Locmariaquer stelae alignment
Locmariaquer Site
The site of the megaliths (french Site des mégalithes de Locmariaquer) is the home of three remarkable monuments: The Table des Marchands – a passage monument, the Er-Grah tumulus, and the broken Grand Menhir Brisé are in close vicinity.
Excavations on the site have revealed 18(19) holes in a line [1]. They were probably all at one time sockets for a stele or menhir: Starting with the Grand Menhir of almost 20m they were probably aligned in descending height. Only the remains on the Grand Menhir were left next to the original socket. The other stelae were moved.
Re-excavation at the cairn of Gavrinis revealed that the upper side of the chamber capstone is decorated [2]. Moreover, the stone is a fragment that fits the capstone of the Table des Marchands in Locmariaquer and must have been transported 4km to Gavrinis.
The stelae are made of orthogneiss which is not found in the region of Locmariaquer [1] (10km away in Auray).
| No | Menhir | Height [Patton] | weight |
| 1 | Grand menhir brisé | 20,5 | |
| 2 | Mané-Rutual capstone (1 Patton) | 4,2 | |
| 3 | Mané-Rutual capstone RS5 | 3,6 | |
| 4 | Mané-Rutual big capstone | 11,9 | |
| 5 | Capstone Table des Marchands & Gavrinis | 14 | 110 |
| 6 | C4 End chamber Table des Marchands | 3,4 | 17 |
| 7 | Floor phase 2 cairn Le Petit Mont | ||
| 8 | Stele from Mané-er-Hroëk | 3,5 | 4,5 |
| 9 | Mané-Rutual Upright, J1 | ||
| 10 | Mané-Rutual R13 | ||
| 11 | Mané-Lud floor | ||
| 12 | Mané-Lud back C4 |
List of possible stelae extended from [3].
References
[Bibtex]
@inproceedings{LHelgouach1999,
author = {Jean L'Helgouac'h},
booktitle = {Studien zur Megalithik - Forschungsstand und ethnoarchäologische Perspektiven},
editor = {et al. {Karl W. Beinhauer}},
localfile = {../megalithic-resources/books_articles/Helgouach1999.pdf},
owner = {ograu},
timestamp = {2010.05.15},
title = {The megalithic culture of western France: continuity and change in extraordinary architecture},
year = {1999}
}[Bibtex]
@article{LeRoux1985,
author = {Charles-Tanguy LeRoux},
file = {../megalithic-resources/books_articles/excavation-reports/Ant0590183.pdf},
journal = {Antiquity},
number = {227},
owner = {ograu},
pages = {183–187},
timestamp = {2010.05.09},
title = {New excavations at Gavrinis},
url = {http://antiquity.ac.uk/Ant/059/0183/Ant0590183.pdf},
volume = {59},
year = {1985}
}[Bibtex]
@book{Patton1993,
author = {Mark Patton},
isbn = {0-415-06729-4},
owner = {ograu},
pages = {209},
publisher = {Routledge, London, UK},
timestamp = {2010.05.08},
title = {Statements in stone: monuments and society in Neolithic Brittany},
year = {1993}
}