THE EARLY NEOLITHIC of WESTERN FRANCE and MEGALITHIC ORIGINS IN ATLANTIC EUROPE

Summary: Recent work on the early neolithic of western France has demonstrated the importance of influences and ideas from both the early farming communities of the Paris basin and the early neolithic groups of the Mediterranean zone. the complex pattern resulting from the interplay of these two sources has led to lively debates about the origins of the megalithic tombs of Brittany and west-central France. Much emphasis has been placed on the impact of neolithic expansion from the east and its role as cause or catalyst in the development of megalithic tombs. the present article argues that explanations which look to the east for the origin of west French megaliths pay insufficient attention to the nature of early megalithic tombs, especially passage graves, as an essentially Atlantic phenomenon.