Chris Scarre
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199281626
- eISBN:
- 9780191804311
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199281626.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
This chapter examines the origins of the megalithic monuments of Brittany. It describes the Grand Menhir Brise at Locmariaquer and the Kerloas menhir in Finistere and analyses whether they constitute ...
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This chapter examines the origins of the megalithic monuments of Brittany. It describes the Grand Menhir Brise at Locmariaquer and the Kerloas menhir in Finistere and analyses whether they constitute the earliest megalithic monuments of Brittany or the first stage in a long tradition of marking and modifying the natural landscape. It also investigates whether the shaped and carved menhirs of coastal Morbihan were preceded by an earlier series of ‘unshaped’ menhirs and what do the shapes of the standing stones represent.Less
This chapter examines the origins of the megalithic monuments of Brittany. It describes the Grand Menhir Brise at Locmariaquer and the Kerloas menhir in Finistere and analyses whether they constitute the earliest megalithic monuments of Brittany or the first stage in a long tradition of marking and modifying the natural landscape. It also investigates whether the shaped and carved menhirs of coastal Morbihan were preceded by an earlier series of ‘unshaped’ menhirs and what do the shapes of the standing stones represent.
Chris Scarre
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199281626
- eISBN:
- 9780191804311
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199281626.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Ancient History / Archaeology
Brittany has long been famous for its Neolithic monuments, which include the largest prehistoric standing stone ever to have been erected in Western Europe, and the spectacular Carnac alignments. How ...
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Brittany has long been famous for its Neolithic monuments, which include the largest prehistoric standing stone ever to have been erected in Western Europe, and the spectacular Carnac alignments. How and by whom were they built? This fully illustrated study aims to answer those questions using the results of recent French research on these sites, along with the insights provided by field studies. The emphasis is on the landscape setting of these monuments, and how that landscape may have influenced or inspired the construction of megalithic tombs and settings of standing stones. The development of the monuments is set within a chronological narrative, from the last hunter-gatherers of the late sixth millennium BC and the arrival of the first farmers, down to the end of the Neolithic period 3,000 years later.Less
Brittany has long been famous for its Neolithic monuments, which include the largest prehistoric standing stone ever to have been erected in Western Europe, and the spectacular Carnac alignments. How and by whom were they built? This fully illustrated study aims to answer those questions using the results of recent French research on these sites, along with the insights provided by field studies. The emphasis is on the landscape setting of these monuments, and how that landscape may have influenced or inspired the construction of megalithic tombs and settings of standing stones. The development of the monuments is set within a chronological narrative, from the last hunter-gatherers of the late sixth millennium BC and the arrival of the first farmers, down to the end of the Neolithic period 3,000 years later.
