Did menhirs destroyed in Carnac, in western France, to build a DIY store have archaeological value? Heritage defenders and local authorities are divided.
Thirty-nine small menhirs, between 50 cm and one meter high, were recently destroyed during Mr. Bricolage’s construction site.
Their demolition was revealed on June 2 by an amateur archaeologist, Christian Obeltz, on his blog.
“Several brutal developments have been carried out, this winter and spring, around the alignments of menhirs of Carnac, distorting this world-famous site”, he denounces. The heritage enthusiast was sorry for the destruction of a site which, “even modest”, however illustrated “the structuring of the territory from the Neolithic era”.
The Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs (DRAC) of Brittany specified Thursday to Agence France-Presse that at the time of the construction site it had “issued an excavation prescription to the promoter”, which the latter “did not implement “.
Reacting to the emotion aroused by this destruction, the DRAC also underlined in a press release the “still uncertain and in any case not major nature of the remains”.
“The attack on a site with archaeological value has not been established”, indicated the DRAC, adding that it “is not listed among the areas of archaeological presumption, that is to say the areas that warrant an opinion from the regional archeology service”.
The mayor, Olivier Lepick, attests for his part to having “perfectly respected the legislation” and also invokes “the low archaeological value” of the objects found.
Contacted, the management of the DIY sign said “regret[ter] sincerely this situation”.