ocmariaquer is a famous tourist destination in France’s Brittany, noted for its majestic Neolithic megalithic monuments. Brittany’s megalithic landscape is well-known to scholars. From the work of Mark Patton (1993:1), Statements in Stone: Monuments and Society in Neolithic Brittany, one knows that the megaliths of Brittany span a period of almost 3,000 years, from the earliest Neolithic (c. 4800 cal. BC) to the beginning of the Bronze Age (c. 2250 cal. BC).

I visited the megaliths of Locmariaquer with my two Italian friends, Alberto Pozzi and Beatrice Auguadro, who are experts in megalithic studies. Alberto Pozzi, Italy’s most noted scholar of megalithic studies, has also authored books on the subject. His most famous book, Megalithism: Sacred and Pagan Architecture in Prehistory, was gifted to me for studying Pakistan’s megaliths, which is beneficial for my research on the megaliths of Pakistan. Megalithism: Sacred and Pagan Architecture in Prehistory is an English translation of the Italian Megalitismo: Architettura sacra della Preistoria, published in 2009. He also gave me a copy of this book during the 25th Valcamonica Symposium, which took place from September 20 to 26, 2013, at Capo di Ponte in Italy.

I greatly benefited from the company of both scholars. After we presented our papers at the International Meeting: Megaliths of the World, 9-14 September 2019, held at the Historial de la Vendée in Les Lucs-sur-Boulogne, Alberto Pozzi and Beatrice Auguadro decided to revisit some of the famous megalithic sites in Brittany on September 12, 2019. They invited me to join them in their excursion to the megalithic landscapes of Brittany. I accepted their generous offer and joined them on their detour to the megaliths of Brittany. I will write a few articles on the megaliths of France, which I visited with Alberto Pozzi, Beatrice Auguadro and the organisers of the International Meeting: Megaliths of the World, 9-14 September 2019. In this article, I will only discuss the megaliths of Locmariaquer.

Upon arriving at the megalithic complex of Locmariaquer, one is greeted by a site board that welcomes visitors with a map and brief information in both English and French. Locmariaquer is renowned for its megalithic complex, which comprises three Neolithic monuments: La Table des Marchands dolmen, the Grand Menhir Brisé, or Great Broken Menhir, and the Er-Grah tumulus, also known as the burial mound of Er-Grah.

The Grand Menhir Brisé is broken into four segments. It is believed to be the largest menhir in the world. One stands mulling over the majesty of the Great Broken Menhir: how was such an enormous stone transported and erected, and what caused its destruction? Was it ever raised, or was it broken into four pieces before its erection? Recent research suggests that it was raised and stood before a row of other huge menhirs. According to Alberto Pozzi (2013:44), the author of Megalithism: Sacred and Pagan Architecture in Prehistory, the Grand Menhir Brisé came from orthogneiss outcrops, which are located between 8 and 10 kilometres from the site where it was raised. This site attracts both researchers and tourists.

Some fragments of destroyed monoliths were also used in the dolmen of la Table des Marchands, another megalithic monument at Locmariaquer.

Alberto Pozzi (2013:105) writes in Megalithism: Sacred and Pagan Architecture in Prehistory that the Grand Menhir Brise weighed about 280 metric tones. It is now broken into four sections. Based on the recent research on Grand Menhir Brise, he believes it must have been at the head of a row of 18 huge menhirs destroyed at the end of the 5^th millennium. One also learns from Jean-Pierre Mohen (2009:74), the author of Standing Stones: Stonehenge, Carnac and the World of Megaliths, that Great Broken Menhir stood at the set of 18 menhirs, which is also evident from ditches where once the monoliths stood, at the site which I saw during my visit. Jean-Pierre Mohen (2009) believes that after the systematic destruction of the menhirs, their fragments were used in the building of the dolmens of Morbihan around 4000 BC. Two of the menhirs were enormous. According to him, the first menhir measured 45 feet and weighed 200 tonnes, while the second, the Grand Menhir Brise, was 68 feet long and weighed 340 tonnes.

Some fragments of the destroyed monoliths were also used in the dolmen of la Table des Marchands, another megalithic monument at Locmariaquer. La Table des Marchands dolmen has been restored recently. The distinctive feature of the dolmen is megalithic art. Like many other megalithic monuments of Brittany, this dolmen is noted for megalithic art. In the chamber of the dolmen is a decorated headstone slab that depicts fascinating signs, probably symbolic crooks. Two other slabs in the passage represent geometric signs. The underside of the capstone of the dolmen bears the engravings of the axe and ox. A cairn surrounds the burial chamber of the dolmen of la Table des Marchands.

Jean Pierre-Mohen (2009:37) believes that Christophe-Paul de Robien (1698-1756), a magistrate in Brittany parliament, can be considered the founder of Breton. He was the first to study megalithic monuments, which he identified as tombs. He also focused on the megaliths of Locmariaquer.

The third megalithic monument at Locmariaquer is the Er-Grah tumulus. It is 140 metres (460 feet) long and was constructed in the 5^th millennium BC.

Apart from the megalithic complex of Locmariaquer, we also visited Dolmen du Mane Lud, which is close to Locmariaquer village. This dolmen is also noted for megalithic art. The slabs of the passage depict horn-like, yoke, crook signs and cup marks. An axe motif is also found on a slab of the passage. The headstone of the passage also depicts some signs.

Like other megalithic sites in Brittany, the megalithic monuments of Locmariaquer are popular tourist attractions. Tourists swarm this site to learn about the sacred landscape of the people of the Neolithic community that raised these majestic structures.

The writer is an anthropologist. He has authored 13 books on anthropology, cultural heritage and religions in Pakistan. He tweets at @kalhorozulfiqar