The Stone Tidal Fish Weirs of the Molène Archipelago, Iroise Sea, Brittany, Western France: a long‐term tradition with early megalithic origins

Abstract

This reports on a project that combined evidence gleaned from aerial photographs, place‐names, interviews, topography, LIDAR data, and sonar bathymetry to locate stone tidal fish weirs in the Molène Archipelago. The results were verified by diver and pedestrian visual surveys. Models of Holocene sea‐level change allowed a group of possibly Late Mesolithic–Early Neolithic weirs to be recognized, with a second group broadly dated to the later Neolithic–Early Bronze Age. The construction of these long megalithic structures is compared to the funerary monuments for which the Molène Archipelago is well known, in terms of technique, cost, and societal organization.

Low-Cost Archaeological Investigation and Rapid Mapping of Ancient Stone Tidal Weirs in the Penghu Archipelago Using Google Earth

“…These structures, named tidal weirs or traps, are made of either rows of wooden stakes and wattle, or dry-stone walls that are frequently erected between two rocky spurs [16]. Stone tidal weirs (STWs) have been effective for centuries not only in the Penghu Islands but also on other Pacific and Atlantic islands in Japan, the Philippines, Polynesia, Australia, and France [8,17,18] (Figure 1). July 2018.…”

“…(c) The aerial photo of (a) which can be downloaded from http://museum02.digitalarchives.tw/ndap/2005/StoneTidalWeir/www.daweir.npu.edu.tw/searchstw _pic_view7a3f-2.html?sn=2654, accessed on 12 January 2018. (d) A ground photo of (b) is shown on the bottom right [18].…”

“…edu.tw/searchstw_pic_view7a3f-2.html?sn=2654, accessed on 12 January 2018. (d) A ground photo of (b) is shown on the bottom right [18].…”