Statue menhir

Statue-menhir la Dame de Saint-Sernin, musée Fenaille de Rodez

Statue menhir of Paillemalbiau (Murat-sur-Vèbre)

Statue menhir of Laconi, Sardinia (Laconi)

Statuamenhirlaconi.jpg A statue menhir is a type of carved standing stone created during the later European Neolithic.

The statues consist of a vertical slab or pillar with a stylised design of a human figure cut into it, sometimes with hints of clothing or weapons visible.

They are most commonly found in south and west France, Corsica, Sardinia, Italy and the Alps. A group from the Iron Age also is known in Liguria.

There are two in Guernsey, La Gran' Mère de Chimqiere, the Grandmother of Chimqiere, a highly-detailed example in the Parish of Saint Martin, and another known simply as La Gran' Mère in the Parish of Castel. The latter is an earlier example found buried underneath the parish church.

See also

• Kurgan stele
• Megalithic art

External links

• Website about statue menhirs in southern France
• Southern France Megaliths
• A. Soutou, "La ceinture des statues-menhirs du Haut-Languedoc : essai de datation", in Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française, 1959, Vol. 56 Issue 11-12, pp. 715-721 (French)