User:Antiquary/sandbox

Portrait of Zacharie Le Rouzic by Daniel Schoen (Museum of Prehistory, Carnac)

Zacharie Le Rouzic (born 24 December 1864, Carnac; died 15 December 1939, Carnac) was a French archaeologist and prehistorian, who devoted himself mainly to the study and preservation of megalithic sites in Morbihan, Brittany.

Childhood

The last child in a family of nine whose father was a rag-and-bone man, Zacharie Le Rouzic, despite his humble origins, attended the convent school in Carnac until the age of 10. Carnac having become a famous seaside town, he met foreign holidaymakers there as a child, such as the painter Théodore Valerio, whose artistic equipment he carried during his walks, and the archaeologist James Miln, who came to study the numerous megalithic sites of Carnac. Noting Le Rouzic's interest in his work, Miln taught him how to collect and classify the discovered pottery and Le Rouzic thus became his main collaborator, assisting in all his excavations.

Career

After Miln's death in 1881 Le Rouzic became at the age of eighteen the caretaker of the J. Miln Museum, founded in 1882 by Robert Miln to present his brother James's collections to the public. After completing his military service in the Navy, he returned to his position at the museum, where he led tours during the tourist season, an activity he continued until his death. From 1887 to 1895, he enriched the museum's collections by buying finds from farmers in their fields and he began to systematically record the megalithic sites in the surrounding area, but without undertaking any excavations because he did not have the necessary financial means. His activity was encouraged by Gustave de Closmadeuc, president of the Polymathic Society of Morbihan and excavator of several Morbihan sites (Carnac, Locmariaquer). In 1889, Closmadeuc entrusted him with the counting of the menhirs of the Carnac alignments.

Photograph of the cromlech of Er Lannic taken in 1928 by Zacharie Le Rouzic (Museum of Prehistory, Carnac)

Le Rouzic was passionate about photography and photographed scenes of daily life (rural and coastal activities, weddings, costumes), natural and heritage sites, the images of which he sold in the form of postcards to passing tourists, an activity that was much more profitable than his salary as a museum caretaker alone. Around 1895, he met Charles Keller, who had a second home in Carnac; they became friends and Le Rouzic shared with him his interest in megaliths. From 1895, Keller subsidized the excavations of Le Rouzic, to whom the Polymathic Society had just entrusted the conservation and restoration of the megalithic monuments of Morbihan. Initially, Le Rouzic limited himself to resuming excavations on monuments that had already been explored or were too ruined and therefore neglected by his predecessors. In 1900, he began excavating the Saint-Michel tumulus, which had been partially explored by the Polymathic Society in the 1860s, with funding from Keller and various American patrons. Le Rouzic excavated the tumulus for six years and published the excavation reports in 1932. He bought land near the site where he established his family home, called Kerdolmen, and at the same time continued his photography and recording of the legends, tales, and customs of the Carnac region. Now recognized as a specialist in the megaliths of Morbihan, he was invited abroad (to Ireland and Wales) by his archaeologist colleagues.

In 1910 he became official curator of the J. Miln Museum. In 1917, at the age of 52, he enlisted to fight in the First World War. After the war, he resumed archaeological excavations at several sites (Manio, Carnac, Er Lannic) and trained Saint-Just Péquart and his wife. In 1926, he bequeathed his own collection of 3,000 archaeological objects to the J. Miln Museum. The municipal council then added his name to the museum's name. From 1927 onwards Le Rouzic, being ill, undertook no major excavation projects but only restorations of monuments.

Reference

• Bailloud, Gérard; Boujot, Christine; Cassen, Serge; Le Roux, Charles-Tanguy (2009). Carnac, les premières architectures de pierre (in French). Paris: CNRS. ISBN 9782271068330. Retrieved 1 August 2025.