In the paleolithic era, men occupied Armorica or Britanny as it is now called. Living from hunting, fishing and gathering, they settled there in Neolithic era (towards 4500BC.) and gradually learned the techniques of rearing animals for food, agriculture and of construction. It was this civilization which started erecting stones. The majority of the megaliths (dolmens, tumulus, and standing stones) were set up between 4500 and 200BC. Menhirs a Breton word meaning standing stones, menhirs are even more and more mysterious than dolmens. Isolated or in groups, they can be laid out in alignments or circles. They measure from a few centimetres to more than twenty meters. Spaces between the stones, their orientation, the diagrams which they mapped out had almost certainly a ritual or astronomical significance. Religious rites related to the worship of fertility or sun worship do not explain what their function was.Perhaps the best know personality associated with these strange stones was Obelix from the Asterix stories.
Added:
17th Jun 2005
Subjects:
Art and Design, Design and Technology, Geography, History, Modern Foreign Languages, Religious Education, Science
Key Stages:
Foundation, Key Stage 1, Key Stage 2, Key Stage 3, Key Stage 4, Key Stage 4+
Keywords:
Menhir, standing stone, Obleix, Pontrieux, Britanny, France
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