Zacharie Le Rouzic, a local boy

Portrait

Some stones deserve to be looked at with a magnifying glass. And more precisely at their base. Reddish squares stand out... Beware, they are not the work of Neolithic men, but of a child of Carnac, who as an adult worked his whole life to protect this exceptional site so dear to his heart!

These red squares were placed at the beginning of the 20th century by Zacharie Le Rouzic. Born into a poor family in Carnac, he left school at the age of 10! The Scottish archaeologist James Miln was not mistaken: he took him under his wing and initiated him into the methodical work of archaeological excavations.

Very quickly, the pupil surpassed the master and set up a scientific approach that would help all future generations of researchers. He marked the blocks that he straightened, thus making it possible to make a first sorting between the stones handled at that time and the others...

He became curator of the museum of Carnac in 1910. He is best known for being at the origin of the protection of the menhirs and many dolmens of the region as Historic Monuments. Thanks to him, Carnac came out of the shadows.

His ambition? To make the monuments known to the general public. And he succeeded by dint of publications, photographic campaigns, brochures and even postcards.
Nearly a century later, Carnac is a must-see place for archaeologists from around the world.

Want to know more? Go to the museum of prehistory of Carnacjust a few minutes from the alignments!