An ancient megalithic structure of a certain shape. Megalithic structures - erected before the Flood - Earth before the Flood: Disappeared Continents and Civilizations

These mysterious ancient stones are located near the French village of Carnac (whose name comes from the Breton word "carn" - stone), located in Brittany. For some reason, much less is said and written about the Karnak stones than about the "promoted" Stonehenge (and remember, we discussed it with you), although they are the world's largest complex of megaliths, fraught with many mysteries ...

Let's list some of them...

Photo 2.

Karnak megalithic complex- this is an amazing archaeological site, which includes many burial mounds, giant dolmens (stone structures) and menhirs (single stone pillars). About three thousand Karnak menhirs are located in whole rows of alleys, which stretch for about three kilometers.

A great difficulty in studying Karnak is the fact that for millennia and people destroyed the ancient complex. This territory has always been a rather lively place, occupying an important place in the history of Europe.

The Celts and the ancient Romans left their traces in Karnak - there are images of Roman gods and Celtic symbols on the stones. Violent battles unfolded here: there is even a legend that the stones are the enemies of King Arthur, bewitched by the wizard Merlin.

Raids of wild nomadic tribes, wars, natural disasters - all this has significantly changed Karnak. Some of the stones have been dragged away for centuries by the peasants - in the economy, they say, everything will come in handy, some went to the construction of roads and other needs. Therefore, it is rather difficult now to imagine what the Karnak complex was several thousand years ago. Judging by the old images, a few centuries ago there were much more stones in Karnak and they were much denser.

Karnak stones were created in the Neolithic era - archaeologists believe that the stones were carved from local rocks about four and a half thousand years BC. However, it is not clear how these stones were delivered to the site and erected - some stones weigh several tons.
Scientists cannot say for sure what these stones were used for - the purpose of the Karnak complex is controversial in the scientific community.
Most archaeologists are inclined to think that the Karnak stones are a place of worship for pagan gods.

Yes, the ancient Gauls and Celts used stones for their religious cults, but nevertheless they were created long before the appearance of the tribes known to us in these places!

As French explorer Jean Markal wrote in his book Karnak and the Mystery of Atlantis:

“Megalithic monuments are considered “druidic” or traces of Celtic or Gaulish culture. But the megaliths were erected at least two thousand years before the arrival of the Celts, whether they like it or not, those who still believe that the dolmens were "sacrificial altars" on which the Druids cut the throats of their victims.

Jean Markal himself was sure that Karnak was created by the inhabitants of Atlantis, which disappeared from the face of the earth.

It is not known whether this is true or not, but it is quite clear that the builders of Karnak had serious scientific knowledge, and in the 20th century it turned out that they even understood things that we are just beginning to discover. Here is what Jan Brequillien, a scientist from France, writes about this:

“It is absolutely amazing that ancient scientists could accurately determine the configuration of telluric flows and groundwater horizons, the existence of which, according to sound rationalistic logic, they should not have even suspected. And yet they did it. A separate menhir, as a rule, is located above the place where the underground stream branches into two or three branches.
Dolmens are also erected above the points of divergence of underground horizons: the covered alley of Flat Stones exactly follows the course of the stream, which flows invisibly underground.

Jan Breckillen asks questions to which he would very much like to know the answer: “How could people who lived six thousand years ago not only know about the existence of groundwater, but accurately determine its course and even the course of telluric flows?”
A number of modern researchers point out that the Karnak stones are observatories of the ancients. As far back as the 19th century, similar assumptions were put forward, but no one took these statements seriously.

In 1970-74, Scottish scientist Alexander Tom and his son Archie published articles in which they argued that the Karnak stones and their location clearly prove the fact that ancient people were not only familiar with astronomy, but also had very wide knowledge in this science.
I must say that after this article, the scientific community began to persecute and ridicule Scottish scientists. However, as the researcher Joseph Farrell put it: “If we accept that Alexander Tom is right, then the whole history of mankind will have to be rewritten.”

Supporters of the theory of paleocontacts agree with the last statement. However, they put forward their own versions of the explanation of the mysteries of Karnak.
Michael Kremo, author of the book Forbidden Archeology, is sure that the stones were located not just like that, but “with meaning”. They are arranged in the form of triangles, which can only be distinguished from a height - taking into account the already missing stones.
The guru of the theory of paleocontacts, Erich von Daniken, agrees with him. According to him, the study of Karnak with the help of photographs taken from a helicopter helped to prove that the surviving stones are stacked in shapes that make up the famous Pythagorean triangle - a rectangle with sides that are related as 3:4:5.

Photo 10.

Incidentally, an interesting point is Ancient Greece such a rectangle was called Egyptian. During their travels, the Greeks observed how the Egyptians used this triangle to build their famous architectural structures. Pythagoras proved his famous theorem just by visiting Egypt, where he tried to understand the principles of construction Egyptian pyramids. However, judging by the Karnak stones, people knew this theorem many centuries before Pythagoras ...

Photo 11.

But why did ancient people lay out geometric figures with huge stones?
An interesting nuance - Karnak is one of the few earthly structures that can be seen from space. It is possible that these drawings are signs for those who flew through the sky several millennia before our era.
Proponents of the paleocontact theory are sure of this and prove that the Karnak stones are located as a guide for the gods who flew to our planet from the depths of space...

Photo 12.

Also included in the complex of Karnak stones a large number of mounds and dolmens (ancient graves with stone structures on the surface of the earth). In general, there are many other structures here, the functions of which scientists are still fiercely arguing about. Each version is interesting and has its own arguments.

Photo 13.

This is what the place looked like in 1921:

Photo 15.

Here, the manifestation of the interest of primitive people in the Moon and the Sun is noticeable. So it was found that many of the burial grounds are oriented towards the Sun. And further study of the area made it possible to discover two lunar observatories that have come down to our times from the Neolithic era.

But speaking of ancient observatories, it is worth considering the area. And the terrain here is mostly low-lying, flat, covered with shrubs. People did not have a natural landmark for observations in such conditions, so they had to install artificial ones.

Photo 16.

One of these installed stones of Karnak is located near the Lokmaryaker farm, the other is in Le Magnou. Both are located near Karnak, and both are tied into a complex system of stones near Petit Meneque, Saint-Pierre-Quibrone and Keryavale.

The menhir installed in Lokmarjaker is by far the largest object in the world that has been moved without the use of machines. It is called the Great Broken Menhir, or in the Breton Fairy Stone (Er-Gra). Its total weight is 330 tons, length is 22.5 meters. In the old days, it towered 19 meters, but later fell and split into four parts.

Photo 17.

The large menhir was surrounded on three sides by the sea and was located on a 13-meter hill. It was carved from granite, which was mined 80 kilometers from here. Although there are versions that in the old days the sea was somewhat lower, and its extraction could be carried out in closer places. In any case, in the conditions of the Stone Age, working with a 300-ton block was a difficult engineering task.

As already mentioned, now the menhir is split and lies. The main version of its destruction is a major earthquake, but it is possible that someone deliberately laid it down. Its collapse is attributed to the end of the 17th century, and in 1727 it is depicted in one of the paintings already lying down.

Photo 18.

But back to the main attraction - the stone rows of Karnak. Less than a kilometer apart are the two systems of Karnak's megaliths, Le Meneca and Kermario. The first of them contains 12 rows with a total length of 1167 meters. The system starts in the west - here the rows are closer and the stones are larger. As the stone alleys move away, they begin to diverge, and the stones decrease from 4 meters to 0.6 meters. On the eastern edge, the stones increase again. This is also observed in the series of the Kermario system, although in general there are many differences in them.

Photo 19.

Time has not been kind to these buildings. Now it is difficult to determine where the stones end. Sometimes they are interrupted, lost in the thickets, then they collapse and completely disappear. Even an attempt at restoration did not give serious results.

Photo 20.

But these two systems of stones are not the only ones here. There are many other smaller lanes a few kilometers away. In total, it is estimated that over 2,000 Karnak stones were used in France.

Photo 21.

Now there is no doubt that the complex and intricate system of all the Karnak stones were used to conduct accurate astronomical research. But the integrity of this system is now difficult to restore. Many mysteries remain about this great structure, the great secret of Karnak remains hidden.

Photo 22.

Photo 23.

The term is not exhaustive, therefore, a rather vague group of buildings falls under the definition of megaliths and megalithic structures. In particular, hewn stones are called megaliths. large sizes, including those not used for the construction of burials and monuments.

A separate group is represented by megalithic structures, that is, objects largely consisting of megaliths. They are distributed throughout the world. In Europe, for example, this is Stonehenge, structures Cretan-Mycenaean culture or Egypt. In South America - Machu Picchu, Puma Punku, Ollantaytambo, Pisac, Sacsayhuaman, Tiwanaku.

Their common characteristic feature are stone blocks sometimes weighing more than a hundred tons, often delivered from quarries located tens of kilometers away, sometimes with a large elevation difference relative to the construction site. At the same time, the stones are processed in such a way that it cannot enter the joint between the blocks razor blade .

As a rule, megalithic structures did not serve as housing, and from the period of construction to the present day, no records have come down about the technologies and purpose of construction. The absence of reliable written sources and the fact that all these structures have been significantly damaged under the influence of time make the task of their exhaustive study almost impossible, which, in turn, leaves a wide field for various conjectures.

The purpose of megaliths cannot always be established. For the most part, according to some scientists, they served for burials or were associated with a funeral cult. There are other opinions as well. Apparently, megaliths are communal structures (the function is socializing). Their construction was a most difficult task for primitive technology and required the unification of large masses of people.

Some megalithic structures, such as complex of more than 3000 stones in French Brittany), were important ceremonial centers associated with the cult of the dead. Other megalithic complexes have been used to determine the timing of astronomical events such as the solstice and equinox.

Megalithic structures are subject to a certain architectural design. By appearance researchers divide them into three groups: menhirs, dolmens, cromlechs. These words themselves came to us from the ancient Breton. It was the language of the inhabitants of Brittany, a peninsula in the northwest of France.

MEGALITHIC MONUMENTS IN BRITTANY

Brittany is, of course, a country of megaliths. It was from the words of the Breton language, at the end of the 17th century, that the names of the main types of megalithic buildings were compiled (dolmen: daol - table, men - stone; menhir: men - stone, hir - long; cromlech: kromm - rounded, lec'h - place). In Brittany, the era of megalithic construction began around 5000 BC. and ended around 2500 B.C. The builders of megaliths were not the autochthonous population of Armorica. They came from the shores of the Mediterranean, gradually moving northwest from the southern and western shores of the Iberian Peninsula, first densely populating the coast of Morbihan, between the rivers Vilaine and Ethel, and then other lands of present-day Brittany, rising deep into the peninsula along the rivers and moving along the coast ...

DOLMENS

Dolmens are usually "boxes" made up of stone slabs, which are joined, sometimes, by long or short galleries. They were collective burial chambers, as evidenced by the remains of bones and votive treasures (ceramics, jewelry, axes made of polished stone). Dolmens could be either free-standing structures or be part of more complex structures. Let's consider some of them.

cairn

Cairn is an ensemble of galleries and chambers covered with earth on top, that is, in this case, the dolmens were, as it were, their skeleton. There are relatively many cairns in Brittany, but two of them, which are masterpieces of the megalithic architecture of the West, I would like to dwell on in more detail.

Built around 4700 BC, this prehistoric necropolis may have been destroyed in our time: it was deliberately turned into a stone quarry for tourist road in l955 and only the intervention of one of the most famous Breton archaeologists, Professor Pierre-Roland Giot (Giot), stopped this technocratic barbarity.
To be precise, the monument in Barnenaise is a structure of two cairns. It is, in total, 72 meters long and 20 to 25 meters wide and includes eleven dolmens (in this case, individual chambers) from each of which a gallery stretches to the exit, from 7 to 12 meters long. The first cairn (A) was built around 4350 BC, and the second (B) around 4100 BC.

The necropolis in Barnenez is one of the most ancient architectural structures on Earth. Older than Stonehenge, New Grange, Egyptian pyramids...

Karin on the island of Gavrinis

This monument of megalithic art, built around 4000 BC, is remarkable for its interior design. The cairn itself is not complicated: a thirteen-meter corridor leads to the burial chamber. However, its walls are painted with amazing drawings, more abstract than concrete, carved in stone. Among the elements of the whimsical ornament there are spiral, cruciform and other elements.

covered alley

There is a variety of dolmens, which is called covered alleys. A covered alley is a series of dolmens that make up a gallery, which can end with a chamber not exceeding the width of the gallery, or with a blind end. It looks like this:

Dolmen with gallery

Unlike a covered alley, a dolmen with a gallery, such as the famous Table of Merchants (Table de Marchands) in Lokmarieker (pictured), is a round or square burial chamber, to which a long corridor leads, which is, so to speak, a passage from the world of the living to the world of the dead (and probably back :)). The plan of dolmens of this type can be supplemented by side rooms (the dolmen in Keriaval, near Ploirnel).

So, nothing is so different from a dolmen as another dolmen. Moreover, not all types of such structures are described here. There are also knee dolmens, transept - dolmens (cruciform) and some others. Frankly, some names had to be invented in the process of working on the article, since they simply do not exist in Russian, and literal translation from other languages usually does not reflect the essence of the objects described here.

As we already know, dolmens are both crypts and tombstones, as evidenced by the bones and votive deposits (decorations, polished axes, ceramics, etc.) found there. We are talking about traces, burials, mostly collective, small or colossal, originally covered with stones (cairns) or earth (mounds), and undoubtedly equipped with additional wooden structures. Breton variations of dolmens are very numerous and their architecture has changed over time. The most ancient were big size, but the burial chambers in them were reduced; this suggests that they were intended for some of the most significant figures of the tribe. Over time, the volume of dolmens has decreased, while the size burial chambers grew up, and they became real collective graves. In the town of Chaussée-Tirancourt, in the Paris Basin, during the study of such a burial, archaeologists discovered about 250 skeletons. Unfortunately, in Brittany, the acidity of the soil often leads to the destruction of bones. In the Bronze Age, burials again become individual. Later, during the time of Roman rule, some dolmens were adapted to meet the religious needs of the conquerors, as evidenced by the numerous terracotta figurines of Roman deities found in them.

How were dolmens built? If we compare the heaviness and bulkiness of these stone structures with the technical arsenal of their creators, then we can only take our hats off to their perseverance and resourcefulness. It was almost like this...

Step 1	Step 2
Step 3	Step 4
Step 5	Step 6

Outcome

Thus, we already know something about one of the types of megalithic architecture. It's time to move on to the next, no less interesting.

MENGIRS

A menhir is a stone pillar dug vertically into the ground. Their height varies from 0.80 meters to 20. Menhirs standing alone are usually the highest. The “record holder” was Men-er-Hroech (Stone of the Fairies), from Lokmariaker (Morbihan), which was destroyed around 1727. Its largest fragment was 12 m, and in general, it reached 20 m in height, with an approximate weight of 350 tons. Currently, all the largest menhirs in France are located in Brittany:

- menhir in Kerloas (Finistere) - 12 m.

- menhir in Caelonan (Cote d'Armor) - 11.20 m.

- menhir in Pergale (Cote d'Armor) - 10.30 m.

There are also menhirs lined up in a line (let's call it conditionally rows of stones) sometimes in several parallel rows. The most grandiose ensemble of this kind is located in Karnak, and has about 3,000 (!) Menhirs

Carnac (Department of Morbihan)

Carnac is by far the most famous megalithic ensemble in Brittany and one of only two (along with Stonehenge) in the world. Brittany, and France, too, will not surprise you with a menhir, but Karnak strikes the imagination with an unthinkable concentration of these monuments in a relatively small area. Initially, there were about 10,000 (!) monuments of various sizes in the Karnak complex. In our time, there are approximately 3,000 left. This complex of megaliths (mainly cromlechs and menhirs) of the late Neolithic - early Bronze Age (end of the third - second millennium BC) includes 3 megalithic systems:

Menek is the western part of the Karnak complex. Includes 1,099 menhirs in eleven lines, about 1200 meters long.

Kermario - about 1,000 menhirs in ten lines 1 km long. In the southwestern part, the ensemble is complemented by a dolmen.

Kerleskan - 555 menhirs in thirteen lines, the length of which is 280 meters. In the west, these lines are preceded by a cromlech of 39 stones. The height of the largest menhir in Kerleskan is 6.5 meters.

By 5000 BC, sites located on the island of Hoedic in Morbihan show the existence of small human groups living mainly by hunting, fishing and collecting shellfish. These human groups buried their dead, in some cases resorting to a special ritual. The deceased was supplied on the road not only with stone and bone products, shell decorations, but also crowned with something like a “crown” of deer antlers. During this era, called the Mesolithic, the sea level was about 20 meters lower than today. Starting from about 4500 BC, the first megaliths appear in Carnac (which was observed by that time in other areas of present-day Brittany).

Let's try to reconstruct the method of erecting menhirs:

	Step 1
	Step 2
	Step 3
	Step 4

The purpose of menhirs, which are not tombstones, remains a mystery. Due to the lack of instructions for use left by the builders for future generations, archaeologists carefully manipulate several hypotheses. These hypotheses, which are not mutually exclusive, vary in each case and depend on a variety of factors: whether the menhirs are isolated or not; rows of stones are composed of one row or several, more or less parallel; menhirs oriented in a readable way, etc. Some may mark territory, point to graves, or refer to the cult of the waters.

But the hypothesis most often put forward concerns several large rows of stones oriented between east and west. There is an assumption that these are attributes of the solar-lunar cult, coupled with agricultural methods and astronomical observations, and gathering near them, large crowds of people, for example, during the winter and summer solstices. “The direction of some blocks according to privileged directions is amenable to analysis,” emphasizes Michel Le Goffy, a Breton archaeologist, and when cases are repeated, sometimes in a well-tracked system, one can rightfully think that this is not accidental. This is almost exactly the same in many cases, as in Saint-Just and Carnac. But doubts will always exist, due to the lack of direct evidence. Archaeological finds among the rows of stones are indeed very vague, some pottery and processed flints were found, but the remains of ritual fires dating from the same time as the construction of megaliths suggest that they were outside the habitation zone.

KROMLEHI

As an example of a cromlech, one can cite such a well-known building as Stonehenge.

Cromlechs are ensembles of menhirs standing, most often, in a circle or semicircle and connected by stone slabs lying on top, however, there are menhirs assembled in a rectangle (as in Сrucuno, Morbihan). On the small island of Er Lannic, in the Gulf of Morbihan, there is a "double cromlech" (in the form of two adjoining circles).
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Comparative table of the number of megalithic structures in France and Brittany.

	Menhirs	cromlechs	rows of stones	Dolmens
Total in France	Over 2200			4500
Finistère
Morbihan
Atlantic Loire
Ile de Vilaine
Côte d'Armor

Megalithic structures appeared and spread widely in the Bronze Age. Megaliths include the following structures:

menhirs;
dolmens;
alinemans;
cromlechs;
covered walkways;
and other buildings made of large stone blocks and slabs.

Megalithic structures can be found in every corner the globe: in the Caucasus, in the Crimea, in Western and Northern Europe (England, France, Denmark, Holland), in India, Iran, on Balkan Peninsula, in North Africa and other countries.

Figure 1. Megalithic structures. Author24 - online exchange of student papers

The history of the appearance of megalithic structures and types

The appearance of various types of megalithic structures is often associated with cults of veneration of ancestors, the sun or fire, or a totem. Large-scale work on the processing and movement of stone blocks was carried out with the help of a huge number of people with the primitive community of labor organization. The most common monuments of this type are dolmens.

Definition 1

Dolmens are burial structures that consist of several slabs arranged vertically and covered with a horizontal slab.

In weight, the plates reached several tens of tons. Initially, dolmens reached a length of two meters, their height did not exceed 150 centimeters. However, over time, their size became larger, the approach to them was arranged in the form of a stone gallery. The length of such galleries could reach 20 meters. Another type of megalithic structures are menhirs.

Definition 2

Menhirs are vertically mounted stone pillars that have a rounded section, up to 20 meters high, and weigh about 300 tons.

Menhirs are located near dolmens, so there is an assumption that they are connected by funeral rites. Menhirs can often be found in small groups arranged in parallel rows. It happens that the length of such rows reaches 30 kilometers.

An example is Carnac in Brittany, where the number of menhirs reaches 3000. It is believed that each menhir is a monument to a deceased person.

Remark 1

Menhirs arose not because of a vital necessity, when a person needed to build a dwelling or warehouses. The creation of menhirs was based on an idea that is not connected with the struggle for existence. But, despite this, considerable efforts were made to extract, deliver and hoist these blocks, which reached impressive sizes and considerable weight.

The fact of such a rapid spread of this type of megalithic structures indicates that menhirs were a kind of expression of ideas that were the same for the people of that era, regardless of their actual location.

It is not by chance that these stones were of enormous size and weight. If we take into account their historical relationship with subsequent structures that had architectural features, then a menhir is a tombstone or monument, which is similar in its memorial column, but a dolmen is a crypt, tomb or sarcophagus. Cromlech at Stonehenge is already a kind of temple, albeit a very primitive one.

Definition 3

Cromlechs are large groups of menhirs that are arranged in closed circles. Sometimes circles consist of several rows of vertically arranged stones.

Stonehenge can be cited as an example of a complex megalithic structure. This is a circle with a diameter of 30 meters, which consists of vertically placed stones. From above they are covered with horizontal slabs. In the middle of the structure there are two rings of low stones, and between them there is a third ring of pairs of high boulders. In the center is a single stone, which is supposedly considered an altar. Stonehenge is a well-known megalithic structure, which already has such architectural elements as a center, rhythm, symmetry.

In this type, one can see a building in which the technical problem found not only a certain type of solution, but also received an aesthetic embodiment, which testifies to the architect's mastery of a sense of rhythm, space, form, scale and proportions. Other megaliths do not possess such qualities, since, according to all the above signs, they are all closer to amorphous natural creatures than to the work of human hands.

Despite this, the cromlech, which is located in Stonehenge, also cannot be called an architectural structure. It is unnecessarily massive in relation to the horizontals, its verticals are too heavy. The technicality of the appearance in this case prevails over its artistic composition. In the same way as in all other structures that preceded the formation of the cromlech:

dugouts;
semi-dugouts;
huts;
ground adobe structures that had a utilitarian purpose.

The art form arose only when the utilitarian form reached perfection. It was also at the final stage of the Bronze Age, when crafts and the art industry are actively emerging.

A huge number of megalithic structures have been collected in the Caucasus. Stone alleys, which in Armenia were called the stone army, are widely used here. There are also stone images of fish, which were the personification of the deity of fertility.

The magical architecture of megalithic structures

The origins of architecture date back to the late Neolithic. Then the stone was already used to create monumental structures. All megaliths of antiquity can be divided into two large groups:

Ancient architectural structures of prehistoric societies: cromlechs, menhirs, dolmens, temples of Malta. Almost untreated stones were used to build such structures. Cultures that used such structures are called megalithic. This culture also includes labyrinths of small stones, as well as individual stone blocks with petroglyphs. The dolmens of the Korean nobility and the tombs of the Japanese emperors can also be attributed to megalithic architecture.
Megalithic structures of more developed architecture. These are structures made of large stone blocks that have the correct geometric shape. Similar megalithic architecture characteristic of early powers that were not built in later times. This includes the monuments of the Mediterranean: the megalithic structures of the Mycenaean civilization, the pyramids in Egypt, the temple mountain, which is located in Jerusalem.

The most beautiful megalithic structures in the world

Göbekli Tepe, Turkey. The complex located on Armenian Highlands. This megalithic structure is considered the oldest in the world. According to historical data, it was formed in the X-IX millennium BC. People at that time were engaged in gathering and hunting. The shape of this megalithic temple resembles circles, of which there are more than 20 pieces. According to experts, this architectural complex was deliberately covered with sand. Its height reached 15 meters, and its diameter - 300 meters.

Megaliths in Carnac (Brittany) France. Many megalithic structures were presented as ceremonial centers where cults were held to bury the dead. This includes the complex of megaliths in Carnac (Brittany), which is located in France. It has about 3000 stones. Megaliths reached a height of 4 meters, they were arranged in the form of an alley, the rows ran parallel to each other. This architectural complex can be dated to the 5th-4th millennium BC. There were legends that Merlin ordered that the ranks of Roman legionnaires be petrified.

Figure 8. Megaliths in Carnac (Brittany), France. Author24 - online exchange of student papers

Nabta Observatory, Nubia which is located in the Sahara. Some megalithic structures were used earlier to determine astronomical events (equinox and solstice). At that time, a megalithic structure was found in the Nubian desert in the Nabta Playa region, which was used for astronomical purposes. Due to the special location of the megaliths, it was possible to determine the day of the summer solstice. Archaeologists believe that people then lived seasonally, only when there was water in the lake. That is why they needed a calendar.

Stonehenge, UK, Salisbury. Stonehenge is a megalithic structure, which is presented in the form of 82 columns, 30 stone blocks and five huge triliths. The weight of the columns reaches 5 tons, stone blocks - 25 tons, and huge stones weigh 50 tons. Stacked blocks form arches that previously pointed to the cardinal directions. According to scientists, this structure was erected in 3100 BC. The ancient monolith was not only a lunar and solar calendar, but was also an exact copy of the solar system in cross section.

Figure 9. Stonehenge, UK, Salisbury. Author24 - online exchange of student papers

Comparing the mathematical parameters of the cromlech geometric figures, it was possible to establish that they all reflect the parameters of various planets of the solar system, and also model their orbits of rotation. The amazing thing is that Stonehenge is a display of 12 planets in the solar system, although today it is believed that there are only 9 of them. Astronomers have long believed that there are two more planets beyond the outer orbit of Pluto, and the asteroid belt is the remains of a pre-existing 12th planets. How could the ancient builders of the cromlech know about this?

There is another interesting version about the purpose of Stonehenge. During the excavation of the path along which ritual processions were made, in Once again confirm the hypothesis that the cromlech was built along the relief of the ice age. This place was special: the natural landscape was located along the axis of the solstice, connecting heaven and earth.

Cromlech Brougar or Temple of the Sun, Orkney. Initially, this structure had 60 elements, but today only 27 rocks have survived. The place where the cromlech is located is ritual. It is “stuffed” with various mounds and burials. All the monuments here are combined into a single architectural complex, which is preserved by UNESCO. To date, archaeological excavations are being carried out on the islands.

Ggantija Temples in Shara. It is located in the central part of the island of Gozo and is one of the most important world attractions. The megalithic structure is presented in the form of two separate temples, each of which has a concave facade. In front of the entrance is a platform of stone blocks. The most ancient temple of the architectural complex consists of several semicircular rooms, which are located in the shape of a shamrock.

Figure 10. Temples of Ggantija in Shara. Author24 - online exchange of student papers

Scientists believe that such a trinity is a symbol of the past, present and future. According to historians, temple complex- This is a sanctuary for worshipers of the goddess of fertility. However, there is a version that the temple of Ggantija is a tomb, because the population of the megalithic era observed traditions. They revered their ancestors and erected tombs, and later these places became sanctuaries where they worshiped the gods.

Megalithic structures appeared and spread widely in the Bronze Age. Megaliths include the following structures:

menhirs;
dolmens;
alinemans;
cromlechs;
covered walkways;
and other buildings made of large stone blocks and slabs.

Megalithic structures can be found in every corner of the globe: in the Caucasus, in the Crimea, in Western and Northern Europe (England, France, Denmark, Holland), in India, Iran, on the Balkan Peninsula, in North Africa and other countries.

Figure 1. Megalithic structures. Author24 - online exchange of student papers

The history of the appearance of megalithic structures and types

Definition 1

Dolmens are burial structures that consist of several slabs arranged vertically and covered with a horizontal slab.

Definition 2

Menhirs are vertically mounted stone pillars that have a rounded section, up to 20 meters high, and weigh about 300 tons.

An example is Carnac in Brittany, where the number of menhirs reaches 3000. It is believed that each menhir is a monument to a deceased person.

Remark 1

Definition 3

Cromlechs are large groups of menhirs that are arranged in closed circles. Sometimes circles consist of several rows of vertically arranged stones.

dugouts;
semi-dugouts;
huts;
ground adobe structures that had a utilitarian purpose.

The art form arose only when the utilitarian form reached perfection. It was also at the final stage of the Bronze Age, when crafts and the art industry are actively emerging.

The magical architecture of megalithic structures

The origins of architecture date back to the late Neolithic. Then the stone was already used to create monumental structures. All megaliths of antiquity can be divided into two large groups:

Ancient architectural structures of prehistoric societies: cromlechs, menhirs, dolmens, temples of Malta. Almost untreated stones were used to build such structures. Cultures that used such structures are called megalithic. This culture also includes labyrinths of small stones, as well as individual stone blocks with petroglyphs. The dolmens of the Korean nobility and the tombs of the Japanese emperors can also be attributed to megalithic architecture.
Megalithic structures of more developed architecture. These are structures made of large stone blocks that have the correct geometric shape. Such megalithic architecture is characteristic of the early powers, which were not built in later times. This includes the monuments of the Mediterranean: the megalithic structures of the Mycenaean civilization, the pyramids in Egypt, the temple mountain, which is located in Jerusalem.

The most beautiful megalithic structures in the world

Göbekli Tepe, Turkey. The complex, which is located on the Armenian Highlands. This megalithic structure is considered the oldest in the world. According to historical data, it was formed in the X-IX millennium BC. People at that time were engaged in gathering and hunting. The shape of this megalithic temple resembles circles, of which there are more than 20 pieces. According to experts, this architectural complex was deliberately covered with sand. Its height reached 15 meters, and its diameter - 300 meters.

Figure 8. Megaliths in Carnac (Brittany), France. Author24 - online exchange of student papers

Figure 9. Stonehenge, UK, Salisbury. Author24 - online exchange of student papers

There is another interesting version about the purpose of Stonehenge. During the excavation of the trail along which the ritual processions were made, once again confirm the hypothesis that the cromlech was built along the relief of the ice age. This place was special: the natural landscape was located along the axis of the solstice, connecting heaven and earth.

Figure 10. Temples of Ggantija in Shara. Author24 - online exchange of student papers

Scientists believe that such a trinity is a symbol of the past, present and future. According to historians, the temple complex is a sanctuary for worshipers of the goddess of fertility. However, there is a version that the temple of Ggantija is a tomb, because the population of the megalithic era observed traditions. They revered their ancestors and erected tombs, and later these places became sanctuaries where they worshiped the gods.

Great Soviet Encyclopedia

megaliths(from mega ... and the Greek líthos - stone), structures made of large blocks of wild or roughly processed stone. These include dolmens, menhirs, cromlechs, stone boxes, covered galleries. M. are distributed throughout the world, except for Australia, mainly in coastal areas. In Europe, M. are mainly dated to the Eneolithic and Bronze Age (3rd–2nd millennium BC), with the exception of England, where M. belong to the Neolithic. M.'s appointment cannot always be established. For the most part they served for burials or were associated with a funeral cult. Apparently, M. are communal buildings. Their construction was a most difficult task for primitive technology and required the unification of large masses of people.

Lit .: Artsikhovsky A. V., Introduction to archeology, 3rd ed., M., 1947; Niederle L., Mankind in prehistoric times, translated from Czech, St. Petersburg, 1898; Obermeier G., Prehistoric Man, translated from German, St. Petersburg, 1913.

MEGALITHES
Megaliths Megaliths or megalithic monuments are prehistoric structures made of large stone blocks or slabs, stone (Neolithic), Bronze, and partly later eras, which served either as tombs, or monuments, or sanctuaries, and these different types partly pass one another. M. monuments are especially numerous and diverse in Brittany, where they attracted the attention of scientists earlier than in other areas (in the past they were called "druidic", that is, they served for the religious purposes of the druids or Gallic priests); therefore, for the designation of such monuments, the names borrowed from the Breton language are used, for the most part, namely the menhir (men - stone, Mr - long, high) - a tall standing stone, probably erected in memory of some event or person, or to designate a famous place; dolmen (dol - table, men - stone) - a chamber of 4 standing slabs perpendicular to each other, covered from above with a large horizontal slab; cromlech (crom - circle) - a circle of stones, an independent or surrounding dolmen. Special types M. monuments are chambers with corridors (allees couvertes, for example, in Provence); rows of stones (alignements, for example, in Carnac, in Brittany, sometimes stretching for a mile or more; cup stones are large blocks with cup-shaped depressions in them, apparently of natural origin, but sometimes served , it seems, for religious (sacrificial) purposes; swinging stones (pierres branlantes) - placed on a narrow plane so that they can be easily set into oscillatory motion, but with their colossality remaining in the same form for centuries (also, apparently, of natural origin , although a person could sometimes contribute to their installation); box-shaped graves (from large slabs placed in a pit); boat-shaped graves - from stones located so that the outline of a boat is obtained, sometimes very large, and with transverse partitions simulating, as it were, benches for sitting (Such graves are known in Sweden and the Baltic region; they served for the burial of the Vikings, etc.). more in France, in Spain and the Balearic Islands, in England, in the north. Germany, in Algeria, in Palestine, in our Crimea and the Caucasus, also in places in Siberia (icromlech menhirs in the Minusinsk Territory), in Mongolia ("deer stones", that is, with images of deer), etc. In some localities In India, dolmens, cromlechs, etc. are being erected to this day. In addition to general works on prehistoric archeology, cf. Ferguson, "Rude StoneMonuments" (L., 1872; important for many facts and figures, but wrong for the main idea, precisely because of the desire to attribute almost all these monuments to the historical era); Carthailac "La France prehislorique" (1893). D. L.
F. Brockhaus, I.A. Efron. encyclopedic Dictionary

megaliths
- buildings made of huge roughly processed stones, the first architectural structures of primitive society; appeared in the Bronze Age. There are three types: a) dolmens - quadrangular structures made of large stone slabs, placed on edge and covered with a slab. They served as tombs, less often as dwellings; b) menhirs - vertical pillars covered with relief, sometimes designed in the form of a human figure (stone women in the south of Russia, Siberia), an animal; c) cromlechs - the most complex structures of antiquity. Usually these are menhirs set on a large platform in concentric circles around the sacrificial stone, sometimes covered in pairs with a slab. These are the first places of worship. One of the most famous cromlechs is Stonehenge in England (1900 - 1500 BC).
World of dictionaries

megaliths(from mega... and Greek lithos - stone) - ancient structures made of large blocks of stone, sometimes roughly processed. They often served for burials or were associated with a funeral cult, but it has not yet been possible to establish their purpose exactly. In all likelihood, megaliths are communal structures, since their construction required the joint efforts of many people. European megaliths date back to the Eneolithic and Bronze Age (3-2 millennium BC), with the exception of England, where they belong to the Neolithic era. They are distributed all over the world, except for Australia (the artificial origin of the world's largest stone monolith Uluru in the Australian desert (9 km perimeter, height 348 m) has not been proven).

Megaliths include various types of buildings, including dolmens (several giant blocks covered with a similar slab on top), menhirs (single vertically standing stones), cromlechs (a group of menhirs forming a (semi)circle), tauls, stone boxes, covered galleries and others

Many different hypotheses have been put forward about the meaning of megaliths. The most common - that the buildings were ancient altars, temples, tombs or observatories. Among the most exotic, we can mention the hypothesis that dolmens served as dwellings for animals or dwarfs. Burials under the structures, as a rule, were made much later than the megalith itself was erected.

In Russia, most of the megaliths are known from Black Sea coast Caucasus.

Latest finds mysterious structures occurred in Altai and near Ryazan. On South Chelyabinsk region functioning historical park- the Arkaim settlement, discovered 15 years ago by students and teachers of the ChelGU archaeological laboratory under the guidance of G.B. Zdanovich. The cultural archaeological complex (the remains of ancient sites and settlements, burial and religious buildings in the form of earth mounds, stone fences and steles, etc.) is part of the so-called "Country of Cities", a steppe region Southern Urals, where in the XX-XVII centuries BC a bright civilization of the Bronze Age flourished, a contemporary of the pyramids of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt and the famous palaces of the Cretan-Mycenaean culture. It has been established that Arkaim is one of the ancient observatories in the world, similar to Stonehenge.

The sanctuary during excavations on Spasskaya Luka in the Ryazan region in central Russia, on a hill above the confluence of two rivers - the Oka and the Prony, was discovered by archaeologists at the beginning of the 21st century.

The age of the religious building, located on the very top of the hill, is 4,000 years. The structure of the monument led archaeologists to the idea of its astronomical purpose, and the objects found testify to the religious rites that took place here.

A circle with a diameter of seven meters is indicated by pillars half a meter thick, between which the same distance. In the center of the circle is a large rectangular pit and a pillar. Wooden poles have not been preserved, but rounded pits are clearly visible in the ground, from which they protruded. Along the edges of the site - two more pits with poles. A few meters to the east, another hole was dug with a similar post, and to the south there is a post that was discovered a few years earlier. Within the circle, two pairs of pillars form a gate through which, when viewed from the center, the sunset is visible in summer. Another pillar, behind a circular fence, indicates the rising of the luminary.

The size of the pits varies from 44 by 46 cm to 75 by 56 cm. In the central pit there was a small ceramic vessel of the Bronze Age with a fine ornament: a zigzag, reminiscent of the rays of the sun, and wavy lines, a symbol of water. Outwardly, the vessel resembles the products of the steppe peoples who lived in the south of Eurasia. In the center of one of the pits with a pillar outside the temple, fragments of long bones and human teeth were dug out - probable traces of sacrifice. In 1979, another expedition was excavating at this place, its workers laid a trench and missed by just a meter, revealing only pillars, the meaning of which remained incomprehensible.

As scientists of the Gorno-Altai State University (GASU) found out in early 2006, while working on mapping archaeological sites Gorny Altai using GPS receivers and satellite remote sensing data, many ancient archaeological sites and megalithic structures on the territory of the high plateau Ukok (mounds, stelae, barbals, stone calculations, megaliths like the famous Stonehenge) are subject to strict spatial patterns. They are oriented from north to south, are at a certain distance from each other and are tied to certain geological and geographical conditions. That is, the ancient builders deliberately placed ritual-burial complexes in certain conditions. According to researchers, these complexes were used for orientation in space (when moving along caravan trails) or, possibly, in some astronomical cults.

The most famous megalithic structures in the world, in addition to Stonehenge, include: the temple in Baalbek (Lebanon), the La Roche-au-Fee dolmen in Brittany, the complex in Karnak (Egypt).
Text: Olga Portugalova.
From the site Gazeta.ru

Early megalithic structures in Asia Minor

Large ceremonial structures of the 9th millennium BC. e. were found in Asia Minor. They belong to the epoch of the origin of agriculture and pastoralism in the society under whose influence or directly from it the Near Eastern and European Neolithic subsequently took place. The structures are large, rounded structures based on megalithic columns (from 3 m or more) made of monolithic hewn stone. The oldest of the currently known are the temples of Göbekli-Tepe and Neval-Chori. In Göbekli Tepe, only four temples out of about two dozen have been excavated to date. The diameter of some reaches 30 m. On the columns there are bas-relief images of animals (foxes, wild boars, lions, birds, snakes and scorpions). Although these temples are the most ancient megalithic structures on Earth, it is not known what relation they have to European megaliths.

European megaliths

Megaliths are distributed throughout the world mainly in coastal areas. In Europe, they are mainly dated to the Eneolithic and Bronze Age (3 - 2 thousand BC), with the exception of british isles, Portugal and France, where the megaliths date back to the Neolithic (for example, Carrowmore in Ireland, Almendres in Portugal, Barnen in Brittany, and the Bougon Necropolis in Poitou-Charentes, France). Megalithic monuments are especially numerous and varied in Brittany. Also, a large number of megaliths are found on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, in Portugal, part of France, on the west coast of England, in Ireland, Denmark, on south coast Sweden and Israel. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was widely believed that all megaliths belonged to one global megalithic culture, but modern research and dating methods refute this assumption.

The most common megalithic structure in Europe - a dolmen - is a chamber or crypt of standing vertically hewn monoliths, on which rests one or more large flat stones that make up the "roof". Many of them, although not all, contain the remains of people buried inside. Whether the burial was the main purpose of the construction, or whether people were sacrificed, were buried inside in connection with the performance of some rituals here during their lives, or remained in the dolmen for some other reason, is unknown. Dolmen is the common name for such a building, in different languages and dialects of Europe, it can also have other names, for example, cromlech (in Wales), anta (in Portugal) or stazzone (in Sardinia).

The second most common type of megalithic burial is the corridor tomb. It usually consists of a rectangular, circular, or cruciform chamber with a flat or projecting roof, accessed by a long, straight passage. The whole structure is covered from above by earth, forming a kind of mound, into which an entrance from stone blocks opens. Sometimes along the edge of the barrow is bordered by a stone border. The most remarkable examples are Bru na Boine in Ireland, Bryn Kelly Dee in Wales, Maeshowe in Orkney and Gavrini in Brittany.

The third type is a variety of tombs in the form of galleries, for example, the Northern Cotswolds. They are axially symmetrical in plan and consist of rows of chambers covered with elongated barrows. Separately standing or grouped menhirs and stone circles, which in Russian literature are also called cromlechs, like the Welsh dolmens. The latter type includes Stonehenge, Avebury, Brodgar Circle and hundreds of other similar monuments. Like menhirs, they were astronomical devices for observing the sun and moon and are usually not as ancient as megalithic burials.

Types of megalithic structures

* menhir - a single vertically standing stone up to 20 m high.
* cromlech - a group of menhirs forming a circle or semicircle.
* dolmen - a structure made of a huge stone, placed on several other stones (looks like a gate).
* taula - a stone structure in the shape of the letter "T".
* trilith - a structure made of a block of stone, installed on two vertically standing stones.
* seid - including a structure made of stone.
* cairn - a stone mound with one or more rooms.
* indoor gallery
* boat-shaped grave
* deer stone - massive hewn stone slabs with drawings (most often a deer).

Purpose

Some megalithic structures, such as the complex of over 3,000 stones at Carnac (Brittany) France, were important ceremonial centers associated with the cult of the dead. Other megalithic complexes have been used to determine the timing of astronomical events such as the solstice and equinox.

In the area of Nabta Playa in the Nubian desert, a megalithic structure was found that served for astronomical purposes. This building is 1000 years older than Stonehenge, which is also considered a kind of prehistoric observatory.