The UNESCO defines OUV, the backbone of the application, as “cultural significance which is so exceptional as to transcend national boundaries and to be of common importance for present and future generations of all humanity”. To be included on the World Heritage List, sites must have (and define in writing) an Outstanding Universal Value and meet at least one of the ten selection criteria.
Our application meets three criteria :
I. A MASTERPIECE OF HUMAN CREATIVE GENIUS
The shores of Morbihan are home to world-famous monuments, in particular Carnac, Locmariaquer (the Grand Menhir), and Larmor-Baden (Gavrinis). This complex, covering a total of more than 100km2, combines monumental graves and stone rows, constituting a unique architectural and artistic achievement in terms of both scale and originality: the layout of the structures, in symbiosis with the landscape, forms a symbolic space emphasised by an original iconographic programme and deposits of high-value polished artefacts. The monuments, engravings and symbolic artefacts bear witness to technical and artistic prowess involving feats such as the handling of thousands of tonnes of earth and stones. The art of covering standing stones and grave walls with iconic or narrative scenes was at its height here during the European Neolithic period (6500 BCE).
II. AN IMPORTANT INTERCHANGE OF HUMAN VALUES
Another of the criteria met by our application is that it exhibits an important interchange of human values. These values had influence over a span of time and within a given cultural area of the world on developments in architecture, technology, monumental arts, town planning, and landscape design.
The megalithic phenomenon around the ‘Small Sea’ (the Gulf of Morbihan) bears witness to the existence of a centre of power with considerable influence at the time of early Neolithic societies (between 5000 and 3000 BCE). Standing stones, tumuli, and dolmens have helped give structure to the landscape since the Neolithic. The outstanding diversity of this architecture pays tribute to a series of influences and transfers throughout the continent of Europe, in particular on the Atlantic seaboard. The iconographic programmes produced in Morbihan are similar to those found on steles and natural rocks in the Paris Basin, Burgundy, Switzerland, northern Italy, and probably in Galicia and southern Portugal, too. The grave goods (jade bracelets, axe-heads, and beads made from semi-precious stones) also bear witness to the transportation of rare raw materials and valuable artefacts over distances of up to 1200km.
III. AN OUTSTANDING EXAMPLE OF A TYPE OF BUILDING, ARCHITECTURAL OR TECHNOLOGICAL ENSEMBLE, OR LANDSCAPE
The third criterion our application corresponds to is that it is an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural, or technological ensemble or landscape that illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history.
In the early Neolithic, humans entered into a new relationship with their environment by building graves of impressive proportions, burying grave goods at central points in the landscape, and erecting huge alignments of standing stones. In addition, some of them were worked and sometimes engraved with signs relating to a cosmogony featuring symbolism that differed from that of hunter-gatherers.
During the Neolithic, several of these structures were altered and others were built around the earlier ones to form monumental ensembles. These architectural and iconographic innovations, amongst the oldest-known in western Europe, embody major changes in the economic and cultural organisation of societies. The polished axe-head is the iconic object of changes that were to have significant influence in the history of humankind. The constructions, which remain spectacular to this day, reveal the genius, human investment, and technical knowhow of these mixed farming societies in the movement, transportation, and use of considerable quantities of earth and stones; blocks weighing up to 330 tonnes were moved over distances of 5-10 km, sometimes across stretches of water.