PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 



The Prehistoric Monuments of Brittany. By Professor A. B. Mac- 



ALLUM. 



(Read 3rd December, 1898.) 

 (Abstract.) 



The menhirs, dohiiens, and tunnili of Brittany, though much discussed, still 

 offer problems for solution which are of importance in determining features of the 

 Ne.olithic and Bronze periods. The age of these monuments also is undecided, 

 lor Fergusson^i-* believes that they are all post-Roman, whilo others claim for 

 them an anterior origin. The difficulty in this matter is due to the fact that the 

 remains were not, until the close of the last century, thought worthy of reference by 

 writers who must have seen them. Csesar, who was in the neighbourhood of 

 Carnac when the sea fight between his galleys and those of the Veneti took place 

 m the Gulf of Morbihan, makes, in his description of that battle, no reference to 

 the thousand menhirs, which, if they were there then, he must have seen also at 

 the time. On this ground Fergusson regards them as of later date, but one can- 

 not depend very much on such a line of argument, for Madame de Sevigne visited 

 Auray and the Carnac region in 1689, and although she wrote copiously about 

 everything that apparently came under her observation then, she makes no refer- 

 ence to the existence of these monuments. Are we, therefore, to conclude that they 

 were erected in the eighteenth century ? On the other hand, the site of a Ronvii 

 camp has been discovered in the area covered by the menhirs of Kermario, in 

 the neighbourhood of Carnac, and some of the menhirs were used in the con- 

 struction of the wall, while others inside the enclosure are bla/:keneed with soot, 

 probably due to the legionaries using them as hearthstones. This clearly indicates 

 an Ante- Roman date for the foundation of these monuments. In regard to the 

 age of the dolmens of Brittany, the character of the skulls found in them is 

 deci.sive — while the skull of the tribesman of Brittany in Caesar's time was brachy- 

 cephalic, that of the dolmen-builders was sub-dolicocephalic, or mesaticephalic. 

 From this it is concluded that the dolmen builders were a race which preceded 

 the Celts in Western France. How far back in time dolmens were first erected it 

 is impossible to say, but it must be recognized that in North Germany, in Norway 

 and Sweden, and in Ireland dolmens were erected in the Christian era. 



In regard to the significance of the menhirs, nothing as yet has been definitely 

 determined. Remains of human skeletons, accompanied in some cases by flint 

 implements, have been found at the foot of some of them, and hence it is inferred 

 that they are the equivalents of our burial headstones. This explanation must 

 appear doubtful to anyone who has examined the " alignements " of Carnac. Here 

 very few human remains have been f.ound in connection with them, although there 

 are thousands in the district. The view that the " alignements " were connected with 

 sun-worshii> or with herpetolatry, postulates first of all an explanation of the func- 

 tion of the isolated menhirs in other parts of France and in Great Britain. Sun- 

 worship undoubtedly obtained amongst ancient British and Gallic tribes, but the 

 founders of the menhirs have yet to be shown to be of Celtic or B-elgic affinities. 

 There is very little evidence to show that serpent-worship obtained amongst these 



(i) Rude Stone Monuments, 1872, chapter «. 



