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Phil Watson

@frenchmegaliths.bsky.social

410 followers 340 following 290 posts

Field work in Iraq for 5 years, 34 years curating ancient Egyptian, Near Eastern, Pre-Columbian American and Prehistoric antiquities. Since retiring have been publishing my collection of old French postcards of Megaliths (see pinned post).

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Phil Watson @frenchmegaliths.bsky.social · Jan 1

Volumes 1-9 available on Amazon sites at £10.99 each (or local currency equivalent plus any taxes).

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Phil Watson @frenchmegaliths.bsky.social · 16h

The 7m long menhir of La Tiemblais in St-Samson-sur-Rance (Côtes-d’Armor) now lies at an angle probably due to C19 treasure seekers. One of several legends about it says it is a stopper for the sea and if pulled out the sea would rush in and flood the land.

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Phil Watson @frenchmegaliths.bsky.social · 1d

The lateral entrance grave of Keravel in Roscoff (Finistère) was 20m long and had a 3.5m long entrance passage on one side. Badly robbed by late C19, early cards and reports saw it as 3 separate dolmens. All of what then remained was destroyed in 1943. This card by Villard in Quimper pre-1904.

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Phil Watson @frenchmegaliths.bsky.social · 3d

This is the section of the alignments of Kerzerho in Erdeven (Morbihan) by the Plouharnel-Erdeven road when it was much quieter than today and the Etel to Trinité-sur-Mer tram line ran alongside it; early tourists would have used this to reach Carnac.

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Phil Watson @frenchmegaliths.bsky.social · 4d

#StandingStoneSunday!

Phil Watson @frenchmegaliths.bsky.social · 4d

The menhir at Kerderff in Carnac (Morbihan) stands 5.4m tall by the edge of a field and 6 publishers issued cards of it; however they all ignored its nearby smaller twin in the middle of the field. This card by local archaeologist Zacharie Le Rouzic c. 1905. #StandingStoneSuday.

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Phil Watson @frenchmegaliths.bsky.social · 5d

The dolmen of Coste Rouge (aka Grandmont) in Soumont (Hérault) has a 3x3m capstone on a broad orthostat at each side, a terminal slab and an entrance slab with an “oven-door” porthole cut out at the bottom.

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Phil Watson @frenchmegaliths.bsky.social · 6d

The Gravier de Gargantua in Port-Mort (Eure) is one of several menhirs which were traditionally held to be pieces of grit from Gargantua’s clog which he removed and tossed away. It is 3.5m tall. Card by Lavergne 1905.

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Phil Watson @frenchmegaliths.bsky.social · 7d

Not done the massive and magnificent Grand Dolmen at Bagneux in Saumur (Maine-et-Loire) for a while so here’s a card from c.1912 in the days when visitors could climb up a ladder and sit or stand on top of the capstones.

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Phil Watson @frenchmegaliths.bsky.social · 8d

The pair of menhirs known as Les Pierres Jumelles in Olonne-sur-Mer (Vendée) are both about 4m tall and stand 5m apart. One is a typical menhir, the other a more rounded block. This card by Poupin in Mortagne c.1904.

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Phil Watson @frenchmegaliths.bsky.social · 9d

The allée couverte on Ile-Grande in Pleumeur-Bodou (Côtes-d’Armor) is known as La Maison des Naines after a tradition that fairies lived there who would come out and dance with anyone passing by on nights with a full moon. #TombTuesday.

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Phil Watson @frenchmegaliths.bsky.social · 10d

The allée couverte of Créac’h-Gallic in Goulven (Finistère) has a short chamber roofed with a single capstone, a terminal cell at the NW end and a row of kerbstones to help support the cairn survives on one side. Card by Le Bourdonnec in Brest.

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Phil Watson @frenchmegaliths.bsky.social · 11d

The menhir of Kermarquer in Moustoir-Ac (Morbihan) is 6.7m tall and has three “crooks” carved on it in relief. This 1905 card by David in Vannes over-estimates the height as 7.3m as do the diminutive figures providing animation. #StandingStoneSunday.

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Phil Watson @frenchmegaliths.bsky.social · 12d

The alignments of Kermario in Carnac (Morbihan) have over 1,000 menhirs in 7 rows running for over 1,100m. This 1905 view by Tesson in Limoges is taken among the smaller menhirs looking eastwards.

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Phil Watson @frenchmegaliths.bsky.social · 13d

The dolmen near Chez-Moutaud in St-Auvent (Haute-Vienne) has a 4.7x4.2m capstone resting at an angle on 4 orthostats. In tradition it could cure the sick if they walked round it anti-clockwise and then put a pin under the capstone. Can you spot the 2 people?

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Phil Watson @frenchmegaliths.bsky.social · 14d

The allée couverte at Aubergenville in St-Germain-en-Laye (Yvelines) was discovered and excavated in 1880-81 but in 1901 it was threatened by the building of a sewer so it was moved to the nearby Musée d’Archéologie Nationale. Card By Neurdein in Paris 1905 or earlier.

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Phil Watson @frenchmegaliths.bsky.social · 15d

This 3.6m tall menhir was moved to the public gardens in Cholet (Maine-et-Loire) in 1888 after it fell onto the road at La Garde some 5km away. It was transported on a cart made in Nantes drawn by 16 oxen.

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Phil Watson @frenchmegaliths.bsky.social · 16d

For #TombTuesday today we are inside one of the two passage graves built side by side in a single mound at Dissignac in St-Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique) before its restoration in the 1970s. Card by Chapeau in Nantes early 1920s.

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Phil Watson @frenchmegaliths.bsky.social · 17d

gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/b...
pp103-104

Bulletins et mémoires / Société d'émulation des Côtes-du-Nord

Bulletins et mémoires / Société d'émulation des Côtes-du-Nord -- 1897 -- fascicules

gallica.bnf.fr

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Phil Watson @frenchmegaliths.bsky.social · 17d

The allée couverte of Le Rocher in St-Jacut-du-Méné (Côtes-d’Armor) is estimated to have been 14m long. It was partly destroyed before 1897 when it was excavated. In 1910 it was sold to a stonemason who broke the rest of it up.

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Phil Watson @frenchmegaliths.bsky.social · 18d

The menhir of Kerloas in Plouarzel (Finistère) stands 9.5m above ground with an estimated 2m below. It was quarried from a rock bed 2km away and has been smoothed all over. A raised boss was left on each of the narrow faces. Negative by Hamonic pre-1904. #StandingStoneSunday.

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Phil Watson @frenchmegaliths.bsky.social · 19d

There was once an alignment of 8 rows of menhirs running for 0.5km NE of Ste-Barbe in Plouharnel (Morbihan). Now only 40 stones survive some of which were re-erected by Le Rouzic in 1921. This card by Neurdein c.1905.

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Phil Watson @frenchmegaliths.bsky.social · 20d

This is the 9m long westernmost of the three passage graves at Mané-Kerioned in Carnac (Morbihan). It is debatable as to whether each had its own cairn or were integrated over time into a single one. Card by Laussedat pre-1904 using a negative by Le Rouzic.

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Phil Watson @frenchmegaliths.bsky.social · 21d

The simple Dolmen de Jonquet in La Cavalerie (Aveyron) has 4.5x4m capstone on a broad (4.5m) orthostat on each side and a terminal slab and is surrounded by cairn material. Only 4 of the 750+ megalithic sites in Aveyron seem to have featured on early postcards. Card by Froment before 1904.

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Phil Watson @frenchmegaliths.bsky.social · 22d

The granite menhir of L’Affiloir (whetstone) de Gargantua in Craménil (Orne) is 3.3m tall. Its name comes from a folktale; the giant challenged St Peter to see who could scythe a field faster. St Peter won so Gargantua threw away his stone in a fit of pique and it landed here.

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Phil Watson @frenchmegaliths.bsky.social · 23d

The dolmen of La Pierre Pèze in Limalonges (Deux-Sèvres) has an oval 7.3x3.5m capstone; the broad end rests on a taller orthostat the narrow end on 2 lower ones so it angles down towards the north. It is close to the border with Vienne near St-Saviol where early cards often place it.

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