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The Locmariaquer megaliths are a complex of
The broken
Image:Bretagne_Morbihan_Locmariaquer_14015.jpg, Grand Menhir
Image:Bretagne_Morbihan_Locmariaquer_14018.jpg, Grand Menhir
Image:Bretagne_Morbihan_Locmariaquer_14020.jpg, Grand Menhir
File:034 Trois des morceaux du Grand Menhir brisé.jpg, Grand Menhir and Table des Marchand
File:Grand Menhir Er Grah Locmariaquer.jpg, The Broken Menhir seen from the tumulus of Er Grah
The Table des Marchand is a large dolmen containing a number of decorations. The main capstone of the chamber includes a large carving on its underside depicting an axe, and part of a carved depiction of a plough, apparently pulled by oxen. This fragment indicates that the capstone was originally part of the broken menhir, since the design matches up with carvings on the broken remains across the breaks. Other parts were used in the
File:Bretagne Morbihan Locmariaquer 14011.jpg, Table des Marchand
File:T 2 Cairn Table des Marchand C.jpg, Table des Marchand, entrance corridor
File:Locmariaquer Table des Marchand (interieur).jpg, Interior of the Table des Marchand
File:Locmariaquer Table des Marchand dalle plafond.jpg, Engraving on the Table des Marchand ceiling
File:T 3 Cairn Table des Marchand C.jpg, Table des Marchand, interior
File:Locmariaquer, Tumulus Er Grah - panoramio.jpg, Table des Marchand
The Er-Grah tumulus is long. It was probably originally constructed in the fifth millennium BC as a cairn, which was extended in both directions. A pavement surrounded the stepped structure. The capstone indicates that the monument was completed at around 3,300 BC. According to A. W. R. Whittle, "In front of the south facade of the primary phase of the long cairn of Er Grah, close to where the menhir Brise originally stood...a pair of domesticated cattle were found in a pit. Radiocarbon determinations suggest a date in the late sixth and early fifth millennium BC."A. W. R. Whittle. ''The Archaeology of People: Dimensions of Neolithic Life'', 2003, Routledge.
File:Locmariaquer 2008 PD 52.JPG
File:Locmariaquer 2008 PD 57.JPG
File:Locmariaquer 2008 PD 58.JPG
File:033 L'extension sud, très arasée, du cairn d'Er-Grah à Locmariaquer.jpg
Official website
* Prehistoric Europe *
Neolithic
The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
constructions in Locmariaquer, Brittany
Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...
. They comprise the elaborate Er-Grah tumulus passage grave
A passage grave or passage tomb consists of one or more burial chambers covered in earth or stone and having a narrow access passage made of large stones. These structures usually date from the Neolithic Age and are found largely in Western Europ ...
, a dolmen
A dolmen, () or portal tomb, is a type of single-chamber Megalith#Tombs, megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the Late Neolithic period (4000 ...
known as the ''Table des Marchand'' and "The Broken Menhir of Er Grah", the largest known single block of stone to have been transported and erected by Neolithic people.
The Broken Menhir of Er Grah
The broken menhir
A menhir (; from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large upright stone, emplaced in the ground by humans, typically dating from the European middle Br ...
, erected around 4700 BC at the same time as another 18 blocks nearby, is thought to have been broken around 4000 BC. Measuring and with a weight of 330 tons, the stone is from a rocky outcrop located several kilometres away from Locmariaquer. The impressive dimensions of this menhir
A menhir (; from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large upright stone, emplaced in the ground by humans, typically dating from the European middle Br ...
still divide specialists about the techniques used for transport and erection, but the fact that this was achieved during the Neolithic era remains remarkable.
Worked over its entire surface, the monument bears a sculpture representing a "hatchet-plough". Unfortunately, today this is seriously eroded and very difficult to see.
Destruction
It is not known what caused the menhir to topple and break into the four pieces that are now seen. At one time it was believed that the stone had never stood upright, but archaeological findings have proven that it did. The most popular theory is that the stone was deliberately pulled down and broken. Certainly other menhirs that accompanied it were removed and reused in the construction of tombs anddolmens
A dolmen, () or portal tomb, is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the Late Neolithic period (40003000 BCE) and w ...
nearby. However, in recent years, some archaeologists have favoured the explanation of an earthquake
An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...
or tremor, and this theory is supported by a computer model.
Gallery
Table des Marchand
The Table des Marchand is a large dolmen containing a number of decorations. The main capstone of the chamber includes a large carving on its underside depicting an axe, and part of a carved depiction of a plough, apparently pulled by oxen. This fragment indicates that the capstone was originally part of the broken menhir, since the design matches up with carvings on the broken remains across the breaks. Other parts were used in the tumulus
A tumulus (: tumuli) is a mound of Soil, earth and Rock (geology), stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, mounds, howes, or in Siberia and Central Asia as ''kurgans'', and may be found through ...
and in the nearby dolmen of Gavrinis, on a nearby island. The stone at the back of the chamber contained an engraved stele with whorls and arched decorations which may represent fields of crops.
The dolmen was fully exposed and above ground until it was excavated and rebuilt inside a cairn in 1993, reconstructing its original appearance and protecting its contents.
Gallery
Er-Grah tumulus
The Er-Grah tumulus is long. It was probably originally constructed in the fifth millennium BC as a cairn, which was extended in both directions. A pavement surrounded the stepped structure. The capstone indicates that the monument was completed at around 3,300 BC. According to A. W. R. Whittle, "In front of the south facade of the primary phase of the long cairn of Er Grah, close to where the menhir Brise originally stood...a pair of domesticated cattle were found in a pit. Radiocarbon determinations suggest a date in the late sixth and early fifth millennium BC."A. W. R. Whittle. ''The Archaeology of People: Dimensions of Neolithic Life'', 2003, Routledge.
Gallery
See also
* Carnac Stones *List of megalithic sites
This is a list of monoliths organized according to the size of the largest block of stone on the site. A monolith is a large stone which has been used to build a structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. In this list at l ...
Official website
* Prehistoric Europe *
Neolithic Europe
The European Neolithic is the period from the arrival of Neolithic (New Stone Age) technology and the associated population of Early European Farmers in Europe, (the approximate time of the first farming societies in Greece) until –1700 BC (t ...
References
Bibliography
* Charles-Tanguy Le Roux, Éric Gaumé, Yannick Lecerf, Jean-Yves Tinevez, ''Monuments mégalithiques à Locmariaquer (Morbihan): Le long tumulus d'Er Grah dans son environnement'', CNRS éditions, 2007, {{European megaliths Buildings and structures completed in the 5th millennium BC Megalithic monuments in Brittany Archaeological sites in Brittany Monuments historiques of Morbihan Tumuli in France Passage graves Menhirs Dolmens in France