389:Archived
288:Archived
87:Plozevet
59:Bigouden
579:Sources
195:surfers
150:Menhirs
122:dolmens
118:tumulus
112:History
57:in the
55:Plomeur
51:commune
49:in the
41:) is a
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424:
183:torche
179:dochen
137:midden
107:Dolmen
35:Breton
464:p. 42
430:p. 28
456:ISBN
422:ISBN
219:bass
213:and
189:Uses
53:of
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
