Pierres Droites Alignments
Neolithic - Standing Stone
Photo © Andy Hay
Les Pierres Droites (the upright, or straight stones) comprise some 400 standing stones that only recently came to the attention of archaeologists. It was after a forest fire about 20 years ago that the significance of this alignment of menhirs, now thought to be one of the most important in France, was realised. Most of the standing stones have been hewn from local schist, but a few are white quartz that have come from some distance. The biggest menhir is 5 meters high and weighs at least 30 tons.
- Site Information
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- Comments (1)
Practical Information
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Location: France - Brittany - Morbihan - Monteneuf
This alignment of menhirs (standing stones) is on the right-hand side of the D776 from Monteneuf to Guer.
Onsite Facilities: free entry, open year round, car park, self guiding allowed
Official Website: Pierres Droites Alignments
Nearby Sites
Sites up to 50 km away as the crow flies.
There are currently no nearby sites in the Archaeology Travel database. If you know of any, please contact us.
Site owner or manager? Proprietaires ou gestionnaires des sites?
Services
Resources
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Rough Guide to Brittany - Normandy
(Amazon.com)
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Rough Guide to Brittany - Normandy
(Amazon.co.uk)
ESW (2 comments)
September 26, 2011
These are one of the less visited megalithic sites in Brittany and one of the places where it is possible to wander freely among the stones.
There is a large car park on the opposite side of the road which is used by walkers as there are many tracks through the woodland.
The stones are set in an open heathland setting with heather. In mid September there was free access to the site. The box containing information leaflets was empty. There are a few information boards around the site in French.
You are able to walk among the stones. Some are massive. The biggest is 5m tall and weighs 38 tonnes. Some are arranged in lines; others are a more random distribution. There was a short row of quite small stones.
A quarry site is identified which shows how the blocks of stones were chipped out.
There is an area with a reconstructed dolmen and partially reconstructed neolithic house of wattle and daub.