http://SaturnianCosmology.Org/ mirrored file For complete access to all the files of this collection see http://SaturnianCosmology.org/search.php ========================================================== New England Antiquities Research Association Carnac, Stones for the Living: A Megalithic Seismograph? * by Roslyn Strong* ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Section 2 (click pictures to enlarge)* Chapter X /*Une Charrue Qui Se Balance*/ * (A Plow That Balances)* One of the most celebrated motifs still visible in the Breton monuments is the one called /hache-charrue/ (plowshare). There is a magnificent specimen on the under side of the roof slab at the Table des Marchands. In southern Brittany, we find only ten megaliths with this design, but of two distinctly different types *(Figure 10). *Some dolmens have both types, such as the original roof of the Table des Marchands, a piece of which was ultimately transported to Gavrinis * (Figure 21)*. In one of the dolmens of Dissignac, near St. Nazaire (to the south, not in our area), there are eight of these motifs, also two crooks. It is significant to note that megalithic monuments ?decorated? with carvings are numerous throughout western Europe, Scandinavia, Portugal, the UK and Ireland, but nowhere else but in Armorique (Brittany) and principally around the Gulf of Morbihan, do we find this particular motif. We can rightly ask if it is really a plow. Mereaux quotes from many authors and archaeologists who express a variety of opinions pro and con. Plows were made entirely of wood, could the small stone axes have served as plowshares? There is a question of whether or not there was agriculture at this period. Pollen analysis shows some cereal grains about 3000 BC, not before. * Above Figure 10: Type A & B "Axe-Plows" /(Mereaux, p.110)/* Of the / charrue/ in the interior of the dolmens, most are on the ceiling. There are only two dolmens that have both A and B type, the Table des Marchands and Dissignac. In both of these they are carved practically perpendicular to each other, one horizontal, one vertical. In all cases but one (Kercado), all the type B are vertical and type A are horizontal! Mereaux began to think of an entirely different usage. He noted that all (except one menhir) have, or had, a corridor. Also note that in five of the ten megaliths, gold was found, either as thread or wire or nugget, but also in small thin strips, several centimeters long, cut in saw tooth and sometimes rolled in a tube, probably as ornaments. He notes that an electroscope has two thin gold bands that repel each other when charged with electricity. There was native gold in Brittany, nuggets found in riverbanks. It seems that the utilization of gold began only 2000 BC, two millennia after construction of the earliest megaliths. In examining earthquake activity in the region, Mereaux names eight principal epicenters identified since 1900. Putting them on a map, he finds a relation of each to the ten megaliths. For instance, Dissignac, is situated on an enormous fault, almost rectilinear, that goes through significant locations, one having an esoteric reputation, the isle of Dumet. He points out that a very hard stone would be needed to make a plowshare and flint is very scarce in Brittany, found only in small nodules on beaches. Most stone axes in the museum are small, 4 cm, a few larger, 15-22 cm. They are polished and could not be plowshares. They show little or no wear. What other purpose could they have? He made two small models of materials available in the neolithic, wood and stone. He made models of type A and type B, * (Figures 11 &12)* suspended them on a bracket (a base with a branch.) He inserted a small thin piece of flint on the top of the arm, a bearing with reduced friction, because the flint has a knife edge at its upper side. It is very simple to use. * Above Figure 11: Model of a Type A "Axe-Plow" /(Mereaux, p.124)/* * Above Figure 12: Models of Types A & B "Axe-Plows" / (Mereaux, p.124)/* All of these ?plows? are really /balanciers /(pendulums) that are very well balanced. When one or the other is suspended by its upper hoop on the flint piece at the end of the branch, each lateral shock on the block serving as the pedestal puts the pendulum in movement in the same vertical line, and the amplitude of the /balancement/ (swing) is proportional to the intensity of each shock. He points out that the /soc/ (plowshare) on the carvings of both these ?plows? has a strange protuberance on the lower part. He feels that there was a small counterweight (in stone?) added at the end to assure a better balance. He made 50 trials on the same bracket, each trial shifting the pedestal several cm with each blow. He observed that the movements lasted 12 to 15 minutes before a complete stop. Spreading a layer of fine dry sand, slightly concave, just under the tail of the pendulum, the sand is in this way lightly grazed, a line more or less long, and almost straight, is traced, directly proportionate to the shaking of the base or of the earth. The upper hook situated above the tail can also serve to /accroché/ (attach) a small mass so that this tail can precisely skim the sand spread underneath. The system is thus more or less adjustable. The whole of this appliance constitutes a seismograph (/sismometre,/ /sismoscope or sismographe/), whatever we want to call it, permitting us to see the intensity of an earthquake! This could detect the slightest movements, barely felt by humans, especially near the epicenters. After many tests he determined that with the same force of the blow, type B, with 102 oscillations per minute, stops after 18 minutes, while type A, with 76 oscillations, stops after 13 minutes, which shows that type B is more sensitive. With a very faint blow, type B balances for 9 minutes and type A for just 4. Perhaps more important in the case of a very violent shock, type B unhooks from the bracket, but not type A, which has a closed loop. With a freshly cut branch, the movement would be greater and last longer. Finally, he tried this apparatus outdoors, but it was impossible, affected by the slightest breeze. So one thinks of the interior chambers of the dolmens, especially those that have the carvings. In his view, that is the reason 16 of the 20 are sculpted in this location. Chapter XI /*Du "Jus" Dans Les Cailloux!*/ * ("Juice" [Electricity] In The Stones!)* There are many approaches open to those who are interested in megaliths. One can buy tourist guides, visit, then buy books on the subject, although some are vague and most add to the confusion. Mereaux ridicules the esoteric groups who study the auras, vibrations and grid systems. He advises participation in a dig, and patient observation, but cautions that official digs use only the meter stick, compass and theodolite. He reminds the investigator that not only dimensions can be measured around a dolmen. When he goes on a ?megalithic? expedition, he has with him: ? A magnetometer of his own construction permitting measurements of the earth?s magnetic variations. It is basically for the specialist, a Schmidt balance, but with improved precision to permit differential measurements. ? An adjustable square with two movable / branches/ (legs) of his own construction, serving to verify the angles that are inaccessible in a vertical plan. ? A precision optical instrument /(Un mesureur d?angle/ /optique de precision )/ to establish the height of the sun, replacing, a sextant. ? Three compasses with mirrors. ? A highly precise Japanese voltmeter, battery op-erated, sensitive to ten-thousandth of a volt and with numerical indications. ? 10 cables, ten meters long, with weak electric resistance, with plugs and couplings. ? 10 copper probes of his own construction with an interchangeable connection system. ? 100 meters of nylon cord and a dozen small metal stakes. ? A precision level and a leveling staff. ? A series of tools; geologist?s hammer, hatchet, knife, pruning shears, brush, box of chalk, a shovel, measuring tape, 2 halogen lamps, 2 cameras (1 classic, 1 instant-Polaroid). ?When I am on the site and the equipment in place, I think of absolutely nothing. I simply recover the various measurements furnished by these instruments, in their cold rigor, whether it is gammas, millivolts or degrees of an angle. I then write them on pre-printed report forms that I have devised. He urges researchers to create their own. It is only after careful examination of these reports that I draw undeniable conclusions.? He affirms that he has never read, on any of his instruments, any connection, not even a distant one, with any religion or anything metaphysical. He believes only what he sees. He has studied more than 20 megaliths in the region extensively, but reports mostly on just a few. He describes in detail how he sets up his probes for voltmeter readings, inside, outside and on top of the dolmen and observes that when taking readings for the whole day, he notices a gradual drop in voltage from 9:30 am to noon, then a gradual rise in the afternoon. A heavy rain cloud instantly dropped the voltage dramatically. The probe out in the field, perhaps 15 meters away registers very low readings most of the time. His magnetometer registers differences of the vertical component of the earth?s magnetic field, often very fast. These variations are related to sunlight and also the sunspot cycle of 11 years. They are strong about 6 am and 6 pm, but diminish at noon. The horizontal component shows little variation and so is of no interest to him, thus his instrument is constructed to show only the vertical component. All measurements are in gammas. The voltage and magnetic variation are related?he mentions the simple phenomenon of electric induction confirmed by Ampere and Faraday. ?The dolmen behaves practically as a /bobine (coil)/, an electrician would say solenoid, in which currents are induced, provoked by the variations, weaker or stronger, of the surrounding magnetic field. But these phenomena are not produced with any intensity unless the dolmen is constructed with crystalline rocks rich in quartz, such as granite. For limestone, basalt and sandstone, for example, the observed values are feeble or almost non-existent. Thus it is the granite that is important and I will return to that.? (p.138) He wondered if the orientation of the roof slab could have any influence and discovered it did. *Dolmen* *Orientation* *Volatge* Mané Lud 81 degrees Northeast 38 mv Mané Rutual 117 degrees Southeast 138 mv Mané Kerioned 189 degrees Southwest 245 mv ?That is to say that the voltage becomes proportionally stronger as the orientation of the roof slab comes closest to the meridian of the magnetic North-South, or in other words as these slabs become more parallel to the line.? (p.141) He has verified similar phenomena, not always identical, but unique in those that have or had carvings! Mereaux began a series of experiments by measuring menhirs. He chose the Géant du Manio, one of the largest in the region, about 6 meters tall and more or less rectangular, with the narrow faces oriented N-S. He planted four of the probes touching the base and others spread out every two metres, noting variations and finding that the extremes repeated every 70 minutes +/- 2-3 minutes. On a cloudy day the voltage was much lower. Thus, at the base of the menhir there is a zone of regular pulsations, positive and negative and it is surrounded at about three metres distance by another zone, fairly stable and weak, but entirely negative. At twelve meters away there is nothing; the ground is neutral. He has no logical explanation, but the menhir does charge and discharge regularly. He needs more equipment to measure a number of spots at the same time. Measurements on five of the standing stones in one of the alignments (Grand Ménec) produced astounding results, readings of up to 1.9 volts variation between the top and bottom of a three metre stone. The voltage diminished as the stone was farther away from its position as part of a cromlech (circle) and as the stones grew smaller. There was less fluctuation in relation to sunlight. He says, ?In my opinion, it is very possible that the west cromlech was a kind of condenser, I would even say more of a concentrator, as long as this does not mean the usage of electricity.? * Above Photo: Le Géant de Manio, The Giant of Manio /(Strong)/* All of the alignments of Grand Ménec and also other alignments, are found on an enormous geologic platform composed essentially of /granulite grenue/ (a sort of granite with very small crystals) without a surface fault. The topsoil layer is very thin and most of the standing stones are really ?placed? on the granular subsurface. These menhirs are thus relatively unstable. He explains the composition of granite, usually about: feldspath 60%, quartz 25%, mica (black & white) 5%, magnetite 4%, other minerals 6%. This average composition can vary greatly from one location to another and certain granites can contain up to 15% of mica and 30% of magnetite. But quartz, like other crystals, is piezoelectric, which is to say it generates electricity when it is compressed and when subjected to shocks or vibrations. So, in simple terms, we find both electricity and magnetism in granite at the same time. The Grand Menhir Brisé, when standing, with its volume of 134 cubic meters, could theoretically create around it, at a distance of 1 metre, a magnetic field of 134,000 gammas, which is close to 1/3 of the earth?s magnetic field. Since granite is not homogenous and there must be some loss, in reality, the field must be about 1800 to 2000 gammas. It is enough to deflect a compass. So the question is, what happens in an area of thousands of menhirs? It is a fact that the menhirs attract lightening. He gives technical explanations of the electric and magnetic phenomena and possible interaction with the stones. What is important is to know writes Mereaux, is that all these phenomena exist and they are measurable, if one goes to the pains of going to the site and not to content oneself with studying it all at a distance. In brief, keep in mind: ? The magnetite contained in the granite, often in great quantity, is a natural magnet that creates around it a certain magnetic field. ? The quartz in granite, during shocks and vibrations caused by earthquakes even tiny ones, generates electricity which also creates another magnetic field, which can become important, even when the shocks are not felt by the human body. ? The atmospheric factors, clouds, magnetic storms and lightning intervene equally whether from the point of view of electricity or magnetism. ? A menhir acts a little like an accumulator which charges and discharges itself and a dolmen acts as a coil, much as a cromlech is probably a sort of concentrator. Chapter XII */Un Cocktail De Feu, De Haches Et De Serpents ... Et Un Livre Que Personne Ne Lit/* *(A Cocktail Of Fire, Of Axes And Of Serpents ... And A Book That No One Reads)* When the neolithic Bretons worked the flint nodules, they must have inevitably noticed that sparks flew. The stone thus ?contained? fire and it seems evident they would see an analogy with lightning, that coming from the stone of the earth, and the lightning coming down and penetrating it. They might then imply a notion of something sacred. (In the old sense of the latin /sacer/ ?that which cannot be touched without being sullied.?) Citing the 1930 Carnac Museum catalogue, he quotes Zacharie Le Rouzic, 1864-1939, who was the chief investigator, excavator and then the conservator of the museum. Quitting school at age 10 to work for the archaeologist Miln, who grew to trust him, he ultimately was responsible for much of what we know today. ?Even today in some Catholic churches, one uses a /briquette/ (a special piece of steel) and a flint flake to light the sacred flame, which burns day and night in front of the main altar. The sacred flame and ritual must be pure, and to be pure, it must come out of the stone...since the beginning of Christianity the sacred flame is extinguished at the Maundy-Thursday mass and relit at the Holy Saturday service, and by this primitive means the priest of Carnac lit the sacred fire?This same flint flake, if picked up outside the church would undeniably be classified as a projectile point.? The notion of relationship between stone and fire, or better yet, between axe and /foudre/?thunder or lightning, is found in practically all traditions. The axe is in fact a symbol of /foudre /and curiously, by a phenomenon of inversion, it also serves as a protection against it. In Brittany, prehistoric stone axes found in the fields by farmers had the reputation of possessing a mysterious power. They called them /?men gurun,?/ stones of thunder. Not only did they protect homes against lightning by burying them in the ground, but they were also used by boiling them in water, to help bring back the flow of milk to cows that had gone dry. * Above Photo: Entrance to the Chamber of Gavrinis / (Strong)/* In certain regions, oral tradition says that thunder falls in two ways, ?in fire? and ?in stone.? The first burns, the second breaks (/brise/). He believes this also explains the symbolism of the numerous superb ?votive? ceremonial axes, sometimes of a large size and often of a green color, which are discovered all over the world and that certainly were never used for hunting, war or agriculture. Three hundred metres from the Géant du Manio, previously discussed, is a four metre tall menhir. At its base, the soil was disturbed, and, in 1922, carvings of five wavy lines were discovered that would have been buried originally. * (Figure 13 )* He feels they represent serpents. At the base, in the soil at a depth of 20 cm, five polished axes were found, four diorite and one fibrolite, aligned vertically, cutting edge up. In Gavrinis we also find three vertical serpents, next to three axes, cutting edge up. Also in Gavrinis we see other vertical serpents and 30 axes, also edge up, except for two. He refers to them as /haches non emmanchées /(non-hafted). Both motifs are rare and, again, they are found only in the monuments situated near and around the Gulf of Morbihan. Aside from Gavrinis, we know of only eight of these engraved axe motifs. * Above Figure 13: Menhir of the Serpents and Details from the Dolmen of Gavrinis /(Mereaux, p.161)/* Mereaux feels that for a brief instant, during a storm, lightning seems to undulate in the sky, like a serpent; one is a symbol of the other. We know that European serpents hibernate in winter, at a depth of 10 to 25 cm. We can see the juxtaposition of elements having between them an analogous relationship, the stone which contains the fire of the earth and the serpents that are manifested in the fire of the sky. Note the relationship to the electricity between the base and top of the menhirs at Menec. There is a unique dolmen at l?Ile Longue at the entrance to the gulf. It is concealed in a partially destroyed cairn and difficult to visit. The corridor is classic, but the chamber is corbelled, the only one in this region and rare in the rest of Armorique. There are five carvings, one no longer visible. Three carvings are of special interest. *(Figure 14)* The first two are on the underside of the roof slabs of the corridor. It is generally referred to as a shield. Mereaux sees in this a representation of magnetic lines of force. The third figure is well known and there are varied interpretations of this reversed escutcheon. Some see a shield with two handles, others an idol with hair, and Le Rouzic called it /la marmite/ (the pot). *Above Figure 14: Dolmen of L'Ile-Longue /(Mereaux, p.164)/* A friend of Mereaux, Robert Le Cloirec, who worked at the Carnac museum for 15 years, sees it as the course of the sun, the base D is the night, the sides A & B represent respectively the dawn and twilight. *(Figure 15*) The lateral handles symbolize the rising in the east and setting in the west, and the two notches indicate the precise moment when the sun was already totally visible after the rising and entirely visible before setting. The point on top marks the passage at the zenith, and the exterior fringe, carved all around the top part, between the handles, is the solar rays. Mereaux approves of the idea and notes that the fringe is longer near the rising and setting than at the zenith. This design is found in other monuments, sometimes in a simplified form. Recall that this ?ogival? form is found in the three adjacent chambers of Table des Marchands, Mané Lud and Mané-Rutual. * Above Figure 15: Carving from L'Ile-Longue Seen as a Calendar Marker /(Mereaux, p.165)/* Mereaux then turns his attention to one of the most imposing monuments in the Carnac region, the massive tumulus on the small island of Gavrinis near the tip of Locmariaquer in the Gulf of Morbihan. There are 29 uprights in the chamber passage at Gavrinis and Mereaux has indicated those with special designs which are not in the same style as most on *(Figures 16 & 17).* Note that he divides the designs on the uprights into three sections, A-B, B-C and the chamber. The /seuils/ (thresholds) divide the areas. He finds great significance in the differences between the uprights with no decoration, those with only /gravures diverse/ (ordinary carvings) and those with motifs encountered elsewhere. * Above Figure 16: Schematic Plan of the Dolmen of the Island of Gavrinis /(Mereaux, p.169)/* * Above Figure 17: Plan of the Chamber of Gavrinis /(Le Roux, 1985)/* The two blocks of pure quartz, #7 and #11, have very faint traces of carving, but no perceptible images. He bitterly regrets that we will never know what was carved on them. It is very important that the quartz had to be brought from a distance of 10 Km. It is much harder than the granite of the region. He feels the chevrons may represent a plus and minus, perhaps the electric pulsations, while the concentric half-ovals represent an electric or magnetic field. * Above Photos: Carved Symbols along the entrance Passage of Gavrinis /(Le Souézec)/* Upright #15, right rear of the chamber, is the most interesting, because it has a small triangle with five slightly curved lines emerging from the top. The only one in the region, it strongly resembles the way we illustrated a comet or meteorite fall in the last century. He relates this to the axe symbol of / foudre/ and the magnetic field of the half-ovals. In 1981 he suggested that *(Figure 18) *represented a magnetic field; now he is certain, although this opinion is not shared by everyone. He has not done any electric or magnetic measurements at Gavrinis and he has no plans to do so?he feels there is not a physical phenomenon here. Gavrinis is not a place of experiences, it is a place of knowing and teaching. * Above Figure 18: Magnetic Fields Produced by a Magnet /(Mereaux, p. 174)/* Mereaux does not believe it was temple or a tomb; it has a /menec/, a memory. The whole represents something that he would dare to call science and that was evidently only accessible to initiates, members of a certain elite. This elite, no matter what the form or the level, must have existed in that era, as in all societies, in a kind of intellectual segregation. This splendid dolmen, the most beautiful in the world, is a veritable book for those capable of reading it. He finds it impossible to believe that all this was only a graphic expression of a certain spirit of research, pure or fundamental as we would say today, with no possibility of practical application. And this is what he writes about in the following chapters. Chapter XIII */Un Sens Magnétique Mal Connu ... Ou Mé Connu?/* * (A Magnetic Sense That Is Poorly Understood ... Or Misunderstood?)* In this chapter, Mereaux investigates changes in the earth?s magnetic field. Based on studies carried on for over 300 years, it appears that the field is less intense now. In 2000 BC the intensity of the field was almost double that of today. We can estimate that if it declines at the same rate it will be almost nothing in 1500 - 2000 years. The moon also had a much stronger magnetic field and a number of reversals, the last one well before the historic period. The normal atmospheric pressure is about 1 kilogram per sq. cm, and the average individual has a total skin surface of about 1-1/2 sq. metres, thus producing a total pressure of 15 tons! Many people are very sensitive to a modification, even very slight, of this pressure and feel a sensation of real comfort or discomfort. We are also sensitive, some more than others, to changes in the oxygen levels, at heights of only 2000 metres. This can create heart problems as well. This ?mountain illness? is also partly due to the lower atmospheric pressure which at that altitude is only 78% of sea level. We live in a changing magnetic field, not only that of the earth but also that from man-made pollution from radio, TV, radar waves, etc., plus the enormous amount of iron in buildings, cars and machines. In the neolithic, before the iron age, man was not ?magnetically polluted? as we are; they were only subjected to the natural magnetism that they were capable of feeling and probably knew how to exploit. Our civilization of iron and magnetic waves has certainly contributed to the degeneration of that faculty which must have been a kind of sixth sense that still exists in some people today. The brain is an excellent generator of electric currents and also magnetic fields that, while very weak, are detectable by a magnetometer. The total energy of cerebral metabolism is about 20 watts and that of the whole body is 60-66 watts, enough to light a bulb! Doctors and biologists know that the slightest movement of contraction produces a weak electric current and inversely that a small electric stimulation produces a contraction. Our brain and bodies are thus a veritable electro-magnetic apparatus, subject to the influence of electricity and magnetism. The author gives a detailed description of experiments with bacteria in water. They always form bands aligning parallel to the magnetic field, and in a natural environment they orient themselves to the north and south poles, even when killed! They contain minute amounts of magnetite and so are literally ?living compasses.? Scientists have discovered magnetite in bees, pigeons, some marine mollusks, dolphins, tuna, sea turtles, bats and some butterflies. In ?superior vertebrates? the ethnoid bone, situated at the root of the nose, riddled with holes, is composed of many cells rich in iron and with nerve endings. This may be where we find the location of the magnetic sense. Unfortunately, very little of this research has been done in France. Chapter XIV */Une Science Plus Aavancée Qu'On Ne Pourrait Le Croire/* * (A Science More Advanced Than We Could Imagine)* Mereaux feels that the neolithic peoples? knowledge of the physical world went further than we can imagine and wonders if there are other areas as well where their knowledge was more advanced than ours, for example the human body. A newly named discipline called paleopathology deals with the maladies that affected ancient people. He is most impressed with the huge amount of evidence of trepanation, surgery on the skull, which has been widely reported in the scientific literature. He suggests that before agreeing to the operation, a patient must have had confidence in the surgeon and the efficacy of some kind of drug or anesthetic. We have all read of the trepanned skulls, sometimes with more than one hole, that showed clear signs of healing, hence recovery. What particularly impressed Mereaux was the fact that some holes were cut after the patient died, sometimes of another cause, and with a healed hole. This indicates a scientific interest in doing a post mortem to learn more. He wants to emphasize that neolithic man was intelligent, was eager for knowledge, had scientific curiosity and a spirit for what he calls research. There have been 240-280 generations since that time and some human biology has been modified. In the neolithic and before, man lived /in/ nature, was an intrinsic part of it. With a very small population density, he didn?t destroy or pollute and lived in harmony with nature. His senses were sharper than ours, which he probably needed for survival. Did neolithic man possess faculties we no longer have? Many have asked that question. Mereaux discusses genes and causes for mutations, ionizing radiation, X-ray, chemicals, ultraviolet. He would add magnetic fields and telluric lines. Rather than say the early inhabitants of the region were mutants, he says instead, ?it is we of the present time who are a kind of mutant, in degeneration, in the sense that we have completely lost certain faculties because of non-use, or better, that these faculties perhaps still exist in us, but in our line of evolution, we have lost the method of using it. And I also think that there exist among us rare individuals who have instinctively recovered the way to use it, even if they are not always aware of it.? (p. 194) Returning once more to Gavrinis, and stopping at the threshold and looking up, we see two signs of a ?U? form. These are the two designs we see first because the uprights on both sides have no decorations. These are placed over the door to symbolize all that we will see in the dolmen. The ?U? form reminds Mereaux of the curved wand used by some /radiesthesists /(dowsers). Considering how much these people knew, it would not be surprising if they used this instrument to detect magnetic fields because, contrary to what is generally believed, the dowser?s wand is not influenced by underground water, but by variations in the earth?s magnetic field. As a key reference, he cites Yves Rocard, who died in 1992, almost 90 years old. Physicist, mathematician of international renown, member of the French Atomic Energy Commission, and of the National Center of Scientific Research, formerly director of the physics laboratory of L?Ecole Normale Superieure, Rocard had published three articles since 1964 in high level journals. In his last book /La Science et les Sourciers/, (/Science and Dowsers/) in 1989, he relates all the trials he did and demonstrates irrefutably that it is not the ?waves? emitted by the water that guide a dowser, but that he is sensitive to variations in the earth?s magnetic field. Simply put: all geologic irregularities cause a local modification of this field and produce telluric currents which cause a nerve impulse and a light muscular contraction in the dowser. It is this unconscious muscular reaction that moves the wand or pendulum and it is not these instruments that miraculously put themselves in motion by the effect of mysterious effluvium. The good dowser often discovers water, but not always. Why? Because underground water always chooses the easiest path in the geologic seam and thus has a tendency to accumulate or circulate in underground faults. According to Rocard, it appears that certain people can sense a local variation of only 30 gammas, which is very small and demonstrates a high sensitivity. ?Rocard?s book is difficult to understand, full of incomprehensible formulas (for the average person), but they are needed for the demonstration of certain phenomena.? (p.197) Mereaux worked very hard to verify all the results and found only one tiny error, probably a typo! By what physiological process does the dowser react to the magnetic variation? This is what Rocard tried to put in evidence by a variety of experiments on himself, his family and even his dog. They were conducted with scientific rigor, with equipment of his own construction and a magnetometer. Mereaux re-did many of his tests and obtained identical results, with very slight differences due to the variation in magnetic fields at different locations. ?Yves Rocard arrived at the conclusion in 1983 that we possess centers sensitive to magnetism in the crook of the knee, in the arch of the eyebrow, the heels and the neck, and this sensitivity can have as a source at these places, only crystals of magnetite, as in bacteria, algae, pigeons and other animals and higher mammals. He is on guard against false dowsers, braggarts and masqueraders, where the object is to exploit the immeasurable human credulity by pretending to find lost objects, even lost people, using photos, hair and even road maps.? (p.198) Rocard laments that there is a form of censure of knowledge when dowsing is a part of an experiment. The research is buried as though it were scandalous. Even if an interesting experiment is done, it is impossible for it to reach the conventional scientific community. Mereaux says ?The stick of supple wood permits the detection of a magnetic field or local variation by the intermediary of localized receptors in the human body. And our organism is thus an ?anthropomagnetometer,? a word created in 1968 by the physicist Zaboj Harvalik who emigrated to the US and was scientific consultant to the Advanced Materials Concepts Agency, a branch of the American Army.? (p.200) Of all the types of sticks used by the dowsers (he does not speak of the pendulum), he is most interested in the wooden stick. No one knows when this instrument was first used; some authors think the Chinese did more than 2000 BC, but we can?t be sure, and we could, if we want, go back to Moses on Mount Horeb, who made water flow from a rock by hitting it with his wand. * Above Figure 19: The "Yoke" Symbol from Mane Lud and Gavrinis /(Mereaux, p.195)/* *Figure 19* shows eight sticks in a ?U? form that have a resemblance to our /jougs/ (yokes) of Gavrinis and that could easily be made from a thin, supple hazel twig. Difficult for you to admit? Perhaps, but there is something else. The roof slab of Gavrinis is a piece of the one at Table des Marchands *(Figure 20)** *and the designs continue from one to the other. Note the form circled in *Figure 21*.? In Mereaux?s opinion, the resemblance to a dowser?s stick is striking?forked, as those used today. If we put the two parts together, this ?instrumental? stick is in its right place, in the middle of the two ?/haches-//charrue/?, which he sees as a seismograph, and bordered by two bovines. Images of bovines are totally unknown in all of the western European megaliths. Between the North Cape of Norway and Gibraltar, we find only three representations and all three are in Locmariaquer: Two are on this stone and the other on the stone ?model? of Mané-er-H?roeck. There must be a connection with the whole megalithic area here. Why is it impossible to tell if these bovines are male or female? He believes that they can only be a stylized design of the bull, eternal symbol of virility and fecundity. * Above Right Figure 20: The Cap Stones from the Tables des Marchands and Gavrinis shown in their Original Arrangement (Mereaux, p.202)* * Above Left Figure 21: Detail of the Capestone from Gavrinis /(Mereaux, p.201)/* In a tumulus called ?le Petit-Mont? at Arzon, * (Figure 22)* one of the uprights has a pair of feet, about which much has been written. In his previous book, the author explored the possible linguistic connection between /sol /(ground, earth) and /soleil/ (sun) and /?plantes des pieds?/ (footprints). By planting his feet on the earth could man form a link between the earth?s magnetism and the sun? * Right Figure 22: Engraved Feet from the Chamber of the Petit-Mont /(Mereaux, p.204)/* It was Yves Rocard, years later, who clarified the question. To study the magnetic sensitivity of the foot, he used very tiny ferrite magnets, two mm on each side, and found that the principal center is situated in the center and six cm in front of hump of the heel bone (where all the body weight rests), and less than one cm from the sole of the foot. A second center, a little less sensitive, is in the big toe. These two biomagnetic receptors are thus situated only a few mm from the earth for a barefoot human being, and susceptible of being directly influenced by the normal earth?s magnetic field and also by that field produced by the masses of granite, superimposed on the geomagnetic field, and which certainly could have become very intense during the vibrations of an earthquake. And the effects must have become more important when these bare feet were placed on the granite slab of a dolmen like that of Mané-Lud for example. As we have seen that the sun has a direct action on geomagnetism, Mereaux believes this demonstrates the relation between feet, the earth and the sun, and in addition, two of the designs at Petit-Mont are of a solar wheel, one of which has a diameter of more than 50 cm. A physician suggested to Rocard that there are biomagnetic receptors on the sides of the arch of the eyebrow. Note that the ethnoid bone, mentioned earlier, is in the center of these receptors. We can verify that it is the vertical component of the earth?s field that influences the magnetite in our body and that it is precisely this component that is subject to great variations. Moreover that is why the ?/sens sourcier/? (the dowser?s sense), disappears completely in the vicinity of the equator where this vertical component disappears. In the dolmen of Petit-Mont there are also many chevrons, yokes, crooks and a ?shouldered idol? accompanied by axes. He feels that this also can be a ?/livre de magnetisme,/? a book similar to Gavrinis. Mereaux goes into detailed reports of experiments by a medical doctor proving the various effects of magnets: beneficial effects on the human body, the nervous system, cardio-vascular system, respiratory system, fractures, inflammation etc. These curative effects of magnetism are not new; he feels that traces can be found in Pharonic Egypt. Still, he cites many examples of false claims by charlatans of the curative power of magnets. The public has been exploited for many years. Devoting five pages of opinions by a variety of authors as to the true purpose of the megaliths, and finding no good single reason, Mereaux expresses skepticism of all the proposals. These range from the ridiculous; extra-terrestrials used the alignments to guide them in their search for uranium; they were once covered by branches and so were related to Algonquian long-houses, to more sober theories by well known archaeologists such as Jean-Pierre Mohen. In his beautiful volume /Le Monde des/ M/égalithes/ (The World of Megaliths), Mohen envisions Carnac as a ceremonial center and a witness to the spirituality of our ancestors. Mereaux is particularly annoyed by Jean Markale who insists on relating everything to the Celts. ?With many good intentions and imagination, some can perhaps explain only the dolmens, others only the menhirs, but none of these explanations can apply comprehensively to all these types of monuments. It seems evident then that these constructions had other reasons. In my view, only several motives of major importance and in direct relation of one to the other could have been the origin of the conception and the realization of the extraordinary monuments, because, I repeat, it would be absolutely senseless to think they manipulated thousands of tons of stone for only one reason.? (p.215) ?We will now examine, point by point, in the simplest way, all that can help guide an argument that I hope is logical. First of all, geometry. It is no longer doubtful that certain megaliths or their placement are based on a fundamental geometry; here are a few examples: The /allée coudée/ of Pierres Plates, constructed on a base of two pentagons, is displaced 18 degrees. The four / allées coudées/ in the region all have characteristics that are purely geometric as are all the multiple angles we find everywhere in the same region. The rectangle of Crucuno is composed of 22 menhirs forming two Pythagorean right triangles of 3-4-5 and exactly oriented to the risings of the sun and moon. ?This brings in astronomy that we can believe is manifested in certain terrestrial geometry, at least in part, because it seems that the astronomy was not the main object, but a means permitting the determination of something else.? He discusses the work of the Thoms, father and son, whom he admired as researchers, but he disagreed with their conclusions. Unfortunately, Alexander Thom, the father, is no longer here to respond. ?The work of the Thom family showed after all, that there was manifestly an astronomical intention by the builders of the Breton megalithic monuments, at least for some. But the Thoms only saw pure astronomy, for the prediction of eclipses for example, and nothing else. However, they should have integrated all this in the context of the region, which is exceptional as I have already said.? (p.218) He criticizes Aubrey Burl, whose guide book of Brittany is aimed at tourists, with many errors, showing that he did not visit many of the sites. Mereaux quotes the last paragraph of Pierre-Roland Giot?s book /Prehistoire de Bretagne/: ?By all means, the excessive amount of work implied in the placement of the large menhirs or the vast megalithic groups, like the huge tombs, reflects certain characteristics of societies with master builders. Whatever the form, there was an organization with terrific efficiency. And truly, if the occupation with astronomy and even astrology had a large part in the motivation of these builders, it is very possible, as has been suggested, that they constituted a caste of dowsers, sages, or priests, devoting themselves full time to esoterism and traditional knowledge.? Mereaux believes he has demonstrated the relationship between the megaliths and the / sous-sol(/ subsoil). ?The faults and their orientation; the nature of the earth (granite, quartz etc); the placement and the structure of certain menhirs and dolmens, suggest that they are? perhaps not generators or transformers, but at least receptors of energy. This particularly curious south Armorican geology inevitably leads us to take into account the earthquakes that are its normal consequence, with all that implies, again as supplementary secondary effects, magnetic and/or electric.? (p.219) ?To repeat briefly: in the geometry, astronomy, geology, earthquakes and electro-magnetic phenomena, I see not only a logical sequence, but also five motifs, which, not taken one by one, but united because they are dependent on each other, seem to me to be the primary reason for the erection of megaliths in the region of Carnac and of Locmariaquer?I say, ?the first reason? but what was the final objective?... The essential objective was to obtain certain effects on the human body.? (p.220) Chapter XV /*Texte D'Entracte ... Et Aussi De Mise Au Point*/ * (An Interval Of Clarification)* Once again, Mereaux gives great credit to Zacharie Le Rouzic, protégé of the Scottish archaeologist James Miln, who was the founder of the prehistoric museum at Carnac. When Miln died in 1881, Rouzic was only 17, but Miln had left him in charge of the museum under the direction of the mayor of Carnac. He became official conservator of the museum only in 1920, but undertook hundreds of digs and had over 120 megalithic sites declared historic monuments. He restored 130 sites and wrote 105 works and notes relating to the digs. Mereaux defends his reputation because there has been a tendency of late to refer to the old museum as dusty and of little merit. Chapter XVI /*De L'Usage Des Pierres Et Des Trous*/ * (The Use Of Stones And Holes)* In 1909 Rouzic wrote a priceless volume recalling all he could gather about legends, ancient customs and traditions. Much has been written about the folk traditions of young women going to the stones to find a husband, to be able to become pregnant, to have a male child, etc. There are many variations, but most involve rubbing against the stone sitting on it with a bare bottom, sliding down a stone, sometimes at specific times, often relating to the moon. There are tales of placing a child on a particular stone for a specific ailment. The water collected in depressions on top of the dolmen supposedly had therapeutic effects, and women also rubbed their bellies with the dust of the stones. Many of these notions related to the stones still survive. Mereaux discusses the worldwide prevalence and variety of myths, quotes some authorities. ?One must ask, as did a humorist in telling about all these fertility practices: ?If they never really worked, why continue all this time??? * Above Photo: Men-an-Tol, Cornwall, England /(Manley)/* There were a few ?chambered barrows? in the area that have oval holes cut in one of the uprights or in an interior partition. Almost no bones have been found in these and he wonders if their construction didn?t have more to do with the special hole called /le trou de l?âme /(hole of the soul.)/ /He discusses at length the famous Men-an-Tol in Cornwall which consists of a doughnut shaped stone set on edge, through which a person is supposed to crawl through a certain number of times, sometimes in the direction of the sun. For example, children with rickets were passed through three times then laid on the grass toward the east. It was also good for scrofula, rheumatism, fevers and spinal problems. ?What was the effect of a holed stone on the human organism, especially if it was granite? In passing through the hole, one is literally placed in the center of and completely surrounded by the magnetic field, a little like a roast in the microwave? We can also now say that, according to the work of Rocard, it is the vertical component of the geomagnetic field that most affects the human body, and that this influence is greater when it is done laterally.? (p.234) Téviec and Hoedic are two small islands off the coast that were still attached to the mainland around 5000 BC! Some of the earliest tools, small dolmens, menhirs and burial cists were found with many skeletons. They are from the mesolithic age, preceding the neolithic. They lived a very simple life with a poor diet, yet we must realize they were living at the same time as the beginning of the construction of the megaliths where the earliest date is 4950 BC (Kercado). They had many maladies, some congenital, often spinal problems and arthritis. They were short in stature, averaging 1.59 m for men and 1.51m for women. While there are certain traits of the morphology found in the population today, the average height today is 1.68 m. /?Ce ramassis d?eclopés/ (this group of cripples) has survived instead of disappearing, and I come back now to the question I asked, perhaps prematurely, in the early pages of the book: ?The megalithic builders must have chosen: to survive or to build monuments.? But they did both! Can we then argue that the fact of the construction was absolutely indispensable to the survival of their people or perhaps only a portion of them? Who knows? To choose between survival or astronomy or the absolute cult of the dead, I think the choice is obvious: The megaliths literally materialized a certain vital force, and if we consider their magnetic and electric context, they are then stones for the living.? (p.237) In discussing the work of several researchers in magnet therapy, Mereaux provides references for those wishing to pursue the subject, but warns against self treatment because the effects are not always beneficial. One pole of the magnet may have an anti-inflammatory effect, but not the opposite, and while beneficial results are possible in some precise situations, harm can be done in the hands of an unskilled practitioner. He gives details of recent experiments at /l?Unite de/ /Biologie de la Fecondation/ (French National Institute of Agronomy - unit of the biology of fecundity). They have succeeded in producing a rabbit with no male?parthenogenesis! This involved subjecting freshly removed ovum to an intermittent electric current while in a bath of calcium ions (this is a poor translation, very complex). Somehow the egg divides. He connects this to the alternating positive and negative currents at some stones?they would have an effect of polarizing and depolarizing the membranes of the egg. If the male spermatozoa was weak, this stimulation would help. Of course the woman would have to rub herself on the stone after intercourse. Naturally this hasn?t been verified, but seems a logical explanation for some of the beliefs. ?The fundamental question in your eyes is probably: is all this still functioning today? Perhaps I have not answered all your questions, but nevertheless I think I have introduced all the elements?and I leave you to direct your ideas, for or against what I propose?I have had several experiences that I have not written about, and one of them left me with a bad /souvenir/ (memory), because at a given moment my heartbeat, which is normally 63, at rest or standing, went to 85 in five or six minutes and I did not continue.? (p.240) ?If you want to really ?feel? the megaliths, risk doing what I did several times with no danger. In March or September, with a clear sky and as close to the full moon as possible, near midnight, walk barefoot or even totally nude in the rows of menhirs, but not at Grand Menec because the police station is close by and they would not appreciate it! Rather do it at Kermario* and for a long moment, lean against the big, squat menhir?.I don?t know exactly what you will feel, physically or psychically, because this depends on your organism, but I guarantee that this will at least leave you with a curious and indefinable impression, agreeable or not.? He cautions against doing it on just any stone in the region, because without doubt this could cause unknown consequences. *Above Photo: Table des Marchands, from the National Geographic, 1923* ?Carnac is certainly not the place where we can find a remedy, even psychological?and it is thus completely useless to want to stay here because the megalithic monuments are not generators of miraculous cures, except perhaps, one never knows, if one knows exactly the right method?but go, in spite of everything, because the area is so lovely?and with a bit of luck you will undoubtedly have the good fortune to see that...? La-bas pres de la dune Dans les ajoncs bretons La nuit au clair de lune Les korrigans dansent en rond Theodore Botrel (1868 -1925 &nb