Le Petit-Chasseur

About

Le Petit Chasseur is the name of a megalithic site in Sion, Valais, Switzerland. Discovered in 1960 or 1961, it consists of three dolmens, dated to between 2900 and 2200 BC. It is associated with the Saône-Rhône culture, part of the local late Chalcolithic phase (éolithique final valasian). The younger parts of the site are associated with the Bell Beaker horizon, including a cemetery with the remains of about 90 individuals (Dolmen M XII).

Archaeologists found six aligned standing stones in La Petit, in July 2019. These standing stones were found accidentally during the construction work of a residential building, in the same area where 30 such stones and the dolmens were found in 1960 or 1961.

“ This discovery is of prime importance to help us understand social rituals at the end of the Neolithic period (around 2,500BC) in central Europe, ” was announced from the canton of Valais. According to the press release, a number of stones were noticed to have been intentionally broken.

Three of the standing stones were carved with markings. The largest of the stones assumed to be a male figure wearing geometrically decorated clothes with a sun-like motif around his face is about two tonnes.