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Carnac alignments

Carnac alignments
Image: Myrabella, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Resized; not otherwise altered. All credits.
LocationMorbihan, Brittany, France
Conventional dateNeolithic, from about 4600–4300 BCE for dated sections.
Alternative date proposalsNone with significant published support that we know of.
What is measured
  • Le Ménec: about 1,050 menhirs in 11 rows; Le Plasker alignment dated 4600–4300 cal BCE. [1]
  • Bayesian analysis of 2,410 dates: megalithic graves appear first in NW France in the 5th millennium BCE and spread by sea. [2]
  • Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2025. [3]

Thousands of standing stones in rows, among the earliest megalithic monuments in Europe.

Sources

  1. University of Gothenburg (2025). New light on the stone alignments in the Carnac region (Le Plasker dating). https://www.gu.se/en/news/new-light-on-the-stone-alignments-in-the-ca… data
  2. Schulz Paulsson, B. (2019). Radiocarbon dates and Bayesian modeling support maritime diffusion model for megaliths in Europe. PNAS 116. doi:10.1073/pnas.1813268116 data
  3. UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Megaliths of Carnac and of the shores of Morbihan (inscribed 2025). https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1725/ background

Dates are summarised in our own words from the sources listed. Conventional and alternative dates are both reported; "measured" lists only dated or documented findings. Methodology.