Carnac Stones

The Carnac megalithic complex in Brittany consists of nearly 3,000 standing stones arranged in 11 parallel rows across three main alignments (Ménec, Kermario, and Kerlescan), each row extending up to a kilometre in length. The largest stones stand over 4 metres tall; the smallest are barely knee-high. The alignments terminate in semicircular enclosures (cromlechs) and are associated with burial mounds, dolmens, and tumuli.

The builders — Neolithic farmers of the Armorican Massif — left no writing, making purpose entirely speculative. The alignments do not align to any significant astronomical event. Proposals include a seismic monitoring system, a fertility ritual complex, a proto-calendar, or an enormous territory-marking system. In Breton folklore the stones are Roman soldiers turned to stone by the passage of Saint Cornelius; local tradition held that they moved to a stream to drink at midnight on Christmas Eve, and that anyone watching would die.