Great Cairn of Barnanez

The largest of Brittany's ancient sites, and the oldest of human buildings, is the great cairn at Barnanez, on the Bay of Morlaix in Finisterre. We thought it would be a fitting place to end our westward journey and to begin heading back to Amsterdam. Barnanez is a giant stepped tumulus, dry stone construction, more than 200 feet long, 70 feet wide and 25 feet high. About 14,000 tons of mostly local stone.  It contains 11 passage-way tombs. Some of its megaliths exhibit neolithic art. The first phase of construction was about 4800BC, with a second major phase a millennium later. It was thought to be a neolithic tumulus as early at 1850--so many of the hills one sees in Brittany turn out to be man-made--but not really "explored" until it became a quarry, for paving stones, in the 1950s. A deep gash occurred, revealing two or three of the chambers. In any event, it became public property and was thoroughly explored and researched. Andre Malraux, the Minister of Culture then, called it the Parthenon of the neolithic world. It's actually in much better shape than the Parthenon of the classical world.

There is a small museum at the entry, with good displays; here is an over-view
of the structure

You can't really go inside something like this, so nearly all the chambers are sealed
off now; thus the photographs in the museum

Some of the art work; all of it in the sealed chambers (makes you realize what a
privilege it is to go inside a place like Gavrinis)

Anyhow, there it is, sloping down the hill, the stepped nature in view

Overlooking the Bay of Morlaix--which would not have been a bay back in the
day, but rather a fertile plain--the seas have risen, and there are megaliths now
under the waves

But the oyster farms are good

One of the sealed entrances

Another

One sealed only with bars

You can see through to the other side

Looking back up hill

Rounding the corner; note megaliths

Now on the excavated side...the gash 

The one chamber you can make your way through

The gash revealed not merely the chambers but the false domes
over them, nearly corbelled

Thus

Us, there

Foundation work

More up close

Last look at a pretty singular place

"It's A Doozie"

The French version is St. Uzek, but we'll go with the Anglicized version, St. Duzek. St. Duzek is one of the larger menhirs in Brittany, or used to be, before it was "Christianized" in the 17th century. The symbols carved on to it are all of the Passion. At a little over 8 meters high, it's a doozie. Or must have been.

Thus

Interesting; the shepherd's crook is a major neolithic symbol
too

The back side of St. Duzek: something you won't
see on other travel blogs

Ile Grande Allee Couverte With a View

A kilometer or so away was Ile Grande, a little island connected by a little bridge, and another allee couverte, with a great view.

Another medium-sized allee couverte

We think the people who built the leaning half-timbered
buildings all across Normandy, Brittany, and the Isles, may
have been descendants

Thus

Possible cup mark on big roof slab

Nice one; the outer row of orthostats was part of the tumulus
foundation, now gone

A hundred meters or so down the hill is the coast, with the usual
breathtaking views of the sea

Thus

Thus

Thus

And thus; our ancestors really understood the importance of
location, location, location; and view; and water features

Prajou Menhir Alle Couverte

The area around Lannion was another megalithic center, not comparable to Carnac, of course, but with numerous sites. We hit some of the more accessible ones this day, one being the Prajou Menhir allee couverte.

It's interesting how things have changed; in the 1980s, we'd
drive around looking for them; then we drove around with
Aubrey Burl's Megalithic Brittany in hand; still in hand too,
although our preferred on-line source now is Megalithic Portal
(www.megalithic.co.uk); the trouble now is they're readily
found but you have to distinguish between the megaliths of
the ancients and those now used as lawn ornaments; I
suppose "mock neolithic" will become a bona fide
architectural or at least landscaping term

And now the Offices de Tourisme not only know where the real
ones are, they have constructed trails linking them; and clever
sign posts

The Prajou Menhir allee couverte; presently over-run by a
family from Switzerland and some others

The menhir? It's a curiously-named site, since what you're
looking for is the allee couverte

Interior of the allee

I did manage to find a couple putative cup marks

And one or two of the bumps

But I failed to find the main carvings here, and went back to the
camper to consult Megalithic Brittany; meanwhile, the Swiss
kids had done their own exploring and

Turns out the carvings were in the final chamber, which was sealed
off from the rest; there was enough of a crevice in the roof
slabs to let myself down and in the chamber; and the kids proudly
pointed out what I was looking for

Thus

And thus

Nice ones

Also other symbols, bows, staffs, other things my unpracticed
eye could not see

Etc.

Another great specimen

Megaliths Of Kerguntuil

Most of our previous time in Brittany has been in Morbihan, in the south, where the chief megalithic centers seem to have been. We spent a great deal of time in Morbihan in 2009. This year's trip has been mostly about the north coast, all the way from Dunkerque, and consequently we wanted to spend at least a little time visiting some of the Cote du  Nord's famous megalithic sites. The Kerguntuil dolmen and allee couverte are minor but excellent specimens of what our ancestors were up to 4,000-5,000 years ago.

Megalith hunters...bring back memories, Rebecca and Rachel?

The Kerguntuil dolmen and allee couverte

The dolmen

Thus

Interior

Picture Day for me

The allee couverte

Up closer

Brittany megaliths are famous for their occasional carvings;
one sees this a bit in Ireland, almost never in the UK; anyhow,
here is a row of bumps carved into the stone; archaeologists
have described them as "breasts" of a neolithic mother goddess

Dirty old man pose; she made me do this; really

Too bad we don't have our sign forest anymore