Construction of menhir Néolithique (≈ 4100 av. J.-C.)
Estimated time of erection.
13 mai 1930
Historical monument classification
Historical monument classification 13 mai 1930 (≈ 1930)
Official protection order.
Fin XVIIIe - XIXe siècle
Abandoned customary practice
Abandoned customary practice Fin XVIIIe - XIXe siècle (≈ 1995)
No fertility ritual.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Heritage classified
Menhir de Kérangallou (Box ZB 118): by order of 13 May 1930
Key figures
Recteur de Trégunc (non nommé) - Local religious
Christianisa menhir in 18XX.
Yohann Sparfel et Yvan Pailler - Archaeologists authors
Inventory of monuments (2011).
Origin and history
The Kerangallou Menhir is an imposing block of granite, measuring 7.40 metres in height, with a width and thickness of 3 metres at its base. Located in the commune of Trégunc, in the department of Finistère, it dates from Neolithic and bears witness to the importance of megalithic constructions in this region at that time. Filed under the title of historical monuments by order of 13 May 1930, it illustrates the desire to preserve this ancient heritage.
According to a local custom of the 18th and 19th centuries, young couples came to rub their naked belly against the menhir, the man on the north side and the woman on the south side, hoping to get a boy. This practice, considered evil by the rector of the time, led to the Christianization of the menhir by adding a cross to its summit. The rector even threatened to deny absolution to those who would persist in this rite, forcing the young to abandon this tradition to this menhir, although they pursued it on another nearby menhir, Kergleuhant's.
The Kerangallou Menhir is mentioned in archaeological inventories, such as that carried out by Yohann Sparfel and Yvan Pailler in 2011, which lists monuments of Neolithic and Bronze Age in Finistère. This menhir is thus part of a wider set of megalithic sites characteristic of Brittany, and especially Finistère, where these remains are numerous and studied for their historical and cultural value.
