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The Carnac stones are an exceptionally dense collection of megalithic sites around the
French village of Carnac, in Brittany, consisting of alignments, dolmens, tumuli and single
menhirs. More than 3,000 prehistoric standing stones were hewn from local rock and erected
by the pre-Celtic people of Brittany, and are the largest such collection in the world.
Most of the stones are within the Breton village of Carnac, but some to the east are within
La Trinité-sur-Mer. The stones were erected at some stage during the Neolithic period,
probably around 3300 BC, but some may date to as old as 4500 BC. There are three major
groups of stone rows - Ménec, Kermario and Kerlescan - which may have once formed a single
group, but have been split up as stones were removed for other purposes.
Although the stones date from 4500 BC, modern myths were formed which resulted from 1st
century AD Roman and later Christian occupations, such as Saint Cornelius -- a Christian myth
associated with the stones held that they were pagan soldiers in pursuit of Pope Cornelius
when he turned them to stone. Brittany has its own local versions of the Arthurian cycle.
Local tradition claims that the reason they stand in such perfectly straight lines is
that they are a Roman legion turned to stone by Merlin.
In recent centuries, many of the sites have been neglected, with reports of dolmens being
used as sheep shelters, chicken sheds or even ovens. Even more commonly, stones have been
removed to make way for roads, or as building materials. The continuing management of the
sites remains a controversial topic.