Journal articles: 'Megalith monuments'

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Sánchez-Quinto, Federico, Helena Malmström, Magdalena Fraser, Linus Girdland-Flink, Emma M. Svensson, Luciana G. Simões, Robert George, et al. "Megalithic tombs in western and northern Neolithic Europe were linked to a kindred society." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116, no. 19 (April 15, 2019): 9469–74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1818037116.

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Paleogenomic and archaeological studies show that Neolithic lifeways spread from the Fertile Crescent into Europe around 9000 BCE, reaching northwestern Europe by 4000 BCE. Starting around 4500 BCE, a new phenomenon of constructing megalithic monuments, particularly for funerary practices, emerged along the Atlantic façade. While it has been suggested that the emergence of megaliths was associated with the territories of farming communities, the origin and social structure of the groups that erected them has remained largely unknown. We generated genome sequence data from human remains, corresponding to 24 individuals from five megalithic burial sites, encompassing the widespread tradition of megalithic construction in northern and western Europe, and analyzed our results in relation to the existing European paleogenomic data. The various individuals buried in megaliths show genetic affinities with local farming groups within their different chronological contexts. Individuals buried in megaliths display (past) admixture with local hunter-gatherers, similar to that seen in other Neolithic individuals in Europe. In relation to the tomb populations, we find significantly more males than females buried in the megaliths of the British Isles. The genetic data show close kin relationships among the individuals buried within the megaliths, and for the Irish megaliths, we found a kin relation between individuals buried in different megaliths. We also see paternal continuity through time, including the same Y-chromosome haplotypes reoccurring. These observations suggest that the investigated funerary monuments were associated with patrilineal kindred groups. Our genomic investigation provides insight into the people associated with this long-standing megalith funerary tradition, including their social dynamics.

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Thorpe, R. S., and O. Williams-Thorpe. "The myth of long-distance megalith transport." Antiquity 65, no. 246 (March 1991): 64–73. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0003598x00079308.

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The megalithic monuments of western Europe have long been a celebrated proof of the engineering achievements possible in an early farming society. With the engineering skills to raise up the stones went the capability to move them to the site, with Stonehenge the best-known example of an apparent long-distance transport, incorporating Welsh bluestones and sarsens that perhaps originate in the Avebury region to the north. Following their recent challenge to the belief that the builders of Stonehenge did carry its bluestones from west Wales, the authors look critically at the larger pattern of megalithic manoeuvring.

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Holl, Augustin F. C. "Megaliths in Tropical Africa: Social Dynamics and Mortuary Practices in Ancient Senegambia (ca. 1350 BCE – 1500 CE)." International Journal of Modern Anthropology 15, no. 2 (May 27, 2021): 363–412. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ijma.v15i2.1.

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When analyzed systematically, Tropical Africa megalithism appears to have emerged in contexts of friction between different lifeways, agriculturalists versus foragers, pastoralists versus hunter-gatherers-fishermen, or agriculturalists versus fishing folks. The monuments built were clearly part of actual territorial strategies. Research conducted by the Sine Ngayene Archaeological Project (2002-2012) frontally addressed the “Why” of the emergence of megalithism in that part of the world, and probes the reasons for the performance of the elaborate burial practices preserved in the archaeological record. This paper emphasizes the diversity and complexity of burial protocols invented by Senegambian “megalith-builders” communities from 1450 BCE to 1500 CE. Senegambian megalithism is shown to have proceeded from territorial marking imperatives, shaping a multi-layered cultural landscape through the implemented mortuary programs anchored on the construction of Ancestorhood. Keywords: Megaliths; Senegambia; Cultural landscape; Mortuary program; Burial practice; Monolith-circle; Sine-Ngayene;

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Holl, Augustin F. C. "Megaliths in Tropical Africa: Social Dynamics and Mortuary Practices in Ancient Senegambia (ca. 1350 BCE – 1500 CE)." International Journal of Modern Anthropology 2, no. 15 (May 27, 2021): 363–412. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ijma.v2i15.1.

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When analyzed systematically, Tropical Africa megalithism appears to have emerged in contexts of friction between different lifeways, agriculturalists versus foragers, pastoralists versus hunter-gatherers-fishermen, or agriculturalists versus fishing folks. The monuments built were clearly part of actual territorial strategies. Research conducted by the Sine Ngayene Archaeological Project (2002-2012) frontally addressed the “Why” of the emergence of megalithism in that part of the world, and probes the reasons for the performance of the elaborate burial practices preserved in the archaeological record. This paper emphasizes the diversity and complexity of burial protocols invented by Senegambian “megalith-builders” communities from 1450 BCE to 1500 CE. Senegambian megalithism is shown to have proceeded from territorial marking imperatives, shaping a multi-layered cultural landscape through the implemented mortuary programs anchored on the construction of Ancestorhood. Keywords: Megaliths; Senegambia; Cultural landscape; Mortuary program; Burial practice; Monolith-circle; Sine-Ngayene;

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Cullen†, Ben. "Living artefact, personal ecosystem, biocultural schizophrenia: a novel synthesis of processual and post-processual thinking." Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 61 (1995): 371–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0079497x00003133.

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For well over a decade archaeological theory has been discussed in terms of a number of problematic yet familiar dichotomies. Prominent examples would include the distinction between processualist (scientific) and postprocessualist (post-modernist) thinking, and its concomitant distinctions of biology versus culture, Positivism versus Relativism, and Realism versus Idealism. This paper outlines a novel framework (Cultural Virus Theory) which crosscuts these familiar dichotomies, while also suggesting new explanatory possibilities. Recent convergent trends in archaeological theory are summarised. Some of the basic principles of the theory are defined. It is argued that ideas, rituals, and artefact production systems are culturally reproduced life-forms (‘viral phenomena’ or ‘living artefacts’); that people are therefore biocultural ecosystems of more than one lifeform (‘personal ecosystems’); and that the internal constituent life-forms of personal ecosystems may be found in both symbiotic, and parasitic or predatory relationships, just as are those of larger ecosystems. Human actions, therefore, cannot be approached as if they constitute the behaviour of a single united organism; as ecosystems, people are often subject to internal adaptive conflict and are, in short, ‘biocultural schizophrenics’. Lastly, the anatomy of the synthesis is briefly discussed with reference to first post-processual, and then processual approaches to the familiar ‘megalith icon’ of monuments and their associated rituals — termed ‘megalithic religions’ for convenience — in Neolithic north-west Europe.

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Hasanuddin, Nfn. "Nilai-Nilai Sosial dan Religi dalam Tradisi Megalitik di Sulawesi Selatan." Kapata Arkeologi 12, no. 2 (December 30, 2016): 191. http://dx.doi.org/10.24832/kapata.v12i2.313.

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South Sulawesi is a region which has a several culture and megalith tradition that spread in various locations. Of those various forms and kinds of that megalith monument, there are important values that can be reinvented for the society. The purpose is to determine the social dan religious value of megalithic culture in South Sulawesi. In order to recognize those values, a research with an ethnoarchaeological approach has been done through direct observations and surveys in the society which still have megalith tradition, and focused to identify its values and functions in society. This research found that this tradition was developed since the 2nd AD until the 10th to 13th AD. During that period, the settlement system was composed of small communities that occupying highland and lowland. That small community was called wanua which spread across South Sulawesi peninsula. At the present time, that megalith tradition is still found in Torajan community, and in several ritual practices among communities in Enrekang and Soppeng regency, South Sulawesi. Generally, that megalith tradition is endorsing several values such like cooperation and spiritual.Sulawesi Selatan merupakan suatu daerah yang memiliki beberapa bentuk budaya dan tradisi megalitik (kebudayaan batu besar) yang tersebar di berbagai wilayah. Dari berbagai bentuk dan jenis megalitik itu tentunya memiliki nilai-nilai yang dapat diterapkan dalam masyarakat. Tujuannya adalah untuk mengetahui nilai sosial dan religi dari kebudayaan megalitik di Sulawesi selatan. Dalam pencapaiannya digunakan pendekatan etnoarkeologi dengan cara melakukan survei di beberapa daerah di Sulawesi Selatan yang memiliki peninggalan megalitik. Selanjutnya dilakukan wawancara dan pengamatan langsung di masyarakat yang masih menggunakan kebudayaan megalitik untuk mengetahui fungsi dalam masyarakat. Penelitian selama ini menunjukkan bahwa kebudayaan ini berawal sekitar abad ke-2 Masehi dan terus berlanjut pada abad ke-10 hingga abad ke-13 Masehi. Sistem permukiman pada masa itu merupakan kelompok-kelompok komunitas yang menempati wilayah ketinggian dan dataran rendah. Pada awal terbentuknya populasi disebabkan adanya berbagai daerah otonom kecil yang disebut wanuwa yang terdapat di beberapa daerah di seluruh semenanjung Sulawesi Selatan. Budaya ini masih berkesinambungan hingga sekarang pada masyarakat Toraja, atau dalam praktek ritual seperti di Enrekang dan Soppeng, Sulawesi Selatan. Pada umumnya kebudayaan megalitik mengandung nilai-nilai kerjasama dan gotong royong serta religi yang menonjol.

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Krzemińska, Alicja Edyta, Anna Dzikowska, Anna Danuta Zaręba, Katarzyna Rozalia Jarosz, Krzysztof Widawski, and Janusz Stanisław Łach. "The Significance of Megalithic Monuments in the Process of Place Identity Creation and in Tourism Development." Open Geosciences 10, no. 1 (September 18, 2018): 504–16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/geo-2018-0040.

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Abstract All over the world and for thousands of years, megaliths have been significant cultural elements, as well as sacred sites and places of power. Nowadays megaliths act as a strong magnet for tourists, who appreciate their history, esoterica and magic. Some megaliths were used for astronomical observations, so vital to maintain the continuity of harvest and crop. Other megalithic constructions were erected for funerary purposes, and served as individual or collective burial chambers. Megalithic structures are usually referred to as belonging to the European Neolithic but it has to be stressed that some megalithic constructions date back to the Bronze Age, and some were also built on other continents. Megaliths are a vital element of landscape and for historical reasons they are a sui generis monument, commemorating prehistorical cultures. At the same time, along with the remaining elements of the natural and cultural environment, they create a unique image of place identity, attracting large numbers of tourists. Interestingly, despite the strong attraction exercised by megaliths, there are still many places where tourism does not develop as rapidly as might be assumed. For the above-mentioned reasons, a comparative analysis of several megalithic sites has been conducted in Poland, Sweden, Portugal and Denmark. The following elements have been analysed: the megaliths immediate surroundings, the existing and planned or under-construction tourist and communication infrastructure, as well as architectural and spatial technical solutions and development. Also the key negative and positive elements have been defined which influence the tourist potential of the places in question, and constitute the tourism attractiveness factors of a region.

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Boado, Felipe Criado, and Ramon Fabregas Valcarce. "The megalithic phenomenon of northwest Spain: main trends." Antiquity 63, no. 241 (December 1989): 682–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0003598x00076821.

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What is one to do with megaliths, now that their classification into evolutionary sequences – the mainstay of megalithic study over so many years – seems to offer insufficient insights? Yet in some regions of Europe the great stone monuments provide the major physical evidence from their period. Here is a study of one of the megalithic zones, which seeks to find new insights by asking new kinds of questions.

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Fisher, David, and Lionel Sims. "Modelling Lunar Extremes." Journal of Skyscape Archaeology 3, no. 2 (January 24, 2018): 207–16. http://dx.doi.org/10.1558/jsa.34686.

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Claims first made over half a century ago that certain prehistoric monuments utilised high-precision alignments on the horizon risings and settings of the Sun and the Moon have recently resurfaced. While archaeoastronomy early on retreated from these claims, as a way to preserve the discipline in an academic boundary dispute, it did so without a rigorous examination of Thom’s concept of a “lunar standstill”. Gough’s uncritical resurrection of Thom’s usage of the term provides a long-overdue opportunity for the discipline to correct this slippage. Gough (2013), in keeping with Thom (1971), claims that certain standing stones and short stone rows point to distant horizon features which allow high-precision alignments on the risings and settings of the Sun and the Moon dating from about 1700 BC. To assist archaeoastronomy in breaking out of its interpretive rut and from “going round in circles” (Ruggles 2011), this paper evaluates the validity of this claim. Through computer modelling, the celestial mechanics of horizon alignments are here explored in their landscape context with a view to testing the very possibility of high-precision alignments to the lunar extremes. It is found that, due to the motion of the Moon on the horizon, only low-precision alignments are feasible, which would seem to indicate that the properties of lunar standstills could not have included high-precision markers for prehistoric megalith builders.

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Scarre, Chris, Luc Laporte, and Roger Joussaume. "Long Mounds and Megalithic Origins in Western France: Recent Excavations at Prissé-la-Charrière." Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 69 (2003): 235–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0079497x00001328.

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The ancestry of the long mound has long been a key focus in debates on the origins of monumental and megalithic architectures in western France. Typological schemes and absolute dates have alike been invoked in support of different models of monument development, but with limited success. Recent excavations at Prissé-la-Charrière, a 100-metre long mound in the Poitou-Charentes region, have emphasised the importance of internal structure and the complex process of modification and accretion by which many long mounds achieved their final form and dimensions. Excavations have revealed an early megalithic chamber in a dry-stone rotunda, that was progressively incorporated in a short long mound, then in the 100 m long mound we see today, which contains at least two further chamber tombs. The wide range of monument forms present in western and northern France during the 5th millennium BC suggests that the issue of monument origins must be viewed in a broad inter-regional perspective, within which a number of individual elements could be combined in a variety of different ways. Consideration of seven specific elements, including the shape of the mound, the position and accessibility of the chamber, and the significance of above-ground tomb chambers as opposed to graves or pits leads us to propose a polygenic model for the origins of the long mounds and related monuments of western France.

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Roughley, Corinne, Andrew Sherratt, and Colin Shell. "Past records, new views: Carnac 1830–2000." Antiquity 76, no. 291 (March 2002): 218–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0003598x00090013.

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The megalithic monuments of Carnac, Brittany, in the Département of the Morbihan, are amongst the most farnous in France. indeed in the world. This region has not only the densest conccntration of such sites in Europe but also retained its importance as a centre of monument-building from the late 5th to the :jrd millennium FK:, giving it a unique significance in the study of Neolithic landscapes (Sherratt 1990; 1998). Its menhirs, stone alignments, and megalithic tombs have attracted the attention of scholars since the 18th century, and there is thus an unusually full record, both written and pictorial, of the nature of these monuments as they were perceived over 300 years.

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Gillings, Mark, and Joshua Pollard. "Making Megaliths: Shifting and Unstable Stones in the Neolithic of the Avebury Landscape." Cambridge Archaeological Journal 26, no. 4 (May 24, 2016): 537–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0959774316000330.

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This paper focuses upon the web of practices and transformations bound up in the extraction and movement of megaliths during the Neolithic of southern Britain. The focus is on the Avebury landscape of Wiltshire, where over 700 individual megaliths were employed in the construction of ceremonial and funerary monuments. Locally sourced, little consideration has been given to the process of acquisition and movement of sarsen stones that make up key monuments such as the Avebury henge and its avenues, attention instead focusing on the middle-distance transportation of sarsen out of this region to Stonehenge. Though stone movements were local, we argue they were far from lacking in significance, as indicated by the subsequent monumentalization of at least two locations from which they were likely acquired. We argue that since such stones embodied place(s), their removal, movement and resetting represented a remarkably dynamic and potentially disruptive reconfiguration of the world as it was known. Megaliths were never inert or stable matter, and we need to embrace this in our interpretative accounts if we are to understand the very different types of monument that emerged in prehistory as a result.

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Sims, Lionel, and David Fisher. "Through the Gloomy Vale: Underworld Alignments at Stonehenge." Culture and Cosmos 21, no. 1 and 2 (2017): 11–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.46472/cc.01221.0203.

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Three recent independently developed models suggest that some Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments exhibit dual design properties in monument complexes by pairing obverse structures. Parker Pearson’s1 materiality model proposes that monuments of wood are paired with monuments of stone, these material metaphors respectively signifying places of rituals for the living with rituals for the dead. Higginbottom’s2 landscape model suggests that many western Scottish megalithic structures are paired in mirror-image landscape locations in which the horizon distance, direction and height of one site is the topographical reverse of the paired site – all in the service of ritually experiencing the liminal boundaries to the world. Sims’3 diacritical model suggests that materials, landscapes and lunar-solar alignments are diacritically combined to facilitate cyclical ritual processions between paired monuments through a simulated underworld. All three models combine in varying degrees archaeology and archaeoastronomy and our paper tests them through the case study of the late Neolithic/EBA Stonehenge Palisade in the Stonehenge monument complex.

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McCoy, Mark D., Helen A. Alderson, Richard Hemi, Hai Cheng, and R. Lawrence Edwards. "Earliest direct evidence of monument building at the archaeological site of Nan Madol (Pohnpei, Micronesia) identified using 230Th/U coral dating and geochemical sourcing of megalithic architectural stone." Quaternary Research 86, no. 3 (November 2016): 295–303. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2016.08.002.

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AbstractArchaeologists commonly use the onset of the construction of large burial monuments as a material indicator of a fundamental shift in authority in prehistoric human societies during the Holocene. High-quality direct evidence of this transition is rare. We report new interdisciplinary research at the archaeological site of Nan Madol that allows us to specify where and when people began to construct monumental architecture in the remote islands of the Pacific. Nan Madol is an ancient administrative and mortuary center and the former capital of the island of Pohnpei. It was constructed over 83 ha of lagoon with artificial islets and other architecture built using columnar basalt and coral. We employed geochemical sourcing of basalt used as architectural stone and high-precision uranium-thorium series dates (230Th/U) on coral from the tomb of the first chief of the entire island to identify the beginning of monument building at Nan Madol in AD 1180-1200. Over the next several centuries (AD 1300-1600) monument building began on other islands across Oceania. Future research should be aimed at resolving the causes of these social transformations through higher quality data on monument building.

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Sharples, Niall. "Individual and Community: The Changing Role of Megaliths in the Orcadian Neolithic." Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 51, no. 1 (December 1985): 59–74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0079497x00007039.

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This paper is an exploration of the chronological development of a series of elaborate and architecturally distinctive chambered tombs on the Islands of Orkney. It begins with a short critique of the present views of the Orcadian Neolithic and highlights a failure to understand chronological developments as the most significant problem. Thus after a brief classification of the monuments there is a detailed discussion of the chronological evidence which consciously avoids typological assumptions. This is followed by an examination of the various uses the tombs were put to and involves an assessment of the location and architectural visibility of the monuments and the remains found in the chamber. When combined with the chronological evidence a series of changes in monument size, type, location and use can be hypothesized for the neolithic period. This culminates in a shift away from burial monuments to physically defined spaces, presumably used for ceremonial purposes. These changes can be interpreted as deliberate manipulation by groups within that society to change the ideological concepts which defined the role of the individual in relation to the other members of the society.

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Meaden, G. Terence. "Drombeg Stone Circle, Ireland, analyzed with respect to sunrises and lithic shadow-casting for the eight traditional agricultural festival dates and further validated by photography." Journal of Lithic Studies 4, no. 3 (November 15, 2017): 5–37. http://dx.doi.org/10.2218/jls.v0i0.1919.

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A new survey of Drombeg Stone Circle and accurate analysis of shadow effects beginning at particular sunrises of the calendar year has led to a breakthrough in the understanding of lithic symbolism and the intentions behind the construction of this and other Irish monuments including Knowth and Newgrange that also have astronomical alignments. At Drombeg specific standing stones play critical roles at sunrise for all eight of the festival dates as known traditionally and historically for agricultural communities and as now inferred for prehistoric times following the present observation-based analysis.Crucial for Drombeg in the summer half of the year is the positioning of a tall straight-sided portal stone such that its shadow at midsummer sunrise encounters an engraving on the recumbent stone diametrically opposite. During subsequent minutes the shadow moves away allowing the light of the sun to fall on the carved symbol. It is the same for sunrises at Beltane (May Day), Lughnasadh (Lammas), and the equinoxes when shadows from other perimeter stones achieve the same coupling with the same image, each time soon replaced by sunlight. For the winter half of the year which includes dates for Samhain, the winter solstice and Imbolc, the target stone for shadow reception at sunrise is a huge lozenge-shaped megalith, artificially trimmed. Moreover, for 22 March and 21 September there is notable dramatic action by shadow and light between a precisely positioned narrow pillar stone and the lozenge stone.As a result, at sunrise at Drombeg eight calendrical shadow events have been witnessed and photographed. This attests to the precision of Neolithic planning that determined the stone positions, and demonstrates the antiquity of the calendar dates for these traditional agricultural festivals. Discussion is held as to what the concept of shadow casting between shaped or engraved stones at the time of sunrise may have meant in terms of lithic symbolism for the planners and builders. This leads to a possible explanation in terms of the ancient worldview known as the hieros gamos or the Marriage of the Gods between Sky and Earth.

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Boado, Felipe Criado, and Victoria Villoch Vázquez. "Monumentalizing landscape: From present perception to the past meaning of Galician megalithism (north-west Iberian Peninsula)." European Journal of Archaeology 3, no. 2 (2000): 188–216. http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/eja.2000.3.2.188.

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The study of landscape as social construction implies considering its economic and territorial dimensions, as much as its symbolic ones. A major topic in such kinds of studies is the reconstruction of the ways in which natural and social space was perceived by past societies. We ought to approach the project of building an archaeology of perception. One of the aims of such a research programme would be the evaluation of the effects of natural and artificial landscape features on past human observers. This paper will argue that a possible strategy for studying these dimensions of past landscapes could be based on the systematic analysis of the visual features of prehistoric monuments and in the characterization of the scenic effects and vistas related to them. A detailed analysis of the pattern of location of megalithic monuments and of their visibility and intervisibility allows us to recognize certain regularities which display an intention to take account of monuments by provoking dramatic artificial effects. In such a way, we could approach a phenomenology of prehistoric perception without falling into merely subjective solutions. This study is based on a systematic review of the megalithic monuments from Sierra de Barbanza (north-west Iberia). Its main aims are: (1) the proposal for a theoretical and methodological study of these phenomena, combined with; (2) a case-study to reconstruct those monumental strategies used to shape cultural landscapes in Neolithic Europe, and; (3) the explanation of continuities and changes of these traditions.

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Yondri, Lutfi. "MONUMEN MEGALITIK DAN TRANSPORTASI BAHANNYA: Analisis Terhadap Beberapa Faktor Yang Berpengaruh." Berkala Arkeologi 29, no. 1 (May 17, 2009): 1–12. http://dx.doi.org/10.30883/jba.v29i1.367.

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Megalithic monuments in Nusantara are generally found on plateaus, for example on hill tops, mountain slopes, and other remote locations. A big question often raised on how the prehistoric people could move such huge and heavy boulders to build their monuments. It is assumed that to build those megalithic monuments, various factors were involved, i.e. the landscape, technology, and leaderships as well.

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González García, A. César, Felipe Criado-Boado, and Benito Vilas Estévez. "Megalithic Skyscapes in Galicia." Culture and Cosmos 21, no. 1 and 2 (2017): 87–103. http://dx.doi.org/10.46472/cc.01221.0211.

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We present the results of our analysis of two singular Neolithic monuments and two prominent megalithic groups in Galicia. The two singular monuments are the dolmen of Dombate (Baio, Coruña county), perhaps the largest megalithic chamber in Galicia (or at least the most investigated and well-known) that houses an elaborate decorative program with engravings and paintings, and Forno dos Mouros (Bocelo mountains, Coruña county), also housing paintings and belonging to a bigger group aligned along an historical path following the mountain ridge. Both chambers house interesting illumination effects. The group analysis concerns the Barbanza (Coruña county) and Leboreiro, (Ourense county and borderland with Portugal) necropoleis. There, we find that apart from chamber orientation, location and spatial relations of the monuments within the landscape, the monuments incorporate skyscape associations that complemented and dialogued with that of the chamber orientations. Besides, if the particular directions that we find are related to the movements of the sun and/or moon they may indicate the appropriate ritual time for the dead. Of course, skyscape is not the only or the main factor to explain the location of the mounds within the necropolis but are part of a complex system of relations making those monuments part of a cultural landscape. When taking all factors into consideration a complex picture emerges where we can env

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Monteiro-Rodrigues, Sérgio, and César Oliveira. "A anta dos Currais do Galhordas (Castelo de Vide, Alto Alentejo, Portugal): Arquitetura, cronologia e análise química de resíduos orgânicos de recipientes cerâmicos." Estudos do Quaternário / Quaternary Studies, no. 18 (November 26, 2018): 15–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.30893/eq.v0i18.168.

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Recorrendo à cromatografia gasosa com deteção por massa, analisaram-se os conteúdos orgânicos extraídos de três vasos da anta dos Currais do Galhordas, monumento erigido na segunda metade do 4º milénio cal BC e reutilizado, pelo menos, no 3º e no 2º milénios cal BC.Ao que tudo indica, os três vasos relacionam-se com a reutilização mais recente do monumento megalítico, durante o Bronze Pleno (2º milénio cal BC). Em dois vasos identificaram-se vestígios de uva ou frutos vermelhos e peixe; no terceiro detetaram-se restos de gordura animal, possivelmente leite, associado a óleos de plantas. Os resultados obtidos a partir dos três recipientes cerâmicos estão em concordância com os observados por outros autores em amostras de época genericamente idêntica, recolhidas em áreas geográficas relativamente próximas da anta dos Currais do Galhordas. The megalithic tomb of Currais do Galhordas (Castelo de Vide, Alto Alentejo, Portugal): Architecture, chronology and chemical analysis of the organic content of ceramic vasesThe organic content of three ceramic vases uncovered in the megalithic tomb of Currais do Galhordas (Central Eastern Portugal) – a monument built in the second half of the 4th millennium cal BC and reused in the 3th and in the 2nd millennia cal BC – was analysed by gas-chromatography with mass detection. The vases are allegedly connected with the latest use of the monument, during the Bronze Age (2nd millennium cal BC). Two of them presented traces of grapes or red fruits, together with fish; the third vase exhibited animal fat remains, possibly milk, associated with plant oils. Our results are compatible with other data from Iberian archaeological sites of identical period, in some cases located relatively close to the megalithic tomb of Currais do Galhordas. Keywords: Anta dos Currais do Galhordas; Organic content in vases; Megalithism; Alto Alentejo.

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Saletta, Morgan. "Astronomy, Illumination and Heritage: the Arles-Fontvieille megalithic monuments and their implications for archaeoastronomy and world heritage." Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union 11, A29A (August 2015): 100–101. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1743921316002489.

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The Arles-Fontvieille monuments, or hypogées, have long had a special place in megalithic studies. Their unique architecture, blending “Atlantic” megalithic construction with subterranean rock-cut architecture more commonly found in the Mediterranean, and their size, especially that of the Grotte de Cordes, place them among the most important monuments in France and Europe (Daniel 1960, Guilaine 1998, Sauzade 1999, Hoskin 2001, Saletta 2014). My discovery and interpretation of seasonal light and shadow hierophanies (Saletta 2011, 2014)) within the Arles-Fontvieille monuments has important implications for identifying astronomically related Outstanding Universal Value for late prehistoric European monuments.

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Pritchard, Olwyn. "Shadows, Stones and Solstices." Journal of Skyscape Archaeology 2, no. 2 (February 10, 2017): 145–64. http://dx.doi.org/10.1558/jsa.29787.

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This paper records the results of a survey of stone pairs in southwest Wales. The aim of the research was to determine whether the positioning of the megaliths could reflect an intention on the part of the builders to mark particular points in the solar year. The author hypothesises that some of the sites were constructed in such a way as to facilitate the creation of a particular shadow phenomenon within the confines of the monument itself, designed to be viewed at one or both solstices. During the course of the study, it became apparent that the locations of some monuments also facilitated observations of solstice sunrises or sunsets coinciding with topographical features (such as hills or outcrops) on the local horizon, in addition to the shadow phenomena. There was also some, although less, indication of an interest in the equinoxes.

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González-García, A. César, and Lourdes Costa-Ferrer. "Orientation of Trb-West Megalithic Monuments." Journal for the History of Astronomy 37, no. 4 (November 2006): 417–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/002182860603700404.

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Nash, George. "Light at the end of the tunnel: the way megalithic art was viewed and experienced." Documenta Praehistorica 33 (December 31, 2006): 209–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.4312/dp.33.19.

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This paper explores how megalithic art may have been viewed during a period when Neolithic monuments were in use as repositories for the dead. The group of monuments discussed are primarily passage graves which were being constructed within many of the core areas of Neolithic Atlantic Europe. Although dates for the construction of this tradition are sometimes early, the majority of monuments with megalithic art fall essentially within the Middle to Late Neolithic. The art, usually in the form of pecked abstract designs appears to be strategically placed within the inner part of the passage and the chamber. Given its position was this art restricted to an elite and was there a conscious decision to hide some art and make it exclusively for the dead? In order to discuss these points further, this chapter will study in depth the location and subjectivity of art that has been carved and pecked on three passage graves in Anglesey and NW England. I suggest that an encoded grammar was in operation when these and other passage grave monuments with megalithic art were in use.

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Meaden, G. Terence. "Editorial: Advances in understanding megaliths and related prehistoric lithic monuments." Journal of Lithic Studies 4, no. 3 (November 3, 2017): 1–4. http://dx.doi.org/10.2218/jls.v4i3.1945.

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Standing stones and megalithic monuments are impressive remains from a remote prehistoric world that for the British Isles began some 6000 years ago and led to a cultural flowering that peaked in the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age with the rise of fine megalithic monuments like Newgrange, Knowth, Drombeg, Maeshowe, Avebury and Stonehenge. Nearby on the European continent, what may be called an era involving megalithic culture had begun a few centuries earlier (as at Carnac and Locmariaquer), and still earlier in the Mediterranean lands and islands (e.g., the Tarxien Temple in Malta), south-eastern Europe, the Near and Middle East, and India beyond.

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Wysocki, Michael, Seren Griffiths, Robert Hedges, Alex Bayliss, Tom Higham, Yolanda Fernandez-Jalvo, and Alasdair Whittle. "Dates, Diet, and Dismemberment: Evidence from the Coldrum Megalithic Monument, Kent." Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 79 (July 17, 2013): 61–90. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/ppr.2013.10.

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We present radiocarbon dates, stable isotope data, and osteological analysis of the remains of a minimum of 17 individuals deposited in the western part of the burial chamber at Coldrum, Kent. This is one of the Medway group of megalithic monuments – sites with shared architectural motifs and no very close parallels elsewhere in Britain – whose location has been seen as important in terms of the origins of Neolithic material culture and practices in Britain. The osteological analysis identified the largest assemblage of cut-marked human bone yet reported from a British early Neolithic chambered tomb; these modifications were probably undertaken as part of burial practices. The stable isotope dataset shows very enrichedδ15N values, the causes of which are not entirely clear, but could include consumption of freshwater fish resources. Bayesian statistical modelling of the radiocarbon dates demonstrates that Coldrum is an early example of a British Neolithic burial monument, though the tomb was perhaps not part of the earliest Neolithic evidence in the Greater Thames Estuary. The site was probably initiated after the first appearance of other early Neolithic regional phenomena including an inhumation burial, early Neolithic pottery and a characteristic early Neolithic post-and-slot structure, and perhaps of Neolithic flint extraction in the Sussex mines. Coldrum is the only site in the Medway monument group to have samples which have been radiocarbon dated, and is important both for regional studies of the early Neolithic and wider narratives of the processes, timing, and tempo of Neolithisation across Britain

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Nash, David J., T. Jake R. Ciborowski, J. Stewart Ullyott, Mike Parker Pearson, Timothy Darvill, Susan Greaney, Georgios Maniatis, and Katy A. Whitaker. "Origins of the sarsen megaliths at Stonehenge." Science Advances 6, no. 31 (July 2020): eabc0133. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abc0133.

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The sources of the stone used to construct Stonehenge around 2500 BCE have been debated for over four centuries. The smaller “bluestones” near the center of the monument have been traced to Wales, but the origins of the sarsen (silcrete) megaliths that form the primary architecture of Stonehenge remain unknown. Here, we use geochemical data to show that 50 of the 52 sarsens at the monument share a consistent chemistry and, by inference, originated from a common source area. We then compare the geochemical signature of a core extracted from Stone 58 at Stonehenge with equivalent data for sarsens from across southern Britain. From this, we identify West Woods, Wiltshire, 25 km north of Stonehenge, as the most probable source area for the majority of sarsens at the monument.

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Scarre, Chris. "Rocks of Ages: Tempo and Time in Megalithic Monuments." European Journal of Archaeology 13, no. 2 (2010): 175–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1461957110370731.

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Chronology remains a problematic area in prehistoric archaeology but the increasing number and precision of radiometric dates begin to suggest patterns that can be resolved down to the scale of individual lifetimes. The study of megalithic monuments has benefited from these developments but remains hampered by the indirect relationship between the materials that are dated and the structures themselves. Drawing on evidence from France, Scandinavia, and Iberia, it is nonetheless arguable that available patterns of dates suggest an event-like tempo to the construction of megalithic monuments, with large numbers being built within relatively short periods of time. This has implications for typological models and for the social context in which such monuments were designed and built.

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Pailler, Yvan, Pierre Stéphan, H. Gandois, C. Nicolas, Y. Sparfel, A. Tresset, K. Donnart, et al. "Landscape Evolution and Human Settlement in the Iroise Sea (Brittany, France) during the Neolithic and Bronze Age." Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 80 (September 30, 2014): 105–39. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/ppr.2014.9.

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The Molène archipelago appears to be particularly rich in Neolithic and Bronze Age remains and an exceptional concentration of megaliths has been brought to light. Several settlements are confirmed by dry-stone structures or by shell middens. These data give precious indications on the occupation chronology of the area. Moreover they allow us, for the first time in Brittany, to reconstruct everyday life during the late Prehistoric period. A prerequisite to this reconstruction was a better understanding of the evolution of the environment during this period, which locally implies a better knowledge of paleogeographic changes related to Holocene sea-level rise as well as on floral and faunal resources.The results obtained through paleogeographic reconstructions show that the archipelago since 4500bcwas already disconnected from the mainland. The megalithic monuments must therefore have been erected and used by islanders present on the archipelago from the middle of the 5th to the 2nd millenniumbc. The distribution of the megalithic tombs reveals landscape occupation strategies which respond to both cultural choices and natural constraints. Throughout the entire period, geographic isolation has continued to increase, although it did not imply strong cultural specificities. Nevertheless, the increasing remoteness of the islands has fostered the search for livelihoods based on the intense exploitation of coastal resources. Despite their focus on the sea, these people did not neglect what inland areas could offer as evidenced by the early agro-pastoral practices in the archipelago.

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Джанджугазова, Елена, and Elena Dzhandzhugazova. "Western Caucasus Dolmens: riddles, myths, legends." Service & Tourism: Current Challenges 8, no. 3 (September 1, 2014): 85–94. http://dx.doi.org/10.12737/5603.

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The article is devoted to the dolmens of Western Caucasus which are considered not only as monuments of ancient material culture but also as signifi cant tourist facilities that have become a real brand of Olympic Sochi. The author gives interesting information about the mystical power of dolmens, conducts comparative parallels with famous megaliths countries and highlights the reason for people’s interest to the monuments of dolmen culture.

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Laporte, L., H. Bocoum, J.-P. Cros, A. Delvoye, R. Bernard, M. Diallo, M. Diop, et al. "Megalithic monumentality in Africa: from graves to stone circles at Wanar, Senegal." Antiquity 86, no. 332 (June 2012): 409–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0003598x00062840.

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The World Heritage Site of Wanar in Senegal features 21 stone circles, remarkable not least because they were erected in the twelfth and thirteenth century AD, when Islam ruled the Indian Ocean and Europe was in its Middle Ages. The state of preservation has benefited the exemplary investigation currently carried out by a French-Senegalese team, which we are pleased to report here. The site began as a burial ground to which monumental stones were added, perhaps echoing the form of original funerary houses. Found in a neighbouring field were scoops left from the cutting out of the cylindrical monoliths from surface rock. While the origins of Wanar lie in a period of state formation, the monuments are shown to have had a long ritual use. The investigation not only provides a new context for one of the most important sites in West Africa but the precise determination of the sequence and techniques used at Wanar offers key pointers for the understanding of megalithic structures everywhere.

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Martinon-Torres, Marcos. "Holtorf, Cornelius J. 2000-2. Monumental Past: The Life-histories of Megalithic Monuments in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Germany)." Papers from the Institute of Archaeology 13 (November 15, 2002): 130. http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/pia.171.

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Silva, Ana Maria. "The Megalithic Builders." Documenta Praehistorica 47 (December 2, 2020): 390–403. http://dx.doi.org/10.4312/dp.47.21.

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Between the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, António dos Santos Rocha excavated several prehistoric megalithic monuments in the region of Figueira da Foz (Portugal). Some of them revealed human bones, albeit very disturbed and fragmented, which ended up forgotten in the Municipal Museum of Santos Rocha (Figueira da Foz), as did the individuals to which they belonged. Here, I revisit the human bone collection preserved from Megalitho do Facho to access demographic and morphological data; physiological stress indicators; pathologies and injuries that these individuals suffered, thus revealing insights on the lives of those who were deposited in this dolmen. The majority of this collection is composed of unburned bones and a small subsample of burned ones. Both were radiocarbon dated to the Chalcolithic period (first half of the 3rd millennium BC). The analysis confirmed that non-adult and adult individuals of both sexes were deposited in this dolmen. These individuals were affected by biomechanical stress since early in life and display mild signs of physiological stress associated with remodelled lesions, suggestive of a relatively good health status. These data are discussed in the context of other coeval sites.

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Wunderlich, Maria, Tiatoshi Jamir, Johannes Müller, Knut Rassman, and Ditamulü Vasa. "Societies in balance: Monumentality and feasting activities among southern Naga communities, Northeast India." PLOS ONE 16, no. 3 (March 10, 2021): e0246966. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246966.

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Among various Naga communities of Northeast India, megalithic building and feasting activities played an integral role in the different and intertwined dimensions of social and political organisation until very recently. During a collaborative fieldwork in 2016, we visited different village communities in the southern areas of Nagaland and recorded local knowledge about the function and social implications of megalithic building activities. The preserved knowledge of the monuments themselves and their embeddedness in complex feasting activities and social structures illustrate the multifaceted character of megalithic building. The case study of Nagaland highlights how the construction of megalithic monuments may fulfil very different functions in societies characterised by institutionalised hierarchies than in those that have a more egalitarian social organisation. The case study of southern Naga communities not only shows the importance of various dimensions and courses of action–such as sharing and cooperation, competitive behaviour, and the influence of economic inequality–, but also the importance of social networks and different layers of kinship. The multifaceted and interwoven character of megalithic building activities in this ethnoarchaeological case study constitutes an expansion for the interpretation of archaeological case studies of monumentality.

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Steelman, K. L., F. Carrera Ramírez, R. Fábregas Valcarce, T. Guilderson, and M. W. Rowe. "Direct radiocarbon dating of megalithic paints from north-west Iberia." Antiquity 79, no. 304 (June 2005): 379–89. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0003598x00114164.

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Using plasma chemistry, carbon was extracted from charcoal paint samples collected from megalithic monuments in north-west Iberia. Nine accelerator mass spectrometric radiocarbon dates on these paints establish their age to be within 100014C years of each other, centred at approximately 5000 BP. These radiocarbon ages for megalithic paintings fall within the proposed time period for north-west Iberian megalithic culture. Multiple layers of paint on some stones show that more than one painting episode occurred.

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Scarre, Chris. "Misleading images: Stonehenge and Brittany." Antiquity 71, no. 274 (December 1997): 1016–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0003598x00085926.

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Carrero-Pazos, Miguel. "Modelando dinámicas de movilidad y visibilidad en los paisajes megalíticos gallegos. El caso del Monte de Santa Mariña y su entorno (Comarca de Sarria, Lugo)." Trabajos de Prehistoria 75, no. 2 (December 13, 2018): 287. http://dx.doi.org/10.3989/tp.2018.12216.

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Se propone un estudio de dos formas tradicionales de entender la relación del megalito con el paisaje, como son la movilidad natural por el territorio y la visibilidad del monumento con respecto al paisaje en el que se emplaza. Para ello, se aplican una serie de análisis fundamentados en los Sistemas de Información Geográfica y la Estadística Espacial sobre el conjunto tumular del Monte de Santa Mariña (Comarca de Sarria, Lugo) y su entorno (NO de la Península Ibérica). Partiendo de la creación de un modelo de simulación de desplazamiento natural y del estudio de la visibilidad de dicho conjunto, se comprueba, en primer lugar, la importancia de las vías potenciales de tránsito como variable locacional, así como el impacto visual que los monumentos juegan en relación con estas vías. A continuación, se analiza la prominencia visual de los túmulos megalíticos con respecto a su entorno inmediato, pudiéndose identificar la existencia de tendencias comunes en los distintos conjuntos tumulares en relación con el tamaño de las cuencas visuales. Los resultados sugieren una importante relación entre los túmulos y el tránsito natural por el territorio, si bien se detectan tendencias desiguales en lo que al impacto visual del megalito se refiere, tanto con respecto a la relación con otros túmulos como a la totalidad del territorio en el que se emplazan. Ello permite establecer un punto de partida necesario para la revisión de los planteamientos teóricos formulados para el conjunto de Galicia.

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Delvoye, Adrien, Luc Laporte, Hamady Bocoum, Régis Bernard, Jean-Paul Cros, Sélim Djouad, Vincent Dartois, et al. "L’Art et la manière : Approche technologique des céramiques de dépôt dans le mégalithisme sénégambien – Le cas de la nécropole de Wanar (Sénégal)." Journal of African Archaeology 14, no. 2 (January 12, 2016): 115–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.3213/2191-5784-10289.

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Among the many characteristics of the Senegalese and Gambian megalithic phenomenon, the deposition of pottery on the eastern edge of funerary structures is a recurrent practice present throughout the excavated sites. In the western part of the megalithic area, ceramics are generally located between the standing stone-circles and one or more frontal stones erected east of monuments. With the exception of morphological and decorative aspects, no technological studies have ever been conducted on the pottery from these deposits. Such an approach has now been taken to the analysis of around forty ceramics from deposits at the site of Wanar — about as many as are available from the deposits of all other Senegambian megalithic sites. The results demonstrate the range of technical choices mobilized in the shaping process. The high degree of finish on the vessels also suggests an important added value to the material culture which participated in the monuments’ ritual function.

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Mens, Emmanuel. "Refitting megaliths in western France." Antiquity 82, no. 315 (March 1, 2008): 25–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0003598x00096411.

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Refitting flakes to cores is a well-developed way to investigate how stone tools were made. Here the author takes on the formidable task of refitting the stone blocks of menhirs, orthostats and megalithic tombs to their quarries. The results are impressive: the order of erection in a row of menhirs, the method of construction in a passage grave and the monumental chronology of a region are just three of the rewards of this promising new method.

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Midgley, Magdalena S. "Monuments and monumentality: the cosmological model of the world of megaliths." Documenta Praehistorica 37 (December 1, 2011): 55. http://dx.doi.org/10.4312/dp.37.5.

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Asombang, Raymond N. "Interpreting standing stones in Africa: a case study in north-west Cameroon." Antiquity 78, no. 300 (June 2004): 294–305. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0003598x00112967.

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Combining history and ethnography with a survey on the ground, the author shows how the megalithic monuments of Cameroon were the remains of many different kinds of site. Some were house platforms, others places for washing dishes. Others are certainly ceremonial, for family and kin-group meetings. The memory and opinion of current residents adds a fascinating aside to the function of these monuments, probably introduced four centuries ago, and their subsequent rôles in society.

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Wells, Peter S. "The Megalithic Monuments of Britain and Ireland. Chris Scarre." Journal of Anthropological Research 64, no. 2 (July 2008): 293–94. http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/jar.64.2.20371238.

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Ramírez, Primitiva Bueno, Rodrigo de Balbín Behrmann, Luc Laporte, Philippe Gouézin, Florian Cousseau, Rosa Barroso Bermejo, Antonio Hernanz Gismero, Mercedes Iriarte Cela, and Laurent Quesnel. "Natural and artificial colours: the megalithic monuments of Brittany." Antiquity 89, no. 343 (January 30, 2015): 55–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2014.29.

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Hernanz, Antonio, Mercedes Iriarte, Primitiva Bueno-Ramírez, Rodrigo de Balbín-Behrmann, Jose M. Gavira-Vallejo, Delia Calderón-Saturio, Luc Laporte, et al. "Raman microscopy of prehistoric paintings in French megalithic monuments." Journal of Raman Spectroscopy 47, no. 5 (December 28, 2015): 571–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jrs.4852.

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Nash, David J., T. Jake R. Ciborowski, Timothy Darvill, Mike Parker Pearson, J. Stewart Ullyott, Magret Damaschke, Jane A. Evans, et al. "Petrological and geochemical characterisation of the sarsen stones at Stonehenge." PLOS ONE 16, no. 8 (August 4, 2021): e0254760. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0254760.

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Little is known of the properties of the sarsen stones (or silcretes) that comprise the main architecture of Stonehenge. The only studies of rock struck from the monument date from the 19th century, while 20th century investigations have focussed on excavated debris without demonstrating a link to specific megaliths. Here, we present the first comprehensive analysis of sarsen samples taken directly from a Stonehenge megalith (Stone 58, in the centrally placed trilithon horseshoe). We apply state-of-the-art petrographic, mineralogical and geochemical techniques to two cores drilled from the stone during conservation work in 1958. Petrographic analyses demonstrate that Stone 58 is a highly indurated, grain-supported, structureless and texturally mature groundwater silcrete, comprising fine-to-medium grained quartz sand cemented by optically-continuous syntaxial quartz overgrowths. In addition to detrital quartz, trace quantities of silica-rich rock fragments, Fe-oxides/hydroxides and other minerals are present. Cathodoluminescence analyses show that the quartz cement developed as an initial <10 μm thick zone of non-luminescing quartz followed by ~16 separate quartz cement growth zones. Late-stage Fe-oxides/hydroxides and Ti-oxides line and/or infill some pores. Automated mineralogical analyses indicate that the sarsen preserves 7.2 to 9.2 area % porosity as a moderately-connected intergranular network. Geochemical data show that the sarsen is chemically pure, comprising 99.7 wt. % SiO2. The major and trace element chemistry is highly consistent within the stone, with the only magnitude variations being observed in Fe content. Non-quartz accessory minerals within the silcrete host sediments impart a trace element signature distinct from standard sedimentary and other crustal materials. 143Nd/144Nd isotope analyses suggest that these host sediments were likely derived from eroded Mesozoic rocks, and that these Mesozoic rocks incorporated much older Mesoproterozoic material. The chemistry of Stone 58 has been identified recently as representative of 50 of the 52 remaining sarsens at Stonehenge. These results are therefore representative of the main stone type used to build what is arguably the most important Late Neolithic monument in Europe.

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Saletta, Morgan. "The archaeoastronomy of the megalithic monuments of Arles–Fontvieille: the equinox, the Pleiades and Orion." Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union 7, S278 (January 2011): 364–73. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1743921311012816.

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AbstractThe megalithic monuments of Arles–Fontvieille appear to have been deliberately constructed such that a ray of the setting sun on and around the equinox penetrates the subterranean chamber producing a spectacular light-and-shadow hierophany. Moreover, at one of the sites there is evidence in the form of rock art that observations were also being made of heliacal rising and settings, possibly of both the Pleiades and Orion. The equinox hierophany has been documented at three of the four intact monuments of the group. This phenomenon was probably exploited for sacred ritualistic purposes related to seasonal change and timekeeping by the agricultural people who built the monuments. This evidence has significant importance for understanding these monuments in the context of European megalithism and the wider European Neolithic as well as for understanding their cosmological role within the society that built them.

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Fernández Ruiz, Juan, and José Enrique Márquez Romero. "El sepulcro megalítico del Tesorillo de la Llaná de Cerro Ardite, Alozaina, (Málaga)." SPAL. Revista de Prehistoria y Arqueología de la Universidad de Sevilla, no. 10 (2001): 193–206. http://dx.doi.org/10.12795/spal.2001.i10.13.

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Scheib, Christiana L., Ruoyun Hui, Eugenia D’Atanasio, Anthony Wilder Wohns, Sarah A. Inskip, Alice Rose, Craig Cessford, et al. "East Anglian early Neolithic monument burial linked to contemporary Megaliths." Annals of Human Biology 46, no. 2 (February 17, 2019): 145–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03014460.2019.1623912.

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Motsa, Siphesihle Mpho, Georgios A. Drosopoulos, Maria E. Stavroulaki, Emmanuel Maravelakis, Ruben Paul Borg, Pauline Galea, Sebastiano d’Amico, and Georgios E. Stavroulakis. "Structural investigation of Mnajdra megalithic monument in Malta." Journal of Cultural Heritage 41 (January 2020): 96–105. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.culher.2019.07.004.

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Watson, Aaron, and David Keating. "Architecture and sound: an acoustic analysis of megalithic monuments in prehistoric Britain." Antiquity 73, no. 280 (June 1999): 325–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0003598x00088281.

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Prehistoric monuments in Britain are often dominant features in the landscape, and archaeological theory has tended to consider the visual and spatial influences of their architecture upon peoples' movement and perception. The articulation of sound within these structures has not been widely discussed, despite evidence which suggests that many monuments provided settings for gatherings of people. This possibility was explored at two contrasting sites in Scotland, a recumbent stone circle and a passage-grave, revealing that the elemental acoustic properties inherent in each may have literally orchestrated encounters with the stones.

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Journal articles on the topic 'Megalith monuments'

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