- The revelation of the destruction of 39 small menhirs to make way for a DIY store in Carnac has been causing a media storm for two days.
- In the seaside town of Morbihan, the inhabitants are however much more reserved, believing that these stones, which no one has ever seen, should not have much value.
- Some denounce all the same “the administrative cacophony” which led to this situation and regret that excavations were not carried out on the site.
From our special correspondent in Carnac,
“Don’t take our picture! The situation is already tense enough as it is and we have nothing to do with it. We work and we do what we are told to do. The helmet on the head, this worker has the nerves on edge this Thursday afternoon. It must be said that the construction site on which he works has been talked about a lot for the past two days. An altogether banal construction site with a Mr Bricolage brand store emerging from the ground in the Montauban business park in Carnac (Morbihan). Except that the land in question had been reported as a megalithic site. But in the absence of excavations, yet prescribed in 2015, and the non-registration of the site among the areas of archaeological prescription, a building permit was finally issued in August 2022 by the town hall of Carnac to the bearer of the project. Work then started without anyone finding anything to complain about.
But last week, a post published on the website of the Sites & Monuments association set fire to the powder. In his article, Christian Obeltz, a history buff, laments that thirty-nine small menhirs, between 50 centimeters and one meter high, were destroyed during the works. “It was undoubtedly one of the oldest sets of stelae in the town of Carnac,” he chokes. Since these revelations, the small chic seaside resort has been in the midst of a media storm. Heritage lovers are of course crying foul, denouncing, like Julien Lacaze, president of Sites & Monuments, “the destruction of a site which may have concealed treasures”. “But we’ll never know since the excavations never took place and it’s very regrettable,” he says.
On the side of the town hall of Carnac and the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs of Brittany (Drac), on the other hand, we are much more measured. “Because of the still uncertain and in all cases not major remains as revealed by the diagnosis, the damage to a site with archaeological value is not established”, replied the Drac.
Menhirs whose color no one has ever seen
In the Breton town, world famous for its alignments of menhirs around 6,000 years old, the case is of course cause for discussion. Employee of the recycling center located just opposite the construction site, Manu does not care about all this excitement. “No one ever comes here, but this is the parade! he laughs. In office for four years, he claims to have “never been aware” of the presence of these menhirs. Same story in the neighboring housing estate of Kerdual. “We have been living here since 1995 and we have never heard of these menhirs”, assure Francis and Viviane. “They must not have been very big in any case and well hidden in the copses because I often walk my dog in this area and I have never seen the color”, engages Christophe, a neighbor.
Few of the Carnacois encountered are moved by the fate reserved for these menhirs. “We’re not going to be offended by big rocks either, there are everywhere in Carnac,” says Estelle. If only they were fine menhirs OK, but we’re not going to put the city under glass either for a pile of stones. Francis holds much the same discourse. “Of course we are attached to the menhirs in Carnac but to the real alignments like Kermario or Locmariaquer, underlines the retiree. But this is a ridiculous discovery, I also have stones in my garden. »
A complaint filed and an investigation requested
In Carnac, which houses one of the largest megalithic sites in the world, some voices are raised all the same. This is the case of Christian, who came as a neighbor from Lorient, to take a picture behind the construction gates “this thing which has nothing to do with megaliths. “A heritage defender but not “unconditional”, he cannot understand how the building permit could have been issued. “What an administrative cacophony all the same and now everyone is passing the buck, he says. The most regrettable is that there were perhaps great discoveries to be made on this site. Crossed on the path that runs along the alignments of Kermario, Annie is surprised at the attitude of the workers. “They should have wondered when they discovered aligned stones, even small ones, because we are still in Carnac”, she assures.
Even if the destroyed menhirs will not come back to life and the DIY store will open its doors this fall, the case is not over yet. The association for the defense of heritage Koun Breizh (Breton memory) has thus announced that it has filed a complaint against X for aggravated voluntary destruction. Like the Breton deputy Marc Le Fur (LR), the Sites & Monuments association is also calling for the opening of an investigation to understand what happened in this file. “And especially so that this type of blunder does not happen again”, warns Julien Lacaze.