French Stonehenge demolished for shop

Stone sculptures over 7,000 years old destroyed in Karnak

A field of ancient megaliths in Carnac, in northwestern France, has been destroyed, local archaeologist Christian Obelz said. According to studies conducted in 2010, the age of dolmens is more than 7000 years. Nevertheless, the territory was vacated for the construction of a household appliances store, which outraged local residents and historians.

The Karnak Stones are the largest complex of megaliths in the world. It was previously believed that the alleys of thousands of stones were erected here by the pre-Celtic peoples of Brittany 3000-4000 thousand years ago. But the latest carbon studies say they are twice as old. These dolmens are mentioned in various ancient legends. One of them is about the wizard Merlin, who turned the Roman legions pursuing him into boulders. The Christian version speaks of the same transformation: only in place of the Romans – pagans, and pope Cornelius performed the magic. In a word, the archaeological site has a legendary history, and to this day, researchers are arguing about how and why alleys of vertically standing blocks from 80 cm to 4 meters high appeared on the shores of the Bay of Biscay. There is a version that they could be used as cattle pens, this is cut with the fact that there are a number of burial mounds and domains of an obviously ritual nature nearby. No less heated debate has been going on for many years around the management of the territory with an archaeological site, which, as a result, has now turned into the beginning of its destruction.

At the moment, 39 large-scale megaliths have been demolished. A household appliance store will be built on the site they occupied. Local mayor Olivier Lepic said the stones were of “low archaeological value”. However, experts do not agree with him. Each stone of the dolmen park matters – only a solid picture gives a chance to solve this historical mystery, historians and archaeologists are sure. “There was no time to carry out archaeological excavations on this territory,” explains historian Christian Obelz.

Megaliths occupy a vast territory that has been studied for a long time, but specialists still need time to conduct research on all sites. The Karnak stones are divided into three alleys: Le Menech, Kermario and Kerleskan. Each of them has its own composition. The first is in orderly rows, the second has a fan-shaped pattern, the third, from the highest boulders, forms a ring of megaliths.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the territory was bought by the state in order to protect it from destruction. In 1991, the complex was taken under guard and surrounded by a fence, through which only organized excursion groups were allowed to enter. At the same time, an association for the conservation of megaliths was created and a number of programs were launched for their research, conservation and reasonable landscaping. At the same time, disputes over the historical monument continued: in the 1930s and 1980s, some compositions were rebuilt using bulldozers, some stones were moved to make way for roads and a number of other buildings. In 2002, a group of protesters tore down the fences to allow free access for tourists. In recent years, the management of the complex has allowed sheep to graze around the megaliths to get rid of weeds. Part of the complex has now been completely demolished. Such an attitude towards one of the oldest structures of prehistoric people is not a local problem of a single archaeological site, but a precedent of global significance, historians are sure, shocked by the situation.