James Miln
Encyclopedia
James Miln was a Scottish
antiquary who excavated many sites around the French
village of Carnac
in Brittany
from around the 1860s. He worked on Roman
military camps and other Roman antiquities including the Bosseno Roman villa, but is remembered today for his studies of the Carnac stones
. These had long been the subject of myth, and from the 1720s various people showed increasing interest in these features, but Miln was one of the first to carry out extensive excavations of the stones.
Miln was fascinated by these ancient monuments, and wrote "one is tempted to ask how it is that the Romans, masters of the world, came and disappeared, whilst the race of the rude constructors still remains". Towards 1875, he engaged a local boy, Zacharie Le Rouzic (1864-1939), as his assistant to carry his drawing materials as he surveyed the excavations, and Zacharie learnt archaeology on the job. Miln published his results, Excavations at Carnac, in 1877 and 1881.
After Miln's death in Glasgow
, he left the results of his excavations to the town of Carnac, and the James Miln Museum was established there by his brother Robert to house the artefacts. Zacharie became the director of the Museum and an internationally recognised expert on megaliths in the region. He too left the results of his work to the town, and the museum is now named Le Musée de Préhistoire James Miln – Zacharie le Rouzic.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
antiquary who excavated many sites around the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
village of Carnac
Carnac
Carnac is a commune beside the Gulf of Morbihan on the south coast of Brittany in the Morbihan department in north-western France.Its inhabitants are called Carnacois...
in Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
from around the 1860s. He worked on Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
military camps and other Roman antiquities including the Bosseno Roman villa, but is remembered today for his studies of the Carnac stones
Carnac stones
The Carnac stones are an exceptionally dense collection of megalithic sites around the French village of Carnac, in Brittany, consisting of alignments, dolmens, tumuli and single menhirs. The more than 3,000 prehistoric standing stones were hewn from local rock and erected by the pre-Celtic people...
. These had long been the subject of myth, and from the 1720s various people showed increasing interest in these features, but Miln was one of the first to carry out extensive excavations of the stones.
Miln was fascinated by these ancient monuments, and wrote "one is tempted to ask how it is that the Romans, masters of the world, came and disappeared, whilst the race of the rude constructors still remains". Towards 1875, he engaged a local boy, Zacharie Le Rouzic (1864-1939), as his assistant to carry his drawing materials as he surveyed the excavations, and Zacharie learnt archaeology on the job. Miln published his results, Excavations at Carnac, in 1877 and 1881.
After Miln's death in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, he left the results of his excavations to the town of Carnac, and the James Miln Museum was established there by his brother Robert to house the artefacts. Zacharie became the director of the Museum and an internationally recognised expert on megaliths in the region. He too left the results of his work to the town, and the museum is now named Le Musée de Préhistoire James Miln – Zacharie le Rouzic.