Jump to content

Megalith

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Megalithic)

Megalithic grave Harhoog in Keitum, Sylt, Germany (c. 3000 BC)

A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. They are found worldwide, but more than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging geographically from Sweden in the north to the Mediterranean Sea in the south.[1]

The word was first used in 1849 by the British antiquarian Algernon Herbert in reference to Stonehenge[2][3] and derives from Ancient Greek μέγας (mégas), meaning "great", and λίθος (líthos), meaning "stone". Most extant megaliths were erected between the Neolithic period (although earlier Mesolithic examples are known) through the Chalcolithic period and into the Bronze Age.[4]

Types and definitions

[edit]
https://www.academia.edu/127169515/A_Map_of_European_Megaliths
Map showing 17,409 recorded megalithic tombs in Europe, c. 5000–1500 BC[5]

While "megalith" is often used to describe a single piece of stone, it also can be used to denote one or more rocks hewn in definite shapes for special purposes.[6] It has been used to describe structures built by people from many parts of the world living in many different periods.[citation needed] The most widely known megaliths are not tombs.[7]

Single stones

[edit]
The largest megalith of the ancient world, found in Baalbek, Lebanon
Menhir
Menhir is the name used in Western Europe for a single upright stone erected in prehistoric times; sometimes called a "standing stone".[8]
Monolith
A monolith is any single standing stone erected in prehistoric times.[9]
Capstone style
Single megaliths placed horizontally, often over burial chambers, without the use of support stones.[10]

Multiple stones

[edit]
Alignments
Multiple megaliths placed in relation to each other with intention. Often placed in rows or spirals. Some alignments, such as the Carnac Stones in Brittany, France, consist of thousands of stones.
Megalithic walls
Also called Cyclopean walls[11]
Stone circles
In most languages stone circles are called "cromlechs" (a word in the Welsh language); the word "cromlech" is sometimes used with that meaning in English.
Dolmen
A dolmen is a stone table, consisting of a wide stone supported by several other stones[12] Usually these were originally covered with earth and vegetation to form a mound with an accessible chamber beneath.
Cist
A cist is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. Burials are megalithic forms very similar to dolmens in structure. These types of burials were completely underground.[citation needed]

Timeline

[edit]
Göbekli Tepe was inhabited from around 9500 BCE to at least 8000 BCE. It is one of the first manifestations of human-made monumental architecture.

Neolithic

[edit]
Spread of megalithic culture in Europe
Klekkende Høj passage grave, Denmark, c. 3500-2800 BC

Chalcolithic

[edit]
Zorats Karer in Armenia
  • c. 2500 BC: Constructions in Brittany (Le Menec, Kermario and elsewhere), Italy (Otranto), Sardinia, and Scotland (northeast), plus the climax of the megalithic Bell-beaker culture in Iberia, Germany, and the British Isles (stone circle at Stonehenge). With the bell-beakers, the Neolithic period gave way to the Chalcolithic, the age of copper.
  • c. 2500 BC: Tombs at Algarve, Portugal.[19] Additionally, a problematic dating (by optically stimulated luminescence) of Quinta da Queimada Menhir in western Algarve indicates "a very early period of megalithic activity in the Algarve, older than in the rest of Europe and [similar to] the famous Anatolian site of Göbekli Tepe"[20]
  • c. 2400 BC: The Bell-beaker culture was dominant in Britain, and hundreds of smaller stone circles were built in the British Isles at this time.

Stone Age

[edit]
  • c. 2100 BC:The highest plateau Lampung, West Lampung Regency, Batu Brak Liwa, Indonesia Megalith Site.

Bronze Age

[edit]
Daorson, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Daorson, Bosnia, built around a prehistoric central fortified settlement or acropolis (c. 17–16th to the end of the Bronze Age, c. 9–8th c. BCE), surrounded by cyclopean walls (similar to Mycenae) dated to the 4th c. BCE.[21][22]

Geographic distribution of megaliths

[edit]

European megaliths

[edit]