Fury in France after 40 ancient stones erected by prehistoric humans 7,000 years ago near the famous archaeological site of Carnac were destroyed to make way for a DIY shop.
- According to locals, the site was to be submitted to UNESCO as a world heritage site.
- Some 37 stones between half a meter and one meter were destroyed
Fury erupted in France after dozens of 7,000-year-old standing stones erected by prehistoric humans were destroyed to make way for a DIY shop.
Some 37 stones of between half a meter and one meter were destroyed by the development of the large construction of a Mr. Bricolage store in Carnac, in Brittany, north-western France.
According to local amateur archaeologist Christian Obeltz, the site had been on France’s national archaeological map since 2015, as well as being on the city’s official list of local megaliths.
They say the site was also to be submitted to the French Ministry of Culture with a view to listing it on UNESCO’s World Heritage list.
Carnac is famous for its ancient menhirs, heavy and high vertical stones, which are spread out in three alignments: Ménec, Kermario and Kerlescan.
Some 37 stones between half a meter and one meter were on the site before it was destroyed, at Carnac in Brittany, northwestern France.
Dozens of 7,000-year-old standing stones erected by prehistoric humans were destroyed to make way for a DIY store. Construction work is shown in the picture.
Obeltz, like many locals, was furious about the construction work on the site. “There is nothing left at all,” he said.
Three weeks ago I went by car. It was then that I saw that everything had been destroyed. A bulldozer came overnight and it was over. It’s unheard of.
“The worst thing is that the site could have been preserved because it was not under the building that is being built, but behind it.”
Obeltz originally raised concerns about “brutal developments” threatening the prehistoric site.
‘The Chemin de Montauban site included two intersecting rows of small granite stelae, each over fifty meters long. One had been exactly in its original place for 7,000 years,” Obeltz wrote in a blog post.
‘The small menhirs of the Chemin de Montauban were undoubtedly one of the oldest sets of stelae in the city of Carnac’, believed to date between 5480 and 5320 BC. C., ‘the highest dating obtained for a menhir in western France’.
The Brittany region has a dense collection of megalithic sites including around 3,000 prehistoric menhirs erected by pre-Celtic peoples.
The area also has a selection of stone tombs and burial mounds and are believed to form the largest collection in the world.
Carnac is famous for its ancient menhir, heavy and high vertical stones, which are spread out in three alignments: Ménec, Kermario and Kerlescan (archive image)
Ouest-France reported that the local association Koun Breizh has decided to file a complaint with the Vannes public prosecutor for deliberate destruction of sites related to archaeological heritage.
The group said: ‘The subject of the complaint is less intended to harm our city councilors than to try to understand how such a decision could germinate and succeed, despite all forms of protection provided by law.
‘The fate of our menhirs is of paramount importance to the Breton people, as far as our historical and human heritage is concerned. We also come more or less from this civilization.
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