Located near the Southern coast of the Bretagne region of France are the Carnac Alignments, a series ancient megaliths that were erected by the Celtic people living in the area at that time. The oldest among them are believed to date as far back as 4500 BCE.
With more than 3000 stones in the surrounding area, the Carnac Alignments are among the largest collections of megaliths in the world.
They were erected in France during the Neolithic period, a time in human history characterized by fixed human settlements, some farming methods and the begining of agricultural practices. This is one of the later divisions of the "Stone age."
According to some sources, the people who erected the megaliths were believed to be a hunter gatherer society, which may have some significance in terms of classifying and comparing the monuments to other sites in the world that are similar. For instance, the megaliths at Carnac may be different than those seen in the U.K. at Stonehenge, which were supposedly erected by a slightly more advanced society that had moved into the farming and agriculture stage of human development.
This is not to say that one site if better than the other for any reason, just that they were probably errected at different times in human history.
The shear quanity of stones at the Carnac Alignments site is impressive. The length of the area is about 1165 meters long (over 2km) and is set up as a circuit around the sites perimeter. The stones themselves range in size from about 2 feet on the smaller end, up to 13 feet on the larger.
The Kerlscan Alignments are close to those at Carnac - maybe a 10 minute drive or so away. They are a smaller group of 550 stones set out in 13 rows that stretch for approximately 800 meters. The tallest among them is also about 13 feet as well. The stone in the picture below isn't the tallest of the stones but it was one of the largest we saw.
The best part about the Kerlscan site is that it is less crowded with people and you are allowed to enter the property to touch the stones and interact with them.
The surrounding area is rich with Arthurian lore and legend and that mythof course extends itself to the megaliths. One story states that the megaliths were actually Roman soldiers that were turned to stone by Merlin the wizard.
That may explain why they are formed in such nice straight lines. The stones do have a sort of magic about them that can be felt when walking around the property.
Another legend states that the stones are put away each night and if you get there early enough and are lucky, you will see the grounds keeper rolling the stones out in the morning to put them on display for visitors.
Okay so I made that last part up. We'll call it my stone faced humor....Pun pun pun pun pun. Que the crowd groans.
Okay moving on.
There is an ongoing debate about the stones and how to protect them. Modernization and the building of roads has lead to the toppling and removal of some of the megaliths in the area and tourism is also a threat.
The shear amount of visitors in the later part of the 21st century has lead to deterioration of the vegetation in and around the rocks. So in order to protect the site, a very small waist high fence has been constructed around the Carnac site and entry is prohibited without a tour guide. Visitors can still easily see the stones up close though by walking around the perimeter or by visiting one of the other sites without a fence, like in Kerlscan. Personally, I agree with the decision.
All in all we spent about two hours between the two sites before moving on to another location. That was enough time for us but you could easily spend more time there if you decided to hike some of the other paths to see the individual megaliths in the forest. There is one giant stone, the tallest in the area, close to Kerlscan if you want to hike into the woods to get a photo next to it.
Overall, I really enjoyed our visit and I would recommend the site if you are in and around the area.