The French Massif Central (average height 800 m) is the largest pre-Mesozoic, Variscan outcrop in France (80,000 km²). It consists of lower Paleozoic metasediments, poorly dated mica schists, and high-grade gneisses (granitic orthogneisses, mafic, and ultramafic rocks). As part of the southern limb of the European Variscides, it is characterized by large south-vergent thrust nappes and recumbent folds. For a decade, the lineations in metamorphic rocks were systematically and sometimes incorrectly used as kinematic indicators of nappe transport. In the French Massif Central the tectonometamorphic history is long and complex (430–310 Ma), and the lineations are related to...