On the Stone Avenues of Carnac, and other Pre-historic Monuments of Brittany

Abstract

The monuments described in this article belong to that section of the pre-historic age which has been designated the period of polished stone implements. Formerly they were supposed to be among the most ancient structures that told of the earliest inhabitants of this globe. But archaeological researches have now shown that there was a more remote period of human history, in which man did not erect such buildings, but took refuge in dens and caves of the earth, making them his abodes in life and his last resting-places in death. The cave-men, however, would seem to have been more advanced in the arts than those who planned and executed the grand avenues and other megalithic monuments of Brittany. The caves which they occupied have produced engravings and sculptures on stones, ivory, and reindeer bones, that are marvellous for accuracy of delineation and truthfulness of form, compared with which the carved stones of Brittany are rude and unmeaning. Some of these sculptures and engravings, preserved in public and private collections, are full of artistic life and vigour. Now it is said that there was a remoter period still of human existence, in which man simply chipped flints into rude implements and knew not how to polish them, nor did he know how to manufacture clay vessels and to procure fire. The antiquity of this people is supposed to be lost in the impenetrable mists of the post-glacial period. Not for the archaeologist alone, but for every sensible and intelligent person, these ...