The dolmen of Lan-Kerellec in Trébeurden (Côtes-d’Armor) has a capstone on a terminal slab and 2 orthostats either side and is probably the remains of an allée couverte. This card by Waron in St-Brieuc was in print by 1902 and shows it before suburban development.
The menhir of Porz-ar-Streat is one of 5 menhirs in Plouescat (Finistère). It is 4.5m tall, has a sloping profile on the top of the broad face and leans slightly to one side. This card by R. Boëlle, a photographer-publisher in Brest, was in print by 1903.
All that survives of the passage grave at Crucuno in Plouharnel (Morbihan) is the truly monumental chamber. The 5x4m 40-ton capstone rests on orthostats up to 2m tall. Card by Levy in Paris c.1912. #TombTuesday.
The floor of the dolmen near the chapel of La Madeleine in Carnac (Morbihan) was paved with large slabs; the massive irregular capstone has collapsed into the chamber. Card by Carnac archaeologist Le Rouzic who has put his hat with 2 streamers over the Propriété de l’État bollard.
La Pierre Enlevée in Vaumort (Yonne) is 3m tall and 2m wide. One tradition said that the Devil perched on top and played music for people who danced around it. This card was in print by 1903. #StandingStoneSunday.
La Pierre Couverte in Duneau (Sarthe) has a 5.5x2.5m chamber with 2 chunky orthostats on each side and a terminal slab covered by a single 7m long capstone now broken in two. Card by Housseau in Le Mans c.1905.
The slab-like menhir of La Pierre Longue in Le Thoureil (Maine-et-Loire) is 4.8m tall, 3.8m wide but only 0.5m thick. Card by a photographer who signs themselves simply as L.V. in print by 1908.
The menhir of La Roche Pointue is part of the alignments of Lampouy in Médréac (Ille-et-Vilaine) though it stands just inside the commune of Guitté in Côtes-d’Armor. It is over 4m tall and made from craggy quartzite rock. Card by Sorel in Rennes.
The allée couverte of Kerbalannec in Beuzec-Cap-Sizun (Finistère) is 12m long and 2m wide. It has 5 capstones resting on 8 orthostats on each side and a terminal slab and is known as the “House of Korrigans”. Card by Giffard c.1910. #TombTuesday.
When intact the alignments of Kerzerho in Erdeven (Morbihan) followed an erratic course for over 2km. Today only about 200 menhirs (some of the biggest) survive near the Erdeven-Plouharnel road with smaller scattered groups elsewhere. Card by Beaumont c.1905.
When Carnac archaeologist Zacharie Le Rouzic took the photo of this 2.7m tall menhir in early C20 it was in open countryside. It now stands among the houses in the Impasse de Pouldève in a suburb of Carnac town. #StandingStoneSunday.
The menhir de La Lèque (aka Pierre Plantée) in Lussan (Gard) is 5.6m tall and the tallest in the département. The gap in one edge which the man is standing in is from a C19 attempt to knock it down. Card by Amat 1905 or earlier.
The menhir of La Queusse (or la Queue) de Gargantua in Borest (Oise) stands 3.3m tall and leans towards the north. It was said that the giant used the menhir to sharpen his knives. Card by Rayon-Gonnet early 1910s.
The dolmen of La Pierre Pèze in Limalonges (Deux-Sèvres) has a roughly ovoid capstone which is 7.3m long and 3.5m at its widest point; a piece has broken off the eastern edge. The broad end rests on a single orthostat, the narrow end on 2 lower ones.
The menhir of Champ du Rocher at Puy Durand in Avrillé (Vendée) is unusual as it is a massive slab on which the broad faces are wider (4.8m) than it is tall (3.9m); the narrow edges are 1.9m. It was originally part of a group of three. Card by Amiaud in Sables-d’Olonne c.1905.
This is one of 3 fairly well preserved megalithic tombs at Liscuis in Laniscat (Côtes-d’Armor) on a ridge above the Gorge du Daoulas. All are built with slabs of local schist and were set in oval cairns. Card by Emile Hamonic in St-Brieuc. #TombTuesday.
The Iron Age stele in Plonéour-Lanvern (Finistère) is a 3.5m tall tapering fluted column. The domed boss on top is probably a mediaeval addition. In one legend it is the mast from the stone boat in which St-Enéour travelled to Bretagne. Card by Villard in Quimper.
This is the taller (4m) of 2 menhirs by the main road down the west coast of Quiberon (Morbihan) near the turn off to the village of Manémeur. Card by Vassellier in Nantes c.1907. #StandingStoneSunday.
The dolmen on the SW corner of the alignments of Kermario in Carnac is the remains of a V-shaped passage grave. This c.1905 card by MTIL shows it before restoration by Carnac based archaeologist Zacharie Le Rouzic in the 1920s.
The dolmen of Bouéry in Mailhac-sur-Benaize (Haute-Vienne) has a 4.5x3.5m roughly circular convex capstone with 40 cupules pecked into it resting on 5 orthostats. It was built by 4 fairies known as les Tétrabouillas.
La Pierre de Gargantua in Doignt (Somme) stands over 4m tall and is said to have another 2.5m below ground possibly on the basis of excavations in 1864. Like many other menhirs it is piece of grit from the giant’s clog which he tossed away. Card by Loyson pre-1904.
This c.1905 card shows part of the 20m long dolmen angevin of La Pierre Folle in Bournand (Vienne) when it was being used as makeshift barn. The 16x5m chamber is covered by 3 capstones and is entered via a trilith portal.
La Barbière in Crossac (Loire-Atlantique) is the remains of a passage grave. The chamber is covered by a 20-ton 4x3m capstone now only supported on 3 orthostats. The passage has 2 capstones which have slipped and now rest an angle. This card c.1905. #TombTuesday.
The menhir of Pierre du Domaine in Plerguer (Ille-et-Vilaine) is made of fine-grained granite and stands over 4m tall. It was said to have magically sprung out of the ground to separate two fighting armies. Card by Sorel in Rennes mid-1910s.
The menhir of Kerangallou in Trégunc (Finistère) is 7.5m tall. The cross was supposedly added by mediaeval monks. This card by Waron in St-Brieuc c.1905. #StandingStoneSunday.
If intact the cromlech du Moulin in St-Pierre-Quiberon would be the biggest in Morbihan but stone robbing has reduced it to just an arc of 41 menhirs from its western edge. It lies to the SW of the alignments. Card by Villard in Quimper c.1905.
This is a view of the remains of the transepted passage grave of Keriaval in Carnac (Morbihan) from the early 1900s by Neurdein in Paris showing the NE chamber on the right and terminal cell in the centre. The wicker fence does not feature on later cards.
The dolmen angoumoisin of Blanc in Nojals-et-Clotte (Dordogne) has a narrow offset passage leading to a 4.5x2m chamber. Capstones survive over the passage and front of the chamber but that over the back and the terminal slab are missing. This 1905 card shows it before an inaccurate restoration.
La Pierre Levée in Silly-en-Gouffern (Orne) is 6m tall, 4.6m wide and 0.7m thick. Natural depressions on top are imprints of the hands of the fairies who erected it. On moonless nights a hare came and sat by it but disappeared at dawn. Card by Roussel in Argentan c.1905.
The dolmen of Garde-Epée in St-Brice (Charente) has 2 capstones on tall (over 2m) orthostats forming a 5x3m chamber. Card by Nouvelles Galeries c.1905. #TombTuesday.