The Alignments of Carnac

The reason we went to Brittany last week was to see the Alignments of Carnac. There's over 3,000 standing stones (menhirs) that stretch along 3.5 kilometers in an almost straight line about 50 metres wide which are believed to date back to around 4500 BCE. They are divided into three main groups: Ménec, Kermario, and Kerlescan, each containing rows of menhirs (standing stones), dolmens (standing stones with a "table" on them), and tumuli (mounds). The menhirs could have been used for astronomical purposes or religious rituals, and the dolmens and tumuli possibly contained tombs.

The Alignment of Kermario

and looking the other way

We visited the alignments of Kermario, and Kerlescan and saw the smaller alignments of Manio and Toul-Chignan from the car, but failure to look at the map means we missed Menec completely. Still - that means we have a reason to visit again.

The smallest possible view of the Alignment of Kerlescan

The alignment of the stones would suggest they were positioned to mark solstices or other celestial events, but we can't verify that, because the morning of the solstice (20th June, this year) was overcast. We did get up to try check the theory, though.

The Dolmen of Kermario

There are also individual standing stones, apparently not part of the alignments. These tend to be proper whoppers like the Giant of Manio, which is 6.5 metres tall.

Impressive though the Alignments are, they're not the most amazing prehistoric sites in the area. We'll write about them later.