List of dolmens

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "List of dolmens" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

This is an incomplete list of

• Andhra Pradesh:
• Dannanapeta megalithic dolmen near Amadalavalasa town, world's large single capstone dolmen with 36 ft in length and 14 ft in width and 2 ft thickness, is of early Iron Age.
• Karnataka:
• Coorg
  ) district.
• Hire Benakal or Hirebennnukullu (ಹಿರೇಬೆಣಕಲ್ಲು in Kannada) is a megalithic site in Koppal district, some 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) west of the town of Gangavati. Dated to the 800 BCE to 200 BCE period, it contains roughly 400 megalithic funerary monuments, that have been dated to the transition period between the Neolithic period and the Iron Age. Known locally (in the Kannada language) as Elllu Guddugulllu (or 'the seven hills'), their specific name is Moryar Guḍḍa (or 'The hill of the Moryas"). Hirebenakal is reported to be the largest necropolis among the 2,000 odd megalithic sites found in South India, most of them in the state of Karnataka.
• Konnur (Tapaswi Maradi) has more than 3 dolmens. Tapaswi Maradi is at a distance of 5 km from Gokak Falls.
• Kerala:
• Marayur, there are dozens of dolmens belonging to the Stone Age and Iron Age.
• Tamil Nadu:
• Moral Pari near Mallachandram had more than 100 dolmens.^[4] The site is located 19 km (12 mi) from Krishnagiri district in Tamil Nadu.
• Madhya Pradesh:
• Bhimbetka rock shelters
• Maharashtra:
• Hirapur dolmen
• Telangana: Following dolmen graves were identified:
• Dharmasagar in Hanamkonda district, one dolmen is located in the Dharmasar Hillock near Dharmasagar reservoir.
• Eturnagaram in Mulugu district, dolmen are located in the forest in Eturnagaram Wildlife Sanctuary.
• Tadvai in Bhupalpally district, the archaeology department found the megalithic dolmens at the forest near Tadwai.
• Thatikonda in Jangaon district, dolmen were found by the historical researcher Ratnakar Reddy.

Korea

Korean dolmens exhibit a morphology distinct from the Atlantic European dolmen.

Three specific

The Korean word for dolmen is goindol (Korean: 고인돌) "supported stone".^[6] Serious studies of the Korean megalithic monuments were not undertaken until relatively recently, well after much research had already been conducted on dolmens in other regions of the world. Since 1945, new research has been conducted by Korean scholars. In 1981 a curator of National Museum of Korea, Gon'gil Ji, classified Korean dolmens into two general types: northern and southern.^[6]

The boundary between them falls at the Bukhan River although examples of both types are found on either side. Northern style dolmens stand above ground with a four sided chamber and a megalithic roof (also referred to as "table type"), while southern style dolmens are normally built into the ground and contain a stone chest or pit covered by a rock slab.^[5][7]

Korean dolmens can also be divided into three main types: the table type, the go-table type and the unsupported capstone type.^[5] The dolmen in Ganghwa is a northern-type, table-shaped dolmen and is the biggest stone of this kind in South Korea, measuring 2.6 by 7.1 by 5.5 m (8.5 by 23.3 by 18.0 ft).^[6] There are many sub-types and different styles.^[9] Southern type dolmens are associated with burials but the reason for building northern style dolmens is uncertain.^[5]

Due to the vast numbers and great variation in styles, no absolute chronology of Korean dolmens has yet been established. It is generally accepted that the Korean megalithic culture emerged from the late Neolithic age, during which agriculture developed on the peninsula, and flourished throughout the Bronze Age.^[10] Some dolmens depict astronomical formations, dated up to 3000 B.C. effectively the first star-chart in the world.^[11] How and why Korea has produced so many dolmens is still poorly understood. There is no current conclusive theory on the origin of Korea's megalithic culture, and so it is difficult to determine the true cultural character of Korean dolmens. Some dolmens are also found in Manchuria and the Shandong Peninsula. Off the peninsula, similar specimens can be found in smaller numbers, but they are often considerably larger than the Korean dolmens.^[12] It is a mystery why this culture flourished so extensively only on the Korean peninsula and its vicinity in Northeast Asia.^[5]

Middle East and Iran

Dolmens can be found in the Levant, some along the Jordan Rift Valley (Upper Galilee in Israel, the Golan Heights,^[13] Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and southeast Turkey.^[14][15]

Dolmens in the Levant are a different, unrelated tradition to that of Europe, although they are often treated "as part of a trans-regional phenomenon that spanned the

Numerous large dolmens are in the Israeli national park at Gamla in the Golan Heights.^[16][17] In northern Jordan, there are many examples of flint dolmens in the historical villages of Johfiyeh and Natifah. The greatest number of dolmens in Jordan are around Madaba, like the ones at Al-Faiha village, 10 km (6.2 mi) to the west of Madaba city.^[18] Two dolmens are in Hisban, and the most have been found in Wadi Zarqa Ma'in at Murayghat, which are being destroyed by gravel quarries.^[19]

In

In northern Tunisia, Dougga is an important ancient site, which contains a necropolis with dolmens. The settlement also features a sanctuary dedicated to Ba'al Hammon, neo-Punic stelae, the mausoleum, architectural fragments, and a temple dedicated to Masinissa, the remains of which were found during archaeological excavations.

Europe

Overview

Dolmen sites fringe the Irish Sea and are found in south-east Ireland, Wales, Devon and Cornwall. In Ireland, most dolmens are found on the west coast, particularly in Connemara and the Burren, which includes some of the better-known examples, such as Poulnabrone dolmen. Examples such as the Annadorn dolmen have also been found in Northern Ireland, where they may have co-existed with the court cairn tombs.

In

By 2017, all the hunebedden in the Netherlands were put in a 3D atlas (accessible to the public for free) using photogrammetry. The data was obtained from a collaboration between the Province of Drenthe and the University of Groningen, subsidized by the Gratama Foundation.^[22]

In Turkey, there are some dolmens in the Regions of Lalapasa and Suloglu in the Province of Edirne and the Regions of Kofçaz, Kırklareli and Demirköy in the Province of Kırklareli, in the Eastern Thrace. They have been studied by Prof. Dr. Engin Beksaç, since 2004. And also, some of so-called monuments are in the different regions of Anatolia, in Turkey.

• Strandzha Mountains in Bulgaria. There is also a dolmen in Horë-Vranisht, Albania. It is locally known as "Guri me qiell" ("Stone in the sky") or "Sofra e Zotit" ("Table of the God").^[23]
• Channel Islands: Many examples appear on the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey, such as Déhus Dolmen, La Pouquelaye de Faldouet, La Sergenté, and La Hougue des Géonnais. The term Houge derives from the Old Norse word haugr, meaning a mound or barrow. The most famous of these sites is La Hougue Bie, a 6,000-year-old neolithic site that sits inside a large mound; later a chapel was built on the top of the mound.^[24]
• France: In France important megalithic zones are situated in Vendée, Quercy and in the south of France (Languedoc, Rouergue and Corsica). Amongst the vast Neolithic collections of the Carnac stones in Brittany, several dozen dolmens are found. Across the country, several dolmens still stand, such as the ones of Passebonneau and des Gorces near Saint-Benoît-du-Sault.
• Brownshill Dolmen in County Carlow, Ireland. Its capstone weighs about 150 tonnes.^[25]

• Italy: In Italy dolmens can be found in Apulia, Sardinia and in Sicily. In this latter region there are small dolmens located in Mura Pregne (Palermo), Sciacca (Agrigento), Monte Bubbonia (Caltanissetta), Butera (Caltanissetta), Cava dei Servi (Ragusa), Cava Lazzaro (Siracusa), Avola (Siracusa).^{[26][page needed]} In the area named Cava dei Servi was found an atypical dolmen, away from the trilithic characteristic shape; it's a semi-oval monument formed by four rectangular slabs fixed into the ground. Another three slabs are on top, leaning in such a way they reduce the surface and form a false dome; two large parallelepiped boulders complete the construction.^[27]
• The
  Strubben-Kniphorstbos archaeological reserve.^[28]
• Anta Grande do Zambujeiro
  .
• Cueva de Menga) and Extremadura
  (like "Dolmen de Lácara").
• United Kingdom: There are many dolmens in the United Kingdom, such as Pentre Ifan, Tinkinswood, and St Lythans burial chamber in Wales, Spinsters' Rock^[29] and Dartmoor kistvaens in Devon, and Lanyon Quoit in Cornwall.

Americas

North America

• America's Stonehenge
• Huron Mountain

South America

• San Agustín Archaeological Park
• Pedra da Santana [pt]
• Senador Pompeu
• Anicus, Brazil

See also

• List of archaeological sites by country
• List of archaeoastronomical sites by country
• List of colossal sculpture in situ
• World Heritage Sites

References