Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The alignments of Lampouy, located on the commune of Médréac in Ille-et-Vilaine (Bretagne), are a set of five megalithic rows erected in Neolithic. Located on a plateau between 100 and 150 m above sea level, they extend 230 m east to west and more than 500 m north to south, with varying orientations. The quartzite monoliths, extracted locally, form alignments of different sizes and axes, suggesting progressive construction or distinct functions.

The first written records date back to 1850 with Danjou de la Garenne, then in 1853 in the Dictionnaire historique de Bretagne d-Ogée under the name tombs du Chênot. In 1883, P. Bézier inventoried four of his megalithic inventory of Ille-et-Vilaine, the fifth being masked by vegetation. Excavations in 1880-1881 on the alignment of the Long Points revealed only ashes and coals, indicating perhaps funeral or ritual use.

Between 1928 and 1930, Professor L. Collin conducted an in-depth study and observed the degradation of the menhirs, obtaining their classification as historical monuments on 18 September 1929 for four alignments and the Roche Carrée. Alignments, designated from A to E (or by their local names as Grande Épine or Bergerons), count between 8 and 11 menhirs each, mostly reversed. Their arrangement and their heterogenic orientation (north-south for E, west-north-west for C and D) still question their symbolic or astronomical significance.

Archaeological sources point to the local extraction of stones (100-250 m north) and their possible link with other nearby menhirs, such as those of Guitté or the Carrée Rock. Although partially protected, alignments remain vulnerable to erosion and vegetation, demonstrating challenges in preserving Breton megalithic sites.

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