site de locmariaquer EN.qxp_locmariaquer 05/11/14 14:19 Page1 History Visit The builders Information History Visit The builders Information History Visit The builders Information ▲ ▲ ▲ English The megalith* builders Glossary Locmariaquer A hierarchical society Cairn: a stone monument covering burial places. Dolmen (“stone table” in Breton): a chamber, megaliths Neolithic men were sedentary farmers who lived sometimes with a burial passage, bounded by in villages. Completion of sites of this nature horizontal stones. Three Neolithic constructions indicates the great sense of organisation of these Gin: lifting apparatus often made of three beams 2015. janvier Stipa, farming communities. forming a triangular pyramid. The hierarchy of Neolithic society is clearly Megalith: from the Greek “mega” (big) and impression Gigantic architecture visible in this type of construction: a chief, “lithos” (stone), meaning a large stone. architects who knew about the resistance of Menhir: a Breton word meaning “long stone”. InPuzzle. Since the prehistoric age, the several thousand materials and knew how to take measurements, Monolith: work formed by a single piece of rock. monoliths* erected in this region 6,000 years priests who could unite people’s efforts, and Shield idols: “framed” representation of a divinity. traduction ago have formed one of the most spectacular Offset: a projection from a vertical plane. labourers. beau fixe. megalithic* sites in the world. The findings of These constructions must have called upon a Tumulus: an artificial mound covering one or recent excavations suggest that the site was several tombs and made from a mixture of large number of people, which suggests a high réalisation developed in several population density in the immediate vicinity. stone and earth. Depending on the proportions phases. In the 5th of these materials, they are called mounds millennium B.C., an (earth) or cairns (stone). Technical prowess Anders. Plein Sens, open arrangement of 1805 standing stones was The stone blocks were ripped off the granite Practical information engraving established, with free- base, probably using stone spikes. There were standing and aligned stones marking out a Average length of visit: 1 hour. no menhir* quarries, rather rational and conception graphique sacred place. These giant menhirs* measure opportunistic use of piles of rock which were Tours accessible to disabled visitors. between 6 and 20 metres - the record held by already eroded. The megaliths* obtained in this Reservation only. the decorated menhir* at Locmariaquer, from way could be transported using ropes and c. 4300 B.C. Later, c. 4000 B.C., individual wooden rollers. The bottoms of the menhirs* burial chambers appeared, such as the Er Grah were placed in carefully prepared trenches, the Bookshop-Giftshop The guide to this monument is available in the ‘Itinéraires’ collection tumulus*, followed by collective burials, for most difficult thing no doubt being to slide in in the bookshop-giftshop. example at the Table des Marchands dolmen*. the end of the stone. A foundation ceremony Paris. nationaux, des monuments Centre marked the installation of the megaliths*. Centre des monuments nationaux Excavations and restoration Site des mégalithes de Locmariaquer Route de Kerlogonan 56740 Locmariaquer In popular belief, megaliths* have been tél. 02 97 57 37 59 fax 02 97 57 41 62 associated with the invisible world of fantasy [email protected] and the sacred. Interest in them led to their being preserved from the 18th century onwards, www.monuments-nationaux.fr Berthé Ph. de Carnac, collection musée © then studied by archaeologists in the 19th century before being restored to their original crédits photos appearance in the 20th century. *Explanations overleaf. *Explanations overleaf. site de locmariaquer EN.qxp_locmariaquer 05/11/14 14:19 Page4 History Visit The builders Information ▲ The broken Great Menhir* The Table des Marchand dolmen* The Er Grah (or Er Vinglé) tumulus* This monolith*, the largest from the prehistoric Erected c. 3900 B.C., this site was used until This enormous monument belongs to the category age in the West – an enormous block of granite the beginning of the Bronze Age c. 2000 B.C.. of closed-grave burials. These are thought to be over 20 metres long – now lies in four pieces. It Archaeological excavations have revealed that the the tombs of important people, due to their towered 18.5 metres above the ground when it was rear slab is older than the dolmen* itself. Erected dimensions and the funerary items found inside. standing. This 280-tonne block was cut from a at the same time as the Great Menhir* alignment, The tumulus* was built in several phases: around type of granite unknown on the it is decorated on both sides and remained in its 4500 B.C., very small cairns* on top of a few Locmariaquer peninsula and original position when the trenches were raised, including those in which the moved several kilometres by Great Menhir* row was two ox skeletons were found; c. 4200 B.C. came Neolithic men, although it is destroyed, and the dolmen* the small burial chamber surrounded by a circular not sure what technique they was built around it; it was cairn*, followed c. 4000 B.C. by two extensions, used to do so. They probably therefore necessary to adjust to the north and south, comprising low stone walls built an earth ramp to lift the Slab covering the Er Grah tumulus? work to its height. The arched supporting a mass of grey silt covered by smaller menhir* before swinging it into shape of this slab and the stones, which brought the total a ditch and hoisting it using 5 m frame formed by an offset* in length of the monument to levers and wooden gins*, then the sculpture means it can be 140 metres. 5 m wedged it with earth and stones. classified as a shield idol*, a In the 19th century, all that was Once standing, it was smoothed common design in the region. known of Er Grah was the all over using quartz hammers. The passage roof gets higher chamber, which had already been Behind the Great Menhir*, Ta b l e Gavrinis des Marchand and higher, perhaps to mark ransacked. The northern The Great Menhir The Great areas of stony ground indicate the approach to the chamber, the most holy place. extremity, which was used as a the positions of 18 other The crescent-shaped symbols, all around, are quarry (hence the name Er Vinglé, menhirs*. Erected around 4500 B.C., this row, thought to signify the spiritual influence of the or “quarry” in Breton) has now disappeared. In which forms an impressive rectilinear assembly, divinity. The crooks sculpted on the surface, a spite of a one-off excavation by Zacharie Le was destroyed c. 4300-4200 B.C.. common feature in Neolithic art, are thought to Rouzic in 1908, the monument, which had caved The question of whether these tall pillars fell represent the power of the divinity and maybe also in in places and was covered in vegetation, was accidentally or were deliberately toppled remains the sacerdotal function of the priests. The forgotten until 1991. The tumulus* was restored an open question within the scientific community. “gazelle” engraving in the centre of the stele no to its original condition the following year. doubt dates from the early twentieth century. The ceiling is decorated with engravings: a shafted axe-blade, a crook and the lower part of an ox. Another part of the animal is to be found 4km away, on the roof of the Gavrinis dolmen*. The final part is thought to be the block covering the grave at the Er Grah tumulus*. The three parts may have originally formed a menhir* measuring 14m high. *Explanations overleaf..