Investigatory Excavations in Preparation for Widening Roadway in Central France Reveals Menhir Arrangement

This is interesting.  I do wonder if the INRAP (l'Institut National de Recherches Arche'ologiques Pre'ventives) will be able to give us a better range of age for the arrangement of menhirs and also date the cairn burial that appears to be enclosed by two more or less matching "sides" of the menhir arrangement.

Story at The Connexion, French News and Views
August 27, 2019

Rare prehistoric stones discovered in central France

Around 30 prehistoric monolith stones and one human skeleton - which could date back as far as 6,000 BC - have been found in central France, with the discovery hailed as the first of its kind in the region.

The 150-metre-long area was discovered during routine preventative excavations ahead of the widening of the A75 motorway, near Veyre-Monton, between Clermont-Ferrand and Issoire, in Puy-de-Dôme (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes).

Source:  (Article translated automatically using Google translator)https://www.francetvinfo.fr/culture/patrimoine/archeologie/decouverte-exceptionnelle-d-une-trentaine-de-monolithes-prehistoriques-en-auvergne_3591521.html

The findings were confirmed as prehistoric by archaeological research body l'Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives (INRAP).

In a press release, it said: “This is the first time that such structures, [standing stones known as] menhirs, have come to light in Auvergne, and more widely in the centre of France.”

INRAP has said that there appear to be few traces left among the stones to help with dating them precisely, but the institute is now planning a series of analyses.

Early estimates suggest that the findings could date back to the Neolithic era (New Stone Age) or the Bronze Age - from anywhere between 6,000 to 1,000 BC.

The stones measure 1m by 1.60m, and are “spread out across 150 metres across the excavation, and likely beyond it”, researchers said. They are in a north-south formation, and are in the style of “large, megalithic, Armorican monuments”.

In the same way as those found in Carnac (Morbihan), the monuments have “an impressive layout”, with the largest stones at the top of the slope towards the north, and the smallest, closer together and more towards the south.

One stone is more “sculpted”, and is “largely anthropomorphic”, researchers added.

The statement said: “This ‘statue’ is the only example [of its kind] known in the Auvergne. It has a rounded head, placed on rough shoulders, and shows two small breasts.”

Source:  https://www.francetvinfo.fr/culture/patrimoine/archeologie/decouverte-exceptionnelle-d-une-trentaine-de-monolithes-prehistoriques-en-auvergne_3591521.html  Um, not sure those
look like two "small breasts" to me - and I sure don't see even a suggestion of what appears to be a "head" anywhere - but if this is, indeed, the case, doesn't this point to some kind of link with a Goddess or fertility?  

The excavation also revealed a burial ground [My Note: stone covered cairn], with the remains of a tall man, which had been covered with stone that was 14 metres long and 6.5 metres wide.

The statement continued: “In the same way as other monuments, such as Belz in the Morbihan, the menhirs of Veyre-Monton were taken down, to make them disappear from the countryside. They were pushed into large pits, sometimes damaged or covered in soil…[and] deliberately erased from the countryside.

“They were the object of iconoclastic acts; a sort of condemnation that may be linked to a change of community or of beliefs.” [My Note:  I have a problem with this assumption that the menhirs and cairn were deliberately buried because "beliefs changed."  If that had been the case and the locals either no longer believed, or others who had come into the area and taken over never believed, that the site was somehow "sacred," why would they go through so much trouble to evidently CAREFULLY BURY THE SITE IN SITU other than placing the erect menhirs flat on the ground?  Why wouldn't they have not only knocked down the stones, but taken them out of their pattern and/or hauled them away to use in other buildings, etc.? And why was the cairn left intact if it was just an "old PAGAN burial" that had no special significance?  For all they (or we) know, the locals may have flattened and buried the stones at the site to hide them from encroaching invaders, or various religious cults or even the Roman Catholics, not wanting to upset the ancient Goddesses and/or Gods to whom the site was dedicated, nor disturb the spirit of whoever that tall man was who was buried in the cairn!  

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The photos came from a Google-translated article (original is in French) from Franceinfo:culture updated August 26, 2019.  Despite the rather clumsy translation, I think this article gives a clearer picture of the importance of the site.