Menhir located near Tregunc: Menhir with two women in traditional Breton dress, photographed

A menhir refers to tall, upright megalithic stone monuments found in Europe, Africa, or Asia, and dating to prehistoric or very ancient times. The term typically refers to stones that occur singly, though it is may be used to refer to individual stones within a row, circle, or other configuration. The name 'menhir' derives from Middle Breton; they are most numerous in Western Europe, in Ireland, Great Britain and Brittany. In northwest France alone there are 1,200 menhirs. Recent research into the age of megaliths in Brittany strongly suggests a far older origin than Bronze Age, perhaps back to six to seven thousand years ago.