The word megalithic means 'made of large stone' and so 'megalithic monument' refers to any monumental human-built or -assembled structure. Megalithic monuments take several forms, including temples such as those found in Malta, circles such as the Brochtoff Circle on the Brittany Coast of France, and tombs such as Wayland's Smithy in the United Kingdom. The best known megalithic monumennt is, of course, Stonehenge, that double ring of 150 enormous stones located on the Salisbury Plain of southern England; but there are many other such monuments in England, as well as in Ireland, Wales, Malta, France, North Africa, and some far flung isolated cases.
Who Built the Megalithic Monuments?
Many of the megalithic monuments in Europe were built by Neolithic farmers about six thousand years ago, as they were learning how to grow crops and herd cattle and live together in settlements and make pots to cook in.
Why the Neolithic farmers of Europe did this is frankly unfathomable today. Some of the possible reasons might have been keeping track of the calendar; some might have had something to do with paying respect to the dead; some might have been for artistic reasons; and some may have been celebrations of some long-forgotten religious ceremony or political leader. Who knows?
Further, since megalithic sites are among the most permanent of archaeological structures, many of them had several different functions as they were used by different cultural groups over the centuries and millennia.
Top Five Megalithic Monuments?
In many cases, the sites make eerie, beautiful places to explore--because there is so little known about them, and because it is almost unimaginable to us today that they were created with neither heavy equipment nor accommodating aliens. So, with all the chutzpah you've come to expect from me over the years, I've decided that, even though I've not visited a single one of these sites, I've selected five megalithic monument sites that I believe would be the most interesting and awe-inspiring to visit, whether on the Internet or in person. Those of you who know megalithic sites best will no doubt argue with me; so please feel free to comment.
- Top Five Megalithic Sites
- More Megalithic Sites, links to some others
