Pratiksha Shome
The removal of a historic stone field in Carnac, a village in northern France, to make room for a hardware shop chain was reported on Thursday by France 24.
The area’s prehistoric wealth has been destroyed, according to archaeologist Christian Obeltz of Carnac, who spoke to Agence France Presse. The 39 stones ranged in height from two to four feet and were estimated to be 7,000 years old.
The land they were on was not protected, despite the fact that these specific stones were close to a place with protection where 3,000 menhirs (similar stones) are found. Hardware business Mr Bricolage successfully applied for a building permission to erect a new store on the property in August of last year.
Olivier Lepick, the mayor of Carnac, told AFP that those particular stones were “of low archaeological value” and that the site had been legally inspected before building began.
Following suit, the Regional Office of Cultural Affairs (Drac) for Brittany, which manages cultural landmarks like the menhir fields in Carnac, issued a statement earlier this week stating that “damage to a site of archaeological value has not been established” given the “uncertain and in any case non-major character of the remains, as revealed by checks.”
In contrast, Obeltz. The archaeologist contends that local officials failed to conduct a thorough investigation of the site and failed to provide solid evidence that the now-cleared stones were menhirs. Obeltz told AFP that there were no archaeological digs to determine if the stones were menhirs or not.
Source: ARTnews
