The ‘Grand Menhir’ of Locmariaquer, is said to have been erected around 4700 BCE - and at some 20 metres in length, and close to 300 tonnes in weight, is one of the largest stones ever used by the megalith builders of Europe. They comprise the elaborate Er-Grah tumulus passage grave, a dolmen known as the Table des Marchand and "The Broken Menhir of Er Grah", the largest known single block of stone to have been transported and erected by Neolithic people. It is not known what caused the menhir to topple and break into the four pieces that are now seen. At one time it was believed that the stone had never stood upright, but archaeological findings have proven that it did. The most popular theory is that the stone was deliberately pulled down and broken. Certainly other menhirs that accompanied it were removed and reused in the construction of tombs and dolmens nearby. However, in recent years, some archaeologists have favoured the explanation of an earthquake or tremor, and this theory is supported by a computer model.
The transport of such large stones from such a distance indicates both that the location was important to the builders and that the type of stone was. This same behaviour was repeated at other important megalithic sites such as Stonehenge and Giza, where quartz stones were transported over hundreds of miles in order to be used for significant prehistoric structures. Worked over its entire surface, the monument bears a sculpture representing a "hatchet-plough". Unfortunately today this is seriously eroded and very difficult to see.
The transport of such large stones from such a distance indicates both that the location was important to the builders and that the type of stone was. This same behaviour was repeated at other important megalithic sites such as Stonehenge and Giza, where quartz stones were transported over hundreds of miles in order to be used for significant prehistoric structures. Worked over its entire surface, the monument bears a sculpture representing a "hatchet-plough". Unfortunately today this is seriously eroded and very difficult to see.
Why was it built? This remains a mystery, though there have been a number of theories. Alexander Thom suggested its great size may have allowed it to be used as as a marker that could be observed from other sites in the area, used for tracking the lunar cycle. Archaeoastronomer Clive Ruggles has, however, pointed out this theory as one example of the dangers of “selectively scouring the landscape for suitable alignments…conflating archaeological features of all ages, often together with natural features in the landscape” Ruggles notes that Thom’s alignments were arrived at “by traversing eight relevant directions in search of suitable candidate backsights while ignoring other directions”.
Sources:
http://www.dailygrail.com/Hidden-History/2016/3/Le-Grand-Menhir-Locmariaquer-300-Ton-Megalith-Constructed-7000-Years-Ago
http://www.ancient-wisdom.com/francelegrandmenhir.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locmariaquer_megaliths
Pic Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Grand_Menhir_Er_Grah_Locmariaquer.jpg
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