'Statue-menhirs' were very common in the Mediterranean regions (from the French Languedoc to the Italian Piemont) during the Chalcolithic. However, only a small number of similar Neolithic monuments can be found in Armorique.
Two main groups in Brittany:
- An anthropomorphic figure approximatively formed with a few stones is associated with early passage tombs of the 5th millennium B.C., on the Finistère island of Guennoc. Still the most spectacular statue is the one embedded in the wall of the Kercado dolmen, in Carnac.
- In Armorique, three actual statues are reminiscent of Late Neolithic gallery grave art.
The first is located in Guidel, near Lorient, the second near Trevoux, in the Finistère, and the third in the Channel Island of Guernesey.
These three statues are granite blocks shaped by pecking. The shoulders are well formed, but the head does not stand out from the block (the top of the head is surrounded by a band strangely reminiscent of Bedouin headgear).
The chest shows two shaped breasts, associated with various elements depending on the statue (facial cartouche, 'necklace' or a kind of 'brassiere'). Unfortunately the way these statues were deposited is not very well-known: the Guidel statue was lying broken, among other materials from an atypical barrow, while the other two were not found in their original environment.
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The Trevoux statue has no clearly defined face but the torso stands above a "crescent" as in Armorican gallery graves.
The torso has been pieced together using three fragments found in the Guidel tumulus; a cartouche indicates the position of the face.