On the Stone Avenues of Carnac, . 79 
Not for the archeologist alone, but for every sensible and 
intelligent person, these questions have a bright, an. interesting, 
and an instructive aspect. For although the ravages of time have 
greatly marred these venerable relics of antiquity, still we are able 
to recognize in them the arts of primitive peoples, and to eall up be- 
fore the mind’s eye the very peoples themselves ; to study their mental 
development, and to define the uses many of their works were 
destined to serve. We are able in this manner to catch a glimpse 
‘of the private life, and even the religious ideas, of peoples of whose 
great antiquity we know absolutely nothing at present, because 
written history and tradition have not reached it. 
There are few countries so rich in stone monuments of pre-historic 
times as that portion of Western France which was formerly known 
by the ancient name of Armorica, and now bears the name of 
Britsnny. These monuments are found in every part of it, but are 
more numerous on the lands bordering on the sea, where the exposed 
shores, poor soils, and dreary heaths, have not invited agricultural 
operations. In certain districts they are very remarkable, and in 
none more so than in the Department of the Morbihan, which is 
situated in the south of the Province, between the Departments of 
Finistere and Ille et Vilaine. Here we find communes in which they 
exist at short intervals, in every variety of form, and of all dimen- 
sions, from the rude unhewn menhir or granite pillar, standing 
singly, to the wonderful groups of menhirs, arranged in lines or in 
circles; and from the simple rectangular cist of moderate proportions, 
to the hugh and complicated sepulchre with its side chambers and 
ponderous capstones. ; 
The menhirs, or pillars, are mysterious monuments, whose desti- 
nation still remains, more or less, a problem. Some are supposed 
to have been erected as memorials of departed heroes; others as 
symbols of divinities; while others have been, perhaps, mere 
boundary stones; but no one has yet been able to suggest a reason- 
able and satisfactory theory for the vast avenues or lines of menhirs, 
_ which are more numerous, more remarkable, and more visited, in 
- the Morbihan, than in other Departments of the Province. 
Most persons have heard and read of the celebrated Lines of 
