# An interdisciplinary approach to Recent/Final Neolithic coastal gallery graves in Brittany, France. The 3D-structure, origin of rock material, and paleoenvironmental setting of the Kernic and Lerret monuments

Aneta Gorczynska, Bernard Le Gall, Pierre Stéphan, Yvan Pailler

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Aneta Gorczynska, Bernard Le Gall, Pierre Stéphan, Yvan Pailler. An interdisciplinary approach to Recent/Final Neolithic coastal gallery graves in Brittany, France. The 3D-structure, origin of rock material, and paleoenvironmental setting of the Kernic and Lerret monuments. XXIVe colloque du GMPCA : Archéométrie 2023, Apr 2023, Nice, France. hal-04335743

HAL Id: hal-04335743

https://hal.science/hal-04335743v1

Submitted on 11 Dec 2023

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# An interdisciplinary approach to Recent/Final Neolithic coastal gallery graves in Brittany, France.

## The 3D-structure, origin of rock material, and paleoenvironmental setting of the Kernic and Lerret monuments.

Aneta Gorczynska*<fnref n="1" />, Bernard Le Gall, Pierre Stephan<fnref n="2" />, and Pailler Yvan<fnref n="3" />,<fnref n="4" />

## Résumé

This project presents an interdisciplinary study carried out on two Recent/Final Neolithic gallery graves (Kernic and Lerret) located on the northwestern coast of Brittany (western France). These monuments show striking similarities in terms of architectural style and geographical position. This research aims to provide a better understanding of the construction strategy of these monuments by : (i) determining the origin of the megalithic blocks from petro-structural analyses, (ii) reconstructing the coastal environments from the analysis of sediment cores, and (iii) defining the place of these monuments in the territories from intervisibility analysis. The study reveals important differences between the two monuments. The Lerret gallery grave was erected in direct proximity to a unique source of rock material on the margins of a marshland zone. In contrast, the Kernic monument shows a deliberate diversification of stone extraction sites and was established on the edge of an estuary. An intervisibility analysis shows a dense network of visual interconnections between the megalithic tombs in the study area, in which the two monuments occupy very different sites. The social dimensions of stone selection and the geographical location of Recent/Final Neolithic funerary monuments are also discussed in an enlarged regional context.

**Mots-Clés:** : Gallery grave, Recent/Final Neolithic, megalithic tombs, rock material, coastal paleoenvironment, petro, structural, paleoenvironmental and intervisibility analyses

<footnote n="1">¹Laboratoire Geo-Ocean, UMR 6538 – Université de Bretagne Occidentale [UBO], CNRS : UMR6538, Ifremer, Brest – France</footnote>

<footnote n="2">²Littoral, Environnement, Télédétection, Géomatique (LETG - Géomer) – CNRS : UMR6554, Université de Bretagne Occidentale (UBO) – Place Nicolas Copernic, 29280 Plouzané, France</footnote>

<footnote n="3">³Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives, centre archéologique de Cesson-Sévigné (Inrap, Cesson-Sévigné) – Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives – 37 rue Bignon, CS67737, 35577 Cesson-Sévigné, France</footnote>

<footnote n="4">⁴Chaire Archéologie Maritime et Recherche Interdisciplinaire Environnementale (Chaire Armerie) – Institut national de recherches archéologiques préventives, Université de Bretagne Occidentale (UBO) : UMR6554 – Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer Rue Dumont d'Urville, Technopôle Brest Iroise 29280 PLOUZANE, France</footnote>

<footnote>*Intervenant</footnote>