The Megaliths of Carnac

Alignments

Alignments are rows of standing stones (menhirs), ranging from one row of a few stones to several rows of hundreds of stones. The most famous are the four alignments at Carnac: Le Menec, Kermario, Kerlescan and Le Petit Menec (from west to east). But not far away, at Kerzerho and at Ste. Barbe, are other large, complex alignments.

Map of locations of alignments of standing stones
Le Menec
West end of Menec alignments
Le Menec alignments - west end
West end
East end of Menec alignments
East end
About 1200 metres long, running southwest to northeast
12 lines of almost 1100 stones, starting and ending with flattened stone circles
About half way along, rows bend 6.5°; rows not parallel, converge towards east
Average height of stones is 1 metre but 1.5m at east end and 3m at west end
Kermario
West end of Kermario alignments
West end
Kermario partial line of stones
Partial line
Kermario alignments
About 1000 metres long, running southwest to northeast
7 main lines + 3 partial rows of more than 1000 stones, probably with a stone circle at west end
Rows have three bends; also converge towards the east
Dolmen at south-west end of lines is much older than the alignments
Manio menhir near east end has parallel snaky lines carved near bottom and a tomb (may also be older than alignments)
Kerlescan
Kerlescan Alignments looking west
Looking West to Barrel Cromlech
Kerlescan alignments - west end
West end
About 355 metres long, running southwest to northeast, fan shape
13 lines of more than 300 stones, 78m x 74m
Quadrilateral or barrel cromlech at west end
Like Le Menec and Kermario, the stones at the west end are much bigger than those to the east
North of lines is a 90m-diameter cromlech and a dolmen
Le Petit Menec
Petit Menec alignment
Petit Menec alignment
Badly destroyed and not maintained
2 - 3 curved lines longer than 300 metres; about half way along 6 or 7 rows adjacent to south-east part of curve
Were more than 250 stones but many taken in last century to build the lighthouse on Belle-Ile
Keriaval
Part of a line at Keriaval
Several partial lines, very badly destroyed
Lines seem to run northeast
Kerzerho
Kerzerho alignmentsAlignments
Kerzerho giantsKerzerho Giants
1 kilometre southeast of Erdevan; about 8 km northwest of Carnac
About 2 km long running northwest to southeast
10 rows of more than 1100 stones plus a row of huge stones (The Giants of Kerzerho) perpendicular to northern row at west end
Possibly a ruined circle at west end
La Chaise de César
(Caesar's Chair)

Caesar's Chair alignments
Caesar's Chair with Rory reclining à la Caesar
In woods 2 km southeast of Erdevan, between the Mané Croc'h and Mané Braz dolmen
Also running northwest to southeast (extension of Kerzerho complex?)
Stone circle at east end of alignments
The photo on the right shows why the site is called Caesar's Chair
Ste. Barbe
Ste. Barbe alignments
Near village of Ste. Barbe, northwest of Plouharnel; about 6 km northwest of Carnac
At least four rows, many stones plundered to build village
St. Pièrre de Quiberon Associated with stone circle
Vieux Moulin
Vieux Moulin alignments
Vieux Moulin alignments
Vieux Moulin - 3 large menhirs
North of Plouharnel
6 stones in a line, some almost adjacent
Line does not quite point to 3 huge standing stones (one fallen - looks like dolmen capstone) on nearby hill but slightly east of it (see middle photo - tip of standing stone is just visible above trees on skyline at left). The lower photo shows the 3 massive stones.

All photographs were taken by myself, during trips to the megaliths of Carnac in 1980, 1983, 1994, 1998, and 2002. All photographs are my property and may not be copied or used without my written permission.

 

Table of Contents

Introduction

Types of Megaliths
of Carnac

Databank

Links



July 27, 2003
©copyright 1999, 2003 Vicki Sherwood
E-mail: vsherwood@simon-kucher.com
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