Megalith
A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea.[1]
The word was first used in 1849 by the British antiquarian Algernon Herbert in reference to Stonehenge[2][3] and derives from the Ancient Greek words "mega" for great and "lithos" for 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
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.[5] 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.[6]
Single stones
- Menhir
- standing stone".[8]
- Monolith
- 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
- Alignments
- Multiple megaliths placed in relation to each other with intention. Often placed in 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]
- Cist
- A bodies of the dead. Burials are megalithic forms very similar to dolmens in structure. These type of burials were completely underground.[citation needed]
Timeline
Mesolithic
- c. 7400 BC: A 12 m long monolith probably weighing around 15,000 kg found submerged 40 m under water in the Strait of Sicily south-west of Sicily. Its origin and purpose are unknown.[13]
Neolithic
- c. 9000 BC: Constructions in Asia Minor (Göbekli Tepe, Nevalı Çori and other sites); perhaps proto-Hattian[citation needed], a yet to be named culture (the oldest discovered ceremonial structures in the world).[14][15]
- c. 7000 BC: Construction in proto-Canaanite Israel (Atlit Yam).
- c. 6000 BC: Constructions in Portugal (Almendres Cromlech, Évora) – Possibly first standing stones in Portugal.[16]
- c. 5000 BC: Emergence of the Atlantic La Almagra, Spain nearby, perhaps precedent from Africa.
- c. 4800 BC: Constructions in Brittany, France[17] (Barnenez) and Poitou (Bougon).
- c. 4500 BC: Constructions in south Egypt (Nabta Playa).
- c. 4300 BC: Constructions in south Spain (Dolmen de Alberite, Cádiz).
- c. 4000 BC: Constructions in Brittany (dolmens.
- c. 3700 BC: Constructions in Ireland (Knockiveagh and elsewhere).
- c. 3600 BC: Constructions in Skorba temples).[18], with its walls (Andalusia, Spain)
- c. 3600 BC: Constructions in England (Maumbury Rings and Godmanchester), and Malta (Ġgantija and Mnajdra temples).
- c. 3500 BC: Constructions in Spain (Málaga and Guadiana), Ireland (south-west), France (Arles and the north), Malta (and elsewhere in the Mediterranean), Belgium (north-east), and Germany (central and south-west).
- c. 3400 BC: Constructions in Sardinia (circular graves), Ireland (Newgrange), Netherlands (north-east), Germany (northern and central) Sweden and Denmark.
- c. 3300 BC: Constructions in France (Carnac stones)
- c. 3200 BC: Constructions in Malta (Ħaġar Qim and Tarxien).
- c. 3100 BC: Constructions in Russia (Dolmens of North Caucasus)
- c. 3000 BC: Constructions in Sardinia (earliest construction phase of the prehistoric altar of Monte d'Accoddi), France (Saumur, Dordogne, Languedoc, Biscay, and the Mediterranean coast), Spain (Los Millares), Sicily, Belgium (Ardennes), and Orkney, as well as the first henges (circular earthworks) in Britain.
Chalcolithic
- c. 2500 BC: Constructions in Brittany (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 in parallel, to some extent, with the famous Anatolian site of Göbekli Tepe"[20]
- c. 2400 BC: The Bell-beaker culture was dominant in Britain, and hundreds of smaller stone circleswere built in the British Isles at this time.
Stone Age
- c. 2100 BC:The highest plateau Lampung, West Lampung Regency, Batu Brak Liwa, Indonesia Megalith Site.
Bronze Age
- c. 2000 BC: Constructions in Brittany (Er Grah), Italy : (Bari); Sicily (Cava dei Servi, Cava Lazzaro);, and Scotland (Callanish). The Chalcolithic period gave way to the Bronze Age in western and northern Europe.
- c. 1800 BC: Constructions in Italy (nuragic civilisation).
- c. 1500 BC: Constructions in Portugal (Alter Pedroso and Mourela).
- c. 1400 BC: Burial of the Egtved Girl in Denmark, whose body is today one of the best-preserved examples of its kind.
- c. 1200 BC: Last vestiges of the megalithic tradition in the Mediterranean and elsewhere following the Bronze Age Collapse. Megalithic construction persisted in Egypt into the Iron Age.[a][citation needed]
Geographic distribution of megaliths
European megaliths
The most common type of megalithic construction in Europe is the
The second-most-common tomb type is the
in France.The third tomb type is a diverse group known as
Standing stones, or
In parts of Britain and Ireland a relatively common type of megalithic construction is the stone circle, of which examples include Stonehenge, Avebury, Ring of Brodgar and Beltany. These, too, display evidence of astronomical alignments, both solar and lunar. Stonehenge, for example, is famous for its solstice alignment. Examples of stone circles are also found in the rest of Europe. The circle at Lough Gur, near Limerick in Ireland has been dated to the Beaker period, approximately contemporaneous with Stonehenge. The stone circles are assumed to be of later date than the tombs, straddling the Neolithic and the Bronze Ages.
Tombs
Megalithic tombs are aboveground burial chambers, built of large stone slabs (megaliths) laid on edge and covered with earth or other, smaller stones. They are a type of chamber tomb, and the term is used to describe the structures built across Atlantic Europe, the Mediterranean, and neighbouring regions, mostly during the Neolithic period, by Neolithic farming communities. They differ from the contemporary long barrows through their structural use of stone.
There is a huge variety of megalithic tombs. The free-standing single chamber
In Italy, dolmens can be found especially in Sardinia. There are more than 100 dolmen dating to the Neolithic (3500–2700 BC) and the most famous is called Dolmen di Sa Coveccada (near Mores). During the Bronze Age, the Nuragic civilization built c. 800 Giants' grave, a type of megalithic gallery grave that can be found throughout Sardinia with different structures. The earliest megalithic tombs in Sardinia are the circular graves of the so-called Arzachena culture, also found in Corsica, southern France and eastern Spain.
Dolmens are also in Apulia and in Sicily. In this latter region, they are small structures located in Mura Pregne (
Examples with outer areas, not used for burial, are also known. The
Megalithic tombs appear to have been used by communities for the long-term deposition of the remains of their dead, and some seem to have undergone alteration and enlargement. The organization and effort required to erect these large stones suggest that the societies concerned placed great emphasis on the proper treatment of their dead. The
Further examples of megalithic tombs include the stalled cairn at Midhowe in Orkney and the passage grave at Bryn Celli Ddu on Anglesey. There are also extensive grave sites with up to 60 megaliths at Louisenlund and Gryet on the Danish island of Bornholm.[25]
Despite its name, the
Other structures
In association with the megalithic constructions across Europe, there are often large
Spread of megalithic architecture in Europe
In Europe megaliths are, in general, constructions erected during the Neolithic or late Stone Age and Chalcolithic or Copper Age (4500–1500 BC). The megalithic structures of Malta are believed to be the oldest in Europe. Perhaps the most famous megalithic structure is Stonehenge in England. In Sardinia, in addition to dolmens, menhirs and circular graves there are also more than 8000 megalithic structures made by a Nuragic civilisation, called Nuraghe: buildings similar to towers (sometimes with really complex structures) made using only rocks. They are often near giant's grave or the other megalithic monuments.
The French
African megaliths
North Africa
Nabta Playa at the southwest corner of the western Egyptian desert was once a large lake in the Nubian Desert, located 500 miles south of modern-day Cairo.[26] By the 5th millennium BC, the peoples in Nabta Playa had fashioned an astronomical device that accurately marks the summer solstice.[27] Findings indicate that the region was occupied only seasonally, likely only in the summer when the local lake filled with water for grazing cattle.[28] There are other megalithic stone circles in the southwestern desert.
At Nabta Playa, located in Egypt and broader region of the Eastern Sahara, there is a megalithic cultural complex (e.g., sacrificed cow burial site, solar calendar, altar) that dates between 4000 BCE and 2000 BCE.[29] Likely part of Copper Age and Bronze Age
West Africa
In
Central Africa
In the northwestern region of the Central African Republic, there are megaliths that were created for various purposes (e.g., burial, ritual performances).[29] Between late 3rd millennium BCE and mid-2nd millennium CE, megaliths (e.g., monuments, cairn burials) were constructed in the regions (e.g., Eastern
Eastern Africa
In the
Additionally, Tiya in central Ethiopia has a number of old megaliths. Some of these ancient structures feature engravings, and the area is a World Heritage Site. Megaliths are also found within the Valley of Marvels in the East Hararghe area.
Southern Africa
In the mid-2nd millennium CE, the megalithic funerary monuments of Madagascar were constructed amid the emergent period of the Merina Kingdom.[29] Some of the megaliths remain utilized by Malagasy-speakers for funerary practices (e.g., ceremony of turning the dead) in present-day.[29]
Asian megaliths
Megalithic burials are found in Northeast and Southeast Asia. They are found mainly in the
North East Asia
Northern style
Northeast Asian megalithic traditions originated from Gojoseon, which was in modern-day Manchuria and North Korea. This was prominent within the Liao River basin in particular in the early phases.[33][34] The practice of erecting megalithic burials spread quickly from the Liao River Basin and into the Korean Peninsula, where the structure of megaliths is geographically and chronologically distinct. The earliest megalithic burials are called "northern" or "table-style" because they feature an above-ground burial chamber formed by heavy stone slabs that form a rectangular cist.[35] An oversized capstone is placed over the stone slab burial chamber, giving the appearance of a table-top. These megalithic burials date to the early part of the Mumun pottery period (c. 1500–850 BC) and are distributed, with a few exceptions, north of the Han River. Few northern-style megaliths in North Korea and Manchuria contain grave goods such as Liaoning bronze daggers, prompting some archaeologists to interpret the burials as the graves of chiefs or preeminent individuals.[36] However, whether a result of grave-robbery or intentional mortuary behaviour, most northern megaliths contain no grave goods.
Southern style
Southern-style megalithic burials are distributed in the southern
As with northern megaliths, southern examples contain few, if any, artifacts. However, a small number of megalithic burials contain fine red-burnished pottery, bronze daggers, polished groundstone daggers, and greenstone ornaments. Southern megalithic burials are often found in groups, spread out in lines that are parallel with the direction of streams. Megalithic cemeteries contain burials that are linked together by low stone platforms made from large river cobbles. Broken red-burnished pottery and charred wood found on these platforms has led archaeologists to hypothesize that these platform were sometimes used for ceremonies and rituals.[37] The capstones of many southern megaliths have 'cup-marks' carvings. A small number of capstones have human and dagger representations.
Capstone style
These megaliths are distinguished from other types by the presence of a burial shaft, sometimes up to 4 m in depth, which is lined with large cobbles.
Southeast Asia
Living megalith culture of Indonesia
The
Several megalith sites and structures are also found across Indonesia. Menhirs, dolmens, stone tables, and ancestral stone statues were discovered in various sites in Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi, Lesser Sunda Islands, and New Guinea.[40]
The
Lore Lindu National Park in Central Sulawesi houses ancient megalith relics such as ancestral stone statues, mostly located in the Bada, Besoa and Napu valleys.[43]
South Asia
Megaliths in South Asia are dated before 3000 BC, with recent findings dated back to 5000 BC in southern India.[44] Megaliths are found in almost all parts of South Asia. There is also a broad time evolution with the megaliths in central India and the upper Indus valley where the oldest megaliths are found, while those in the east also old shows evidence of continued traditions of living megalithic practices until recently.[45][46] A large fraction of these are assumed to be associated with burial or post burial rituals, including memorials for those whose remains may or may not be available. The case-example is that of Brahmagiri, which was excavated by Wheeler (1975) and helped establish the culture sequence in south Indian prehistory. However, there is another distinct class of megaliths that do not seem to be associated with burials.[45]
In South Asia, megaliths of all kinds are noted; these vary from menhirs, rock-cut burial, chamber tomb, dolmens, stone alignment, stone circles and anthropomorphic statue figures.[47] These are broadly classified into two (potentially overlapping) classes (after Moorti, 1994, 2008): Sepulchral (containing remains of the dead), or memorial stones where mortal remains along with funerary objects are placed; and Non-sepulchral including large patterned placement of stones over a wide area. The 'non-sepulchral' type is associated with astronomy and cosmology in South Asia and in other parts of the world (Menon and Vahia, 2010).[48]
In the context of prehistoric anthropomorphic figures in India, (Rao 1988/1999, Upinder Singh 2008) note that it is unclear what these giant anthropomorph statues symbolize. They usually occur in association with megalithic monuments and are located in megalithic burial grounds, and may have been connected with ancestor worship.[49][50]
West Asia
At a number of sites in southeastern Turkey, ceremonial complexes with large T-shaped megalithic
At the most famous of these sites,
On the younger level (II) rectangular structures with smaller megaliths have been excavated. In the surrounding area, several village sites incorporating elements similar to those of Göbekli Tepe have been identified.[56] Four of these have Göbekli Tepe's characteristic T-shaped standing stones, though only one of them, Nevalı Çori, has so far been excavated.[57] At Göbekli Tepe itself, no traces of habitation have so far been found, nor any trace of agriculture or cultivated plants, though bones of wild animals and traces of wild edible plants, along with many grinding stones, have been unearthed.[58] It is thus assumed that these structures (which have been characterized as the first known ceremonial architecture)[59] were erected by hunter-gatherers.
Göbekli Tepe's oldest structures are about 7,000 years older than the
A semicircular arrangement of megaliths was found in Israel at Atlit Yam, a site that is now under the sea. It is a very early example, dating from the 7th millennium BC.[62]
The most concentrated occurrence of dolmens in particular is in a large area on both sides of the Jordan Rift Valley, with greater predominance on the eastern side. They occur first and foremost on the Golan Heights, the Hauran, and in Jordan, which probably has the largest concentration of dolmen in West Asia. In Saudi Arabia, only very few dolmen have been identified so far in the Hejaz. They seem, however, to re-emerge in Yemen in small numbers, and thus could indicate a continuous tradition related to those of Somalia and Ethiopia.
The standing stone has a very ancient tradition in West Asia, dating back from
Melanesian megaliths
Megaliths occur in many parts of Melanesia, mainly in Milne Bay Province, Fiji and Vanuatu. Few excavations has been made and little is known about the structures. The megalith tomb Otuyam at Kiriwina has been dated to be approximately 2,000 years old which indicates that megaliths are an old custom in Melanesia. However very few megaliths have been dated. The constructions have been used for different rituals. For example, tombs, sacrifices and rituals of fecundity. Dance sites exist next to some megaliths. In some places in Melanesia rituals are continued to be held at the sacred megalith sites. The fact that the beliefs are alive is a reason that most excavations have been stopped at the sites.
Micronesian megaliths
Megalithic structures in Micronesia reach their most developed form on the islands of Pohnpei and Kosrae in the Eastern Caroline Islands. On these two islands there was extensive use of prismatic basalt columns to build upland building complexes such as those at Salapwuk on Pohnpei and Menka on Kosrae. These building sites, remote from the ocean, appear to have been abandoned early. Megalithic building then shifted to constructing networks of artificial islands on the coast that supported a multitude of common, royal and religious structures. Dating of the structures is difficult but the complex at Nan Madol on Pohnpei was probably inhabited as early as c. 800, probably as artificial islands, with the more elaborate buildings and religious structures added to the site from 1000 to 1400 AD.
Modern theories
Purposes
Megaliths were used for a variety of purposes ranging from serving as boundary markers of territory, being reminder of past events, to being part of the society's religion.[63] Common motifs including crooks and axes seem to be symbols of political power, much as the crook was a symbol of Egyptian pharaohs. Amongst the indigenous peoples of India, Malaysia, Polynesia, North Africa, North America, and South America, the worship of these stones, or the use of these stones to symbolize a spirit or deity, is a possibility.[64] In the early 20th century, some scholars believed that all megaliths belonged to one global "Megalithic culture"[65] (hyperdiffusionism, e. g. "the Manchester school",[66] by Grafton Elliot Smith and William James Perry), but this has long been disproved by modern dating methods.[citation needed] Nor is it believed any longer that there was a pan-European megalithic culture, although regional cultures existed, even within such small areas as the British Isles. The archaeologist Euan Mackie wrote, "Likewise it cannot be doubted that important regional cultures existed in the Neolithic period and can be defined by different kinds of stone circles and local pottery styles (Ruggles & Barclay 2000: figure 1). No-one has ever been rash enough to claim a nationwide unity of all aspects of Neolithic archaeology!".[67]
Methods of construction
Much scholarship over history has suggested that Stone Age peoples moved the large stones on cylindrical wooden rollers. However, there is some disagreement with this theory, specifically as experiments have indicated that this method is impractical on uneven ground. In some contemporary megalith building cultures, such as in Sumba, Indonesia, great emphasis is placed on the social status of moving heavy stones without the relief of rollers. In the majority of documented contemporary megalithic-building communities, the stones have been placed on timber sledges and dragged without rollers.[68]
Types of megalithic structure
The types of megalithic structure can be divided into two categories, the "polylithic type" and the "monolithic type".[69] Different megalithic structures include:
|
|
Contemporary megalith-building cultures
The Toraja of Indonesia
The megalithic culture of the
The Marapu of Indonesia
In West
Quarrying the stones for a tomb can take almost a month and typically involves 20–40 laborours, sometimes subcontracted by a relative. It can be months or years before the stones are actually transported to the gravesite, which is done traditionally by hand, using a wooden sled and rollers with the help of many members of the family's clan. Building the sled itself can take several days, and typically males between the ages of 10–60 are assembled to pull the stone from the quarry to the tombsite. Smaller capstones may be moved by a few hundred members of a clan, but larger ones can involve upwards of 2,000 individuals over many days. Sometimes the stones are draped with woven cloths given as gifts by relatives of the owner. The sidewalls are smaller and usually require fewer participants. The entire process is accompanied by large feasts and ritual singers provided by the owner. Some contemporary practitioners now choose to use large machinery and trucks to move the stones.
Once on site, the stones were traditionally assembled and mortared with a mix of water buffalo dung and ash, but are now more commonly cemented together. Typically, the walls are assembled first, and then the capstone is incrementally elevated to the height of the walls by means of a wood scaffolding which is inserted log by log at alternating ends. Once the capstone is at the correct height beside the walls it is slid into place above the tomb. Alternately, some tombs are constructed by dragging the capstone up a fabricated ramp and then assembling the sidewalls below it, before removing the ramp structure to let the capstone rest upon the walls. Often, but not always, the finished structure is decorated by a professional stone carver with symbolic motifs. The carving alone can at times take over a month to complete.[74]
References in literature
And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
— The Old Testament, Book of Exodus, 24:4 (400 BC)[75]
Gallery
-
Menhirs at the Almendres Cromlech, Évora, Portugal
-
Megalithic tomb inRussian Federation
-
Capstones of southern-style megalithic burials in Guam-ri,Jeollabuk-do, Korea
-
Ale's Stones at Kåseberga, around ten kilometres south east of Ystad, Sweden
-
Majorca
-
Deer stone nearMörön in Mongolia
-
theGreat Menhir of Er Grah in Brittany, the largest known single stone erected by Neolithic man, which later fell down
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Dolmen of Avola (Sicily, Italy)
-
Dolmen at the Kuejiyeh dolmen field close to Madaba, Jordan
-
Dolmen of Menga in Antequera, Spain
See also
- Bilger's rocks
- British megalith architecture
- Irish megalithic tombs
- List of megalithic sites
- Megalithic monuments in Europe
- Megaliths in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
- Megaliths in the Urals
- Nature worship
- Nordic megalith architecture
- Dima Hasaoof northerneastern India.
- Straße der Megalithkultur– tourist route from Osnabrück to Oldenburg via some 33 Megalithic sites.
- Unidentified submerged object
- Yonaguni Monument
- Stone circles of Junapani
Notes
- ^ Construction of large stone monuments in the rest of the classical world consisted of assembled sections of relatively small stones, including most construction in Egypt. Elsewhere in the world some megalithic construction persisted: Occasionally large stone sculptures, relief carvings, and open pillared temples were carved in-place in cliff-faces, out of natural rock.[citation needed]
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- ^ Birch, Nicholas (22 April 2008). "7,000 years older than Stonehenge: The site that stunned archaeologists". The Guardian. London, UK.
- ^ Dietrich, Oliver (August 2016). "Who built Göbekli Tepe?". The Tepe Telegrams: News & Notes from the Göbekli Tepe Research Staff. Blog entry 18. Retrieved 2019-08-04.
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- ^ "The World's First Temple". Archaeology magazine. November–December 2008. p. 23.
- ^ Mithen, S. (2003). After the Ice – A global human History, 21,000–5,000 BC. London. pp. 62–71.
{{cite book}}
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- ^ "Atlit-Yam, Israel". New Scientist., from the feature by Jo Marchant (28 November 2009). "Drowned cities: Myths and secrets of the deep". New Scientist.
- ^ Goblet d'Alviella & Wicksteed (1892), pp. 22–23.
- ^ Goblet d'Alviella & Wicksteed (1892), p. 23.
- ISBN 0415228255, p. 48
- ^ Lancaster Brown (1976), p. 267.
- ^ Mackoe, Euan W, "The structure and skills of British Neolithic Society: a brief response to Clive Ruggles & Gordon Barclay. (Response)", Antiquity September 2002
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- ^ Lancaster Brown (1976), p. 6: "French word alignement is used to describe standing stones arranged in rows to form long ‘processional' avenues".
- ^ "The Megaliths of Indonesia". 12 February 2019.
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- ^ Eveleigh, Mark. "Sumba: Inside Indonesia's secretive Marapu religion". The Independent. Sumba travel / Indonesia travel. London, UK. Archived from the original on 2022-05-12.
Sumba's Marapu religion is possibly the most expensive to follow in the world.
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Works cited
- Goblet d'Alviella, E.; Wicksteed, P. H. (1892). Lectures on the origin and growth of the conception of God as illustrated by anthropology and history. London: Williams and Norgate.
- Keane, A. H. (1896). Ethnology. Cambridge University Press.
- Johnson, Walter (1908). Folk-Memory: Or, The Continuity of British Archaeology. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- Lancaster Brown, P. (1976). Megaliths, Myths, and Men: An Introduction to Astro-archaeology. New York: Taplinger Pub. Co.
- Piccolo, Salvatore (2013). Ancient Stones: The Prehistoric Dolmens of Sicily. Thornham/Norfolk: Brazen Head Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9565106-2-4.
- Scheltema, H. G. (2008). Megalithic Jordan: An Introduction and Field Guide. Amman, Jordan: The American Center of Oriental Research. ISBN 978-9957-8543-3-1.
Further reading
Articles
- KL Feder, "Irrationality and Popular Archaeology". American Antiquity, Vol. 49, No. 3 (July 1984), pp. 525–541. doi:10.2307/280358
- A Fleming, "Megaliths and post-modernism. The case of Wales". Antiquity, 2005.
- A Fleming, "Phenomenology and the Megaliths of Wales: a Dreaming Too Far?". Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 1999
- HJ Fleure, HJE Peake, "Megaliths and Beakers". The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 60, Jan. – Jun., 1930 (Jan. – Jun., 1930), pp. 47–71. doi:10.2307/2843859
- P Hiscock (1996). "The New Age of alternative archaeology of Australia". Archaeology in Oceania. 31 (3): 152–164. doi:10.1002/j.1834-4453.1996.tb00358.x. Archived from the originalon 2007-06-10.
- G Kubler, "Period, Style and Meaning in Ancient American Art". New Literary History, Vol. 1, No. 2, A Symposium on Periods (Winter, 1970), pp. 127–144. doi:10.2307/468624
- J McKim Malville, F Wendorf, AA Mazar, R Schild, "Megaliths and Neolithic astronomy in southern Egypt". Nature, 1998.
- MW Ovenden, DA Rodger, "Megaliths and Medicine Wheels". Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 1978
- A Sherratt, "The Genesis of Megaliths". World Archaeology. 1990. (JSTOR)
- A Thom, "Megaliths and Mathematics". Antiquity, 1966.
- D Turnbull (2002). "Performance and Narrative, Bodies and Movement in the Construction of Places and Objects, Spaces and Knowledges: The Case of the Maltese Megaliths". Theory, Culture & Society. 19 (5–6): 125–143. S2CID 145375098.
Books
- Asthana, S. (1976). History and archaeology of India's contacts with other countries, from earliest times to 300 B.C.. Delhi: B.R. Pub. Corp.
- Deo, S. B. (1973). Problem of South Indian megaliths. Dharwar: Kannada Research Institute, Karnatak University.
- Goudsward, D., & Stone, R. E. (2003). America's Stonehenge: the . Boston: Branden Books.
- Illustrated Encyclopedia of Humankind (The): Worlds Apart (1994) Weldon Owen Pty Limited
- Moffett, M., Fazio, M. W., & Wodehouse, L. (2004). A world history of architecture. Boston: McGraw-Hill.
- Nelson, Sarah M. (1993) The Archaeology of Korea. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
- O'Kelly, M. J., et al. (1989). Early Ireland: An Introduction to Irish Prehistory. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521336872
- Parker, Joanne (editor) (2009). Written On Stone: The Cultural Reception of British Prehistoric Monuments (Cambridge Scholars Publishing; 2009). ISBN 1443813389
- Patton, Mark (1993). Statements in Stone: monuments and society in Neolithic Brittany. Routledge. 209 pages. ISBN 0415067294
- Pohribný, Jan (photo) & Richards, J (introduction) (2007). Magic Stones; the secret world of ancient megaliths. London: Merrell. ISBN 978-1858944135
- Pozzi, Alberto (2013). Megalithism – Sacred and Pagan Architecture in Prehistory. Universal Publisher. ISBN 978-1612332550
- Stukeley, W., Burl, A., & Mortimer, N. (2005). Stukeley's 'Stonehenge': an unpublished manuscript, 1721–1724. New Haven [Conn.]: Yale University Press.
- Subbayya, K. K. (1978). Archaeology of Coorg with special reference to megaliths. Mysore: Geetha Book House.
- Tyler, J. M. (1921). The new stone age in northern Europe. New York: C. Scribner's Sons.
External links
- Catalog of megaliths
- MegalithicIreland.com
- Dolmens, Menhirs & Stones-Circles in the South of France
- Megaliths in Charente-Maritime, France Archived 2010-04-28 at the Wayback Machine
- Dolmen Path – Russian Megaliths (archived 10 January 2007)
- The Megalithic Portal and Megalith Map
- Index of Megalithic monuments in Ireland
- The Modern Antiquarian
- Pretanic World – Megaliths and Monuments (archived 12 March 2012)
- Modern Megalith-Building (archived 25 January 1999)