Post · Vihāra

@JulietJFall@mastodon.social · 3 weeks ago

Start of a long thread on megaliths for #StandingStoneSunday, following our summer holiday adventures in Brittany 🇫🇷 & Cornwall 🇬🇧. Starting with an alignment in Erdeven.
If you like standing stones, I have previous 🧵on Neolithic & Bronze Age sites in Sardinia, from the past two years when I was a visiting prof there (geography not archeology!). I have a long-standing interest in how humans inhabit landscape so I love old & new standing stones, dragging the family along. #Bornées #geography

Erdeven. Difficult to photograph the lines without an aerial or high-up vantage point. Some stones probably a bit moved or wobbled in the sandy soil.

An alignment of megaliths (“big stones”) in Erdeven, near Carnac, by the side of a modern road. Stones must actually have been moved to build the road, at some point. Free, open access.

JulietJFall

@JulietJFall@mastodon.social · 3 weeks ago

Previous threads on standing stones include the ones in Sardinia, include for instance: https://mastodon.social/@JulietJFall/112230566979146989
That island really is a treasure trove of archeology. But let’s get back to sites in what is now Brittany, with the sun reflected on a puddle to get us in the mood for contemplating the vastness of the universe & all that we do not understand.

A setting sun by the Atlantic Ocean with a puddle reflecting the sun in the foreground

JulietJFall

@JulietJFall@mastodon.social · 3 weeks ago

The site in Kerzerho, in Erdeven (Brittany 🇫🇷) has several remarkable megaliths in a long looping walk. We explored around, between menhirs, “giant stones” and possibly used for sacrifices (hey, or picnics, no?). The Erdeven alignments are apparently made up of several hundred monoliths spread over almost 2 km, but it’s hard to get a feel for the hugeness from the ground. Magical place, with few visitors in early July (French schools still not on holiday). #StandingStoneSunday

A signpost with the name Kerzérho and a large “giant” dolmen under shady trees

Little carved cuppules on a large slab/table megalith

Two large megaliths, one like a large slab or table, one like a dome, under trees

JulietJFall

@JulietJFall@mastodon.social · 3 weeks ago

Not far from there, in Plouharnel (Brittany 🇫🇷, we happened upon a fabulous dolmen in a field when we got a bit lost on a walk looking for megalithic sites. Then we searched for the more accessible dolmen de Crucuno in the village of the same name, now resting up against a stone farmhouse. It seems incredible for someone to build so close to this monument, but I don’t know the local history. Two fabulous sites, but don’t visit them - as we did - in a heatwave! #StandingStoneSunday

Dolmen de Crucuno up against a stone house

A stone sign indicating that the dolmen de Crocuno is state property. The shape of the stone reminds me of border stones written about in my comic/book “Along The Line”

A rather bad photo trying to point the camera into the dolmen’s chamber, above ground.

Dolmen in Plouharnel in a very dry-looking grassy field. One large stone held up by a multitude of others

Vihāra

Vihāra is an experimental Buddhist monastery: a federated hub representing the activities of a Buddhist monastery in the Himalayan Vajrayāna/Mahāyāna lineages.

Vihāra: About · Code of conduct · Privacy ·

Bonfire social · 1.0.0-rc.2.3 no JS en

Automatic federation enabled