In the 1983 album Asterix and Son (le Fils d’Astérix), Uderzo delivers one of the most tongue-in-cheek explanations for one of Europe’s greatest prehistoric mysteries: the Carnac megaliths. In a humorous scene, Obelix and a local farmer look out over rows of menhirs stretching into the distance. When asked what use a collection of menhirs serves, the farmer explains that the soil is poor and rocky anyway, so he might as well put the stones to use—and show it’s not just a legend that rocks grow here. A caption in the panel adds: “Later, this explanation will become very controversial.”

The joke lands perfectly, especially for readers familiar with the real-life site in Brittany, France. But how does the fictional account measure up against scientific consensus? Let’s explore.

The Real Megaliths of Carnac: A UNESCO World Heritage Site

In 2025, the megalithic alignments of Carnac were officially inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, finally receiving global recognition for their cultural and historical significance. Located near the southern coast of Brittany, the Carnac stones are one of the most extensive Neolithic sites in the world. The site includes more than 3,000 standing stones (menhirs), dolmens, and burial mounds, laid out in complex alignments stretching for kilometers.

The structures date back to around 4500–3300 BCE, predating even the Egyptian pyramids. Archaeologists believe the site was used for ceremonial, ritualistic, or possibly astronomical purposes, although the exact function of the alignments remains unknown. The stones are the work of communities that practiced early agriculture and animal husbandry, and moved massive stones without the aid of wheels or metal tools.

Obelix, Menhirs, and the Mythical Origins of Carnac

In Asterix and Son, the twist is that Obelix has been supplying the menhirs to a local farmer in exchange for the use of a cow to provide milk for baby Caesarion (purportedly the son of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar). The farmer, faced with stony soil, simply places the menhirs upright—thus inventing the Carnac alignments. While the scene is obviously fictional and comedic, it cleverly references the long-standing mystery about why and how the real stones were placed.

It also plays on a Breton folk belief that stones grow out of the ground, a myth perhaps born of seeing partially buried stones re-emerge after ploughing or erosion. This belief is subtly echoed in the farmer’s dialect-inflected explanation: “We say that only rocks grow here, so might as well show it’s not just legend.”

Fiction Meets Archaeology

From a scientific point of view, the idea that one farmer single-handedly placed thousands of menhirs in neat rows is implausible, to say the least. Excavations at Carnac have shown clear signs of Neolithic tools, human remains, and signs of long-term planning and communal labor. The alignment and size of the stones suggest a complex societal structure capable of coordinating large-scale construction.

Yet the Asterix version captures something else: the fascination, confusion, and mythology that has always surrounded Carnac. In Uderzo’s hands, the unexplained becomes the explained, filtered through Gaulish wit and satire.

Conclusion: The Legend Lives On

The megaliths of Carnac are now a protected cultural treasure, their mystery still very much intact. But thanks to Asterix and Son, we also have a second, much more entertaining explanation—rooted not in archaeology, but in comics, cows, and Obelix’s booming menhir trade.

And as the panel says, this explanation may remain “very controversial”… at least among archaeologists and Asterix fans alike.