Carnac – a Cognitive Barrier? An Interpretation of Stele Rows in Western Europe of the Fifth Millenium B.C. in the Light of Ethnological and Archaeological Data in Eurasia

Abstract

The archaeological complex of Carnac situated on the Atlantic coast of Western France represents several thousands of standing stones making kilometers-long parallel rows, the nature and purpose of which are still questionable, even though the search for the explanation has been going on since the late 18 th century. This complex was interpreted both as a temple and as a ceremonial avenue, both as a necropolis and as an astronomical observatory; but none of these suggestions can be accepted by today’s scholarship; nor do they provide a key to solving this historical riddle. The author argues that Carnac, discovered in the light of Eurasian ethnological and archaeological data, could possibly be considered as a Neolithic Atlantic monument the meaning of which was that of a cognitive barrier.