Channel: Folkish France
A hardware store is being built on a site of 39 menhirs in Carnac, the most extensive megalithic site in the world, located on the southern coast of Brittany, France.
A previous request for a building permit had been rejected by Carnac town hall in 2015, after the National Institute of Preventive Archæological Research (INRAP) had conducted a survey reporting the probable discovery of an unprecedented megalithic alignment composed of at least 38 monoliths. It stated that only additional observations on them, or even an excavation, would allow the Neolithic origin of this ensemble to be certified.
The site was also registered since 2015 by the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs (DRAC) that lists archæological sites. It included 2 rows of small granite stelæ, each extending over 50 metres. It was also on a tentative list with 397 megalithic sites of the area to be designated as a UNESCO World Heritage.
Pictured: menhir alignments at Carnac and pictures of the stelæ before destruction in 2015.
Post 1/2
A previous request for a building permit had been rejected by Carnac town hall in 2015, after the National Institute of Preventive Archæological Research (INRAP) had conducted a survey reporting the probable discovery of an unprecedented megalithic alignment composed of at least 38 monoliths. It stated that only additional observations on them, or even an excavation, would allow the Neolithic origin of this ensemble to be certified.
The site was also registered since 2015 by the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs (DRAC) that lists archæological sites. It included 2 rows of small granite stelæ, each extending over 50 metres. It was also on a tentative list with 397 megalithic sites of the area to be designated as a UNESCO World Heritage.
Pictured: menhir alignments at Carnac and pictures of the stelæ before destruction in 2015.
Post 1/2
The small destroyed menhirs were estimated to date back from 5480 to 5320 BCE, the oldest dating obtained for a menhir in western France according to Christian Obeltz, a researcher on Neolithic populations, correspondent for the DRAC and collaborator of the National Centre for Scientific Research in Nantes.
He expresses his regret at the disappearance of such a site that could have been rich in teachings if more in-depth excavations had been carried out. He notes that one of the rows of standing stones had been "exactly in its original place for seven thousand years."
The town hall, regretting the destruction, claims that a rigorous examination of the project was carried out before the building permit was issued. It passes the buck to the DRAC, which had identified the site as a prescription zone in the old land use plan, but no longer in the new local urban plan not listed among archaeological presumption zones. 🤡
Pictured: the site after its destruction in 2023.
Post 2/2
1st post
He expresses his regret at the disappearance of such a site that could have been rich in teachings if more in-depth excavations had been carried out. He notes that one of the rows of standing stones had been "exactly in its original place for seven thousand years."
The town hall, regretting the destruction, claims that a rigorous examination of the project was carried out before the building permit was issued. It passes the buck to the DRAC, which had identified the site as a prescription zone in the old land use plan, but no longer in the new local urban plan not listed among archaeological presumption zones. 🤡
Pictured: the site after its destruction in 2023.
Post 2/2
1st post
News from the Carnac menhir cull.
Mr. Lepick, mayor of Carnac, points at the Prefecture (administration of the area) that issued a statement underlying the legality of the construction permit. It mentions green lights from several institutions, including the DRAC, stating that the site had no archælogical value, while the INRAP (a serious institution also mentioned) had concluded the site was of an unprecedented nature & needed to be surveyed. 🤡
Mayor Lepick has received police protection given the outrage that has been expressed since the affair became known.
"Tear everything down like the menhirs" was graffitied overnight last weekend on the Saint-Cornély church in Carnac.
Christian Obletz, the archæologist who revealed the case in early June after finding out about the destruction, stated that the site was "behind the building you see being built. The worst thing is that it could have been preserved. They could have made an arrangement. Everything was destroyed, which is completely illegal."
Post 1/2
Mr. Lepick, mayor of Carnac, points at the Prefecture (administration of the area) that issued a statement underlying the legality of the construction permit. It mentions green lights from several institutions, including the DRAC, stating that the site had no archælogical value, while the INRAP (a serious institution also mentioned) had concluded the site was of an unprecedented nature & needed to be surveyed. 🤡
Mayor Lepick has received police protection given the outrage that has been expressed since the affair became known.
"Tear everything down like the menhirs" was graffitied overnight last weekend on the Saint-Cornély church in Carnac.
Christian Obletz, the archæologist who revealed the case in early June after finding out about the destruction, stated that the site was "behind the building you see being built. The worst thing is that it could have been preserved. They could have made an arrangement. Everything was destroyed, which is completely illegal."
Post 1/2
Google Street View now shows June 2023 views of the destruction area with probable remnants of the menhirs visible.
There was already a Mr. Bricolage DIY store in the town of Carnac, 3km away from the one being built over the destroyed megalithic site (see featured screenshot). 🤡
The building permit had been granted a couple months after the land use plan changed, over summertime (when it's possible some competent people were away on holidays).
A possible mockery: the construction permit for the new Mr. Bricolage shop is in the name of companies "SCI des menhirs" and "SAS bricodolmen."
An Tour-Tan (Breton for The Lighthouse), a Vannes alternative youth movement for the defense of Brittany and Bretons, demonstrated on Sunday the 11th of June on the destruction site with a sign proclaiming "Brittany is not for sale" and demanding for an administrative investigation on this case.
Post 2/2
1st post
There was already a Mr. Bricolage DIY store in the town of Carnac, 3km away from the one being built over the destroyed megalithic site (see featured screenshot). 🤡
The building permit had been granted a couple months after the land use plan changed, over summertime (when it's possible some competent people were away on holidays).
A possible mockery: the construction permit for the new Mr. Bricolage shop is in the name of companies "SCI des menhirs" and "SAS bricodolmen."
An Tour-Tan (Breton for The Lighthouse), a Vannes alternative youth movement for the defense of Brittany and Bretons, demonstrated on Sunday the 11th of June on the destruction site with a sign proclaiming "Brittany is not for sale" and demanding for an administrative investigation on this case.
Post 2/2
1st post
Forwarded from Dan Davis Author
The Cairn of Barnenez is a Neolithic monument in northern Finistère, Brittany, France. It dates to the early Neolithic, about 4800 BC.
That is staggeringly ancient.
Today, the Barnenez cairn is 72 m long, up to 25 m wide, and over 8 m high. It is built of 13,000 to 14,000 tons of stone. It contains 11 chambers entered by separate passages.
Loads of it was quarried away in modern times but it's been cleaned up pretty nice and is protected now.
It is one of the earliest megalithic monuments in Europe and one of the oldest man-made structures in the world!
That is staggeringly ancient.
Today, the Barnenez cairn is 72 m long, up to 25 m wide, and over 8 m high. It is built of 13,000 to 14,000 tons of stone. It contains 11 chambers entered by separate passages.
Loads of it was quarried away in modern times but it's been cleaned up pretty nice and is protected now.
It is one of the earliest megalithic monuments in Europe and one of the oldest man-made structures in the world!
Forwarded from Celtic Europe
Gallic iron helmet discovered in the ruins of Alésia, now Alise-Sainte-Reine, in the Côte-d’Or department of Burgundy, France; 1st century B.C. 🇫🇷 The helmet probably belonged to one of the warriors who fought against the Roman legions of Julius Caesar at the Siege of Alésia in the year 52 B.C.
Celtic Europe - channel link (please share!): https://hottg.com/CelticEurope
Celtic Europe - channel link (please share!): https://hottg.com/CelticEurope
Rethinking the Gauls can be seen for free on YouTube. It's an English version of the very informative documentary called "Le vrai visage des gaulois" in its original longer French version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxxnenyNlEM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxxnenyNlEM
YouTube
Rethinking the Gauls: A Civilised Society before the Romans | Archeology & History Documentary
The idea of the primitive Gauls, living in the forest until they were civilized and assimilated into the Roman Empire, is now regarded as totally obsolete. I...
Forwarded from Celtic Europe
Bronze sword of “Le Cheylounet” type, discovered near Saint-Vidal, in Auvergne, France; 15th century B.C. 🇫🇷 On display at the Musée de la Civilisation Gallo-Romaine, in Lyon, France.
Celtic Europe - channel link (please share!): https://hottg.com/Celtic
Celtic Europe - channel link (please share!): https://hottg.com/Celtic
HTML Embed Code: