Stones ancient beyond belief.

Dating from some 6,000 years ago, the megalithic site at Carnac is one of the most important prehistoric sites in Europe. Around 3,000 menhirs (standing stones) are aligned over an area of 40 hectares and a distance of 4 kilometres.
The Kermario, Le Menec, Kerlescan and Petit Menec (La Trinité-sur-Mer) alignments, which together form the Carnac site, represent one of the first monumental stone structures in Europe.
Plans are under way to redevelop the site to improve facilities for visitors, to enhance the landscaping and architectural qualities of the site and, by creating pedestrian and cycle paths, to open up new ways of visiting the monument.

Inspired by a learned Scotsman.

The museum's earliest collections are owed to a learned Scotsman by the name of James Miln.
The furniture and the archaeological treasures discovered at Carnac are for the most part presented in the Musée de la Préhistoire.
Visitors will follow the adventures of mankind from the Old Stone Age (450,000 years ago) to the Gallo-Roman period (4th century B.C.), by way of the Neolithic period when the megaliths were erected. A total of 6,600 exhibits are on display.

Menhirs and dolmens of yore…

Locmariaquer's megalithic site features three structures epitomising Breton megalithic architecture: the great broken menhir, the dolmen known as the Merchants' Table and the Er Grah tumulus, all of which were erected between 4,700 and 3,800 B.C.. This was the Neolithic period, when man began to form settlements, to experiment with and develop animal husbandry, farming, pottery, weaving, etc.

A tour of the site is an excellent introduction to megalithic civilisation and architecture, featuring as it does the three types of monuments from that era. Also, the whole is ideally situated in a stunning natural setting overlooking the Morbihan Gulf and Quiberon Bay. In the Neolithic period, before the level of the seas rose, these expanses would have been not gulf and bay but expansive, grassy plains...