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.

Le Menec West end 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 Partial line	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 Looking West to Barrel Cromlech 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	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	Several partial lines, very badly destroyed Lines seem to run northeast
Kerzerho Alignments Kerzerho 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)	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	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	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

• Alignments
• Stone Circles
• Dolmen
• Tumuli
• Standing Stones
• Engravings

Databank

Links