Brittany burial mounds may hide human-shaped stones as Coëby cemetery mystery deepens
For archaeologists, the Coëby cemetery in Brittany, France, is a gold mine for research. It contains several prehistoric stone monuments and earth mounds. In a new study of two unusually large mounds, scientists may have stumbled upon a rare style of funerary monument.
In Brittany, France, the Coëby cemetery is a valuable site for archaeologists due to its prehistoric stone monuments and earth mounds. Two unusually large mounds, TRED30 and TRED31, have recently caught the attention of researchers. These elongated earthen barrows, measuring 50–80 meters long and up to 1.8 meters high, were first discovered in 1986 but remain largely unexcavated.
In 2020, scientists from the French National Center for Scientific Research employed electrical resistivity mapping to survey the mounds non-invasively. The technique involved inserting small metal stakes into the ground to measure how easily electricity travels through the earth, allowing researchers to detect hidden features. The surveys revealed resistance spikes in the centers of both mounds, suggesting the presence of stone clusters within TRED30 and TRED31.
These spikes indicated substantial structures deep within TRED30 and stones close to the surface in TRED31. The researchers hypothesize that the discovered structures could be human-shaped standing stones, similar to Passy-type monuments found in other parts of France. However, only a complete excavation can confirm their layout and purpose.
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