9 stops
Carnac
A walk through the Carnac megaliths, from granite alignments and cromlechs to the broken menhir and the passage graves of Locmariaquer.
Stop 1
dolmen of Porz Guen
Est. 4000–3000 BCEType comparisonTypical for this type
Two corridor-type dolmens at Saint-Pierre-Quiberon standing close to a cliff edge, excavated in 1883 and restored a year later; their chambers held the remains of at least 37 individuals.
Stop 2
Pierres Plates
Est. 4500–3300 BCEType comparisonTypical for this type
A gallery grave at Locmariaquer, 27 to 28 metres long and bent, whose engravings include shield-shaped cartouches divided by vertical lines and filled with circles and horseshoe motifs.
Stop 3
tumulus du Mané-Lud
Est. 5000–3000 BCEType comparisonTypical for this type
A levelled mound at Locmariaquer holding a western passage grave whose chamber walls carry U-shaped signs, axes, boats and birds, carvings whose meaning remains debated.
Stop 4
menhir d'Er Grah
c. 5000–450 BCEStated by the sourceEstimated
The broken menhir of the Locmariaquer megaliths is the largest known single block of stone transported and erected by Neolithic people: 20.6 metres long and 330 tons.
Stop 5
Alignement de Sainte-Barbe
Est. 3300–2500 BCEType comparisonTypical for this type
An alignment in Plouharnel where 37 granite menhirs survive in two parallel rows and a transverse row, forming a rectangular enclosure open to the south-east.
Stop 6
Menhirs de Kerderff
Est. 2800–1800 BCEType comparisonTypical for this type
Two standing stones about 220 metres north of the hamlet of Kerderff, 5.35 and 3.45 metres high, that still stand at the site today.
Stop 7
Carnac stones
c. 4500–3300 BCEArtefact styleEstimated
An exceptionally dense group of megalithic sites on Brittany's south coast, including more than 3,000 standing stones of local granite, whose three great rows are Ménec, Kermario and Kerlescan.
Stop 8
Cromlechs von Kerlescan
Est. 4500–3300 BCEType comparisonTypical for this type
Two stone enclosures in the forest of Kerlescan, 250 metres apart: a circle of 42 stones about 90 metres across and a square of 39 stones beside the alignment.
Stop 9
alignements du Petit-Ménec
Est. 3300–2500 BCEType comparisonTypical for this type
A group of 101 menhirs in seven east-facing and three north-east-facing rows at La Trinité-sur-Mer, extending the Kerlescan alignment for about 350 metres.