The site of Kercado, in Carnac, is situated above the valley of Kerloquet and the ria that runs along the beach of Kerdual for 2 km. Three orthostats in the passage, three other stones in the funerary chamber, as well as the cover slab, bear engraved signs recorded mainly between and The aim of this article is to present an updated account of this corpus of engravings, and to take slab morphology into consideration, as well as the anomalies that can obscure our perception of these symbols, in order to enhance our understanding of this passage tomb.
The preliminary results of this recent investigation of the site of Kercado are presented in this article. The 3D contextualization of the decorated stones, in their topographic the site and architectural setting the tomb, the stelae , is also essential for the interpretation of historical and functional associations. During the recording of these stone surfaces, in addition to the layout, we also observed various anomalies resulting from biological factors, as well as chromatic and mineral deterioration.
The first excavators reached the chamber on one side of the large cover stone north-eastern angle , between two orthostats. The filling contained calcined human bones, which were only preserved in these acidic soils due to their charred state. The radius, fibula, skull elements and phalanges belong to at least two adults and a child Closmadeuc In , during a restoration program, Z.
Le Rouzic discovered an older buried level, on the same level as the entrance of the monument, trapped under the cairn with at least one combustion structure under the pavement at the beginning of the passage; Le Rouzic Subsequently, the drawings published by E. Shee Twohig were often reproduced by European archaeologists, in particular to describe this famous axe-plough Shee Twohig Here, we propose a new interpretation of this sign, with a closed curve at the end of the motif, which is now interpreted as a cetacean, and more precisely as a sperm whale Cassen and Vaquero Lastres However, very little data can be associated with the poorly understood layout of this engraving, in relation to the other engraved stones in the tomb two orthostats in the chamber, three in the passage , as it is too damaged for visual recognition.
For the 2D model of the engraved signs, the method consists in compiling photographs taken with oblique lighting, in situ , with a single station Boujot et al.
