There’s an article in iht.com today that reveals the greatest mysteries of Stonehenge, namely, what the giant brooding stones represented. Apparently, the location was a a burial ground for several generations of a single, elite family.

This is interesting because a similar idea dominated our conversation when we were visiting the “French Stonehenge” in Carnac, in Brittany, France just about a week ago.

Carnac isn’t Stonehenge, clearly, but the place is 6000 years old (older than Stonehenge) and there is a dense collection of menhirs (standing stones, nicknamed the “Stone Army”) as far as the eye can see. Approximately 3000 of these standing stone relics are aligned in rows amidst the vast area of fields close to the Atlantic Ocean in Brittany. It is impressive too see them.

All sorts of theories and speculations popped up in our conversations about the stones’ origins: a challenging game, a landing field for UFO’s (hee), an endurance activity for physical stamina, to name a few - but what emerged as the most likely, was the cemetery theory. Not really far fetched since the dolmens and cairns in Brittany served funerary functions.

So many have ruled out the idea that the menhirs were part of a cemetery. We just have to respectfully disagree with that. Granted, there are no remnants of skeletons here, which is a reason researchers rule out a cemetery, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a cemetery! Our theory is that it WAS a cemetery, or perhaps, more accurately, a memorial for the thousands of Gaulois soldiers who left Carnac to fight against Romans their enemies at sea - and never came back. THAT is why there are no skeletal remains! Besides, doesn’t it look obviously like a veterans’ cemetery, Neolithic stye?

Later when researching this a little, I found some other theories. In the 50s and 60s, Breton children chanted the legend to tourists: All the stones were part of a Gaulois cemetery. The richer the dead person, the bigger then stone. Another theory tells the tale of Saint Cornelius. He was pursued by pagan soldiers all the way to the seashore, and with no boat to flee, his defense was to turned them into stone.

In any case, Carnac, is a well worth a visit but you will need a car to reach it. The largest city close by is Rennes, where we began and it took about one and half hours to reach Carnac from there. You can stroll among the menhir alignments freely from October to March, 9am to 5pm. During the busy season from April to the end of September, you are not allowed to pass the fenced and rock barriers - to protect the vegetation around the stones.

Links: Official Carnac website, DVD: Global Treasures: Carnac Stones Bretagne, France