http://SaturnianCosmology.Org/ mirrored file For complete access to all the files of this collection see http://SaturnianCosmology.org/search.php ========================================================== Brittany History Culture Generalities Tradition Megaliths: The mystery of the megaliths / menhir/ *Megaliths are great stones (from the Greek mega : great, and lithos : stone) placed by men of the Neolithic period, between 5000 and 2000 B.C. Brittany has the greatest number and the greatest diversity of these stones. More than 3000 of these great stones still lie in the region of Carnac alone. It's not clear who erected these ancient monuments.This mysterious people must have achieved a fairly high degree of civilisation, in order to move and place upright stones which weigh up to 350 tons. The meaning and the origin of these monuments are still unknown. There are two principal types :menhirs and dolmens. * Menhirs From the breton word meaning long stones, menhirs were positioned in several ways. Isolated menhirs, generally very high, were placed on a water point, or a peak or near a tomb. The menhir of Kerlaos-en-Plouarzel (Finistère) is 12 metres high, the "Grand Menhir" of Locmariaquer (Morbihan), today broken into five pieces, measures 20.30 metres and weighs about 350 tons. Grouped menhirs, place in rows or alignments, were the remains of religious monuments, maybe devoted to the worship of the moon or the sun. Some, placed in parallel lines seem to lead towards the the West in a half-circle or cromlech, as at Carnac (Morbihan). Others are place along intersected lines, as at Lagatjar (peninsula of Crozon, Finistère). These lines were probably laid out taking into account some astronomical alignments, within a few degrees, of the cardinal points or of certain risings and settings of the moon and sun, thus enabling the prediction of eclipses. Dolmens It is believed that dolmens (from the breton word meaning stone tables) are funerary chambers. During the neolithic period, the megaliths evolved architecturally speaking. Originally composed of a corridor providing access to a chamber (Barnenez, the Table of the Merchants...), the dolmen showed later a long bent corridor (the "Flat-Stones", the "Rock"), a unique elongated and rectangular chamber (La Roche aux Fées (Fairy-Rock), Mougau) or a V form (Ty-arBoudiged, Liscuis). On the walls of some dolmens (Gavrinis, Table of the Merchants, "Flat-Stones"...) as on certain menhirs (the Great Menhir of Locmariaquer, La Tremblaye), some forms of megalithic art can be seen. At first, dolmens were built on the surface, then covered with a mound of earth (= tumulus), then dug into the earth or fitted into an artificial cave. Most of them are unobstructed and are found in the open air. The round tumuli inland are more recent than the tumuli with closed chambers, such as that of Saint-Michel at Carnac, 120 metres long and 12 metres high. They continued to be built until 1000 A.D. Cairns are tumuli made of drystone walls. The one at Barnenez looks over the bay of Térénez and the estuary of the Morlaix river and dates from 5000 B.C.. Gavrinis, at the entry to the gulf of Morbihan, is not as old as this one. Inside some tumuli considerable quantities of beautiful objects have been found : polished axes made out of rare rocks, or sets of jewels and superb necklaces in callaïs. The Carnac and Vannes museums display extremely rich collections of these first works of art. In northern Brittany, covered pathways are frequently found, formed by a double line of erected stones, covered with slabs and sometimes engraved. / menhir/ *The mystery of the megaliths What was the purpose of the megaliths? Who erected them ? * There are many hypotheses about this subject. As far as the alignments are concerned, not even the slightest little bit of bone has been found, so they cannot be a cemetery. One could imagine each stone welcoming the spirit of the deceased, even it did not have it's bones underneath, and that everytime someone of this civilisation died a menhir was added. But one cannot ignore the fact that every alignment is directed towards a point where the sun rises at one of the important dates of the agricultural year. It is also true that the alignments follow the lines of the earth's currents rigourously. Some scholars see immense astronomy charts in them, others even suggest the coming of a race from another world which would explain the unexplained - how they managed to lift and move stones of such great weight ? In the same breath, one must say that no object has been found which would indicate the existence of extra-terrestrials ! There are specialists who have put forward that these menhirs served as colonnades marking the limits of triumphal pathways through which processions would advance on feast days. Most of these theories are compatible. The stones could both serve as spiritual cemetery and a place of procession or festivity, most of all on the great dates of the year. It is also quite normal that these edifices are aligned with the sun. After all are not our cathedrals situated in relation to the equinoctial rising sun ? It still remains difficult to explain the erection of these monuments. At a time when the men only had tools made of flint and horn, it is difficult to imagine that a civilisation could extract enormous stones from the rock. One asks oneself how could people carry them, sometimes for considerable distances, and how did they raise them to the vertical position. Even with ingenuity, levers and a sufficient number of workmen, it seems incredible that they could move stones of a weight of between 20 and 350 tons, and slide them on logs accross several kilometres. It was feasible fro stones of between 20 and 30 tons, but imagine a stone of 350 tons. Wooden levers would have not withstood the strain. The logs would have been driven into the earth une such a weight. And how many men would be needed to move such a monument ? Even if they used oxen, they would have needed at least 500 animals. A simple comparison that helps to situate the enormity of such an enterprise would be the erection of the obelisk of Louqsor in Paris. It was considered to be a veritable achievement. Yet this monument only weights 220 tons, and was erected with the tools of the 19th century. Questions can then be asked about the civilisation having erected these stones. Did they have knowledge that we don't have ? How, for example, did they know the exact positions of the earth's currents, underground streams and magnetic flux ? It's a mystery ! Where did this race come from ? One finds megaliths in Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Devon, on the French and the Spanish littoral, in Portugal, and in the valleys of the Garonne, the Rhone and the Rhine and part of that of the Seine, in Jutland and on the shores of Frisia, in Corsica and Sardinia. Scientific research has shown, particularily by the use of Carbon 14 dating, that the oldest monuments were to be found in Brittany. So it is more that probable that the megalithic culture was to be found here and spread out in all directions. Nevertheless, the problem still remains. Where did the men who settled on the Armorican peninsula come from ? They probably came from the sea, but where did their boats come from ? There are no other monuments elsewhere that precede those of Morbihan and of Finistere in date. It is possible that this civilisation did not have the material conditions or climate necessary for the making of such megaliths. Perhaps life in Brittany enabled them to flourish and develop their creativity and beliefs. They were not unknow to the historians of Antiquity. One called them the Atlantes. Did they then come from "Atlantis", this legendary country which is to be found at the bottom of the sea? The mystery continues. What we do know is that Atlantis, following the documents of the historians of Antiquity, was a maritime country, which had a great length of coasts surrounding numerous islands. In fact, when one thinks about the zone of the megaliths one can see that these characteristics could be related to this zone. What was the capital of Atlantis ? According to Plato, the Atlantis empire was a federation of ten kingdoms. These kingdoms were maritimes states. Their capitals were, without doubt, ten harbours which were all engulfed by the rising of the level of the sea, that is to say ten metres between the beginning and the end of the megalithic period. The legend can be explained ! So, who were they ? They were'nt Egyptian pioneers, nor Phoenicians nor Myceneans. They were good sailors. They knew how to navigate out at sea? They had notions of geometry. They had no doubt other knowledge which we ignore. They were religious. Folklore shows us some of the remnants of their beliefs, and so do the engravings which ornate the menhirs and the dolmens. In popular tradition dolmens remain the dwelling places of fairys and elves. Their queen the Gwrac?h was at the same time cruel and good. Shee could change her form. She would show herself sometimes as a old womand, or sometimes as a young princess. She kidnapped young babies, and turned men into fish. She was the god of death and at the same time fertility, the Mother God (Déesse Mère). Her attributes were : the axe and the serpent, were engraved on the dolmens. She is herself represented, often in a schematic form. The worship of the Bull was linked to the adoration of the Mother God (Déesse Mère). This worship has left traces atCarnac. Saint Cornély protector of the parish, protected animals with horns. A certain number of places, known as megalithic, celebrate the pardon of Saint Cornély, or have a procession of oxen. In the surrounding areas, the ox is still sacred. Excavations have confirmed the importance of bull worshipping to the Atlantes. In the tumulus, Saint-Michel, at Carnac, one finds two bovid graves in the buried in the earth. Unfortunately, we know no more ! The megaliths are far from delivering their secret to us. One can only find alignments in Brittany. They are greater and greater in number and size in the region between the river of Etel and that of Auray, and in Morbihan, with the greatest density being in Carnac and Erdeven. It is more than likely that their sacred land was to be found in the region of Carnac-Locmariaquer. There even are some people that say that the Great (Grand) Menhir of Locmariaquer was erected so as to indicate the centre of the world. / dolmen/ *A few places to visit* Le Bono Le Rocher The site of the "Rocher" is made up of two funerary pieces from different periods : a dolmen buried in a mound (end of the Neolithic period). In addition to this, there are several little circular tombs scattered around the area surrounding the dolmen (Iron Age). Carnac The alignments The famous alignments of Carnac can be divided into four groups : the Ménec, the most western, the alignments of Kermario, the field of menhirs of Kerlescan and the area of Little Ménec, of more modest proportions. Cléguérec Covered pathway of Bot-er-Mohed Originally measuring 27 metres long, it is known as the "Chamber of the Korrigans". Its particularity is that it is partially divided into compartments. Erdeven Alignment of Kerzerho Important megalithic group in Brittany. Dolmens Crucuno - Mane - Croch - Mane Braz Larmor-Baden Cairn de Gavrinis The Cairn of Gavrinis is a major monument of the Armorican megaliths. Built in the Neolithic period, it is made up of a great quadrangular mound in drystone in a corridor form. The main themes of megalithic art are to be found on the walls of the dolmen : croziers, polished axes... Locmariaquer The "Flat-Stones" (Pierres-Plates) Dating from the end of the Neolithic, the Flat-Stones are a dolmen bent at a right angle which owes its fame to the quantity and quality of the ornamentations on its walls. The Great (Grand) Menhir The Great broken Menhir was a single long piece about twenty metres long and weighing roughly 350 tons. Its fall would appear to date back to the neolithic period. The Merchants Table (Table des Marchands) The dolmen of the Merchants Table shows the usual decorations of the middle part of Neolithic period. Ploërmel The covered path of Ville-Bouquet The monument of Ville-Bouquet now appears as a megalithic chamber, originally surrounded by a cairn. It's a classic model of a grave from the end of the Neolithic period of the covered path Silfiac "Quenouille du Diable" A menhir more than 7 metres high, in the marshland of Le Moustoir. ©Bretagne.com All rights reserved