Standing stone facts for kids
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Standing stones or menhirs are stones set into the ground vertically. They were put there by Neolithic people in the British Isles and Brittany, and they also occur elsewhere in the world.
There may be single standing stones, circles, lines or groups of them. Their dates are mostly from 4000 BC to 1,500 BC. Since Neolithic peoples did not have writing, we know little about their use. It is generally thought they had both practical (meeting place) and ceremonial or religious uses. Pottery that has been found near some of these stones suggest some of them in Europe belonged to the so-called 'Beaker culture'.
Their shape is generally uneven and squared, often tapering towards the top. Menhirs can be found across Europe, Africa and Asia, but they are most numerous in Western Europe; in particular in the British Isles (Great Britain and Ireland), and Brittany. There are about 50,000 megaliths in these areas. Standing stones are usually difficult to date, but pottery found underneath some in western Europe connects them with the Beaker people. They were erected as part of a megalithic culture which flourished in Europe and beyond.
Where they appear in groups, often in a circular, oval, henge or horseshoe formation, they are sometimes called megalithic monuments. These are sites of ancient religious ceremonies, sometimes containing burial chambers. The developments of radiocarbon dating and tree-ring calibration have added to our knowledge of their timing. In some archaeological sites, the remains of wooden henges can be found. Woodhenge was a henge and timber circle monument in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site in Wiltshire, England. It is 2 miles (3.2 km) north-east of Stonehenge.
History
Practically nothing is known of the social organization or religious beliefs of the people who erected the menhirs. There is not even any trace of their language. We do know that they buried their dead, and had the skills to grow cereal, farm and make pottery, stone tools and jewellery. Some recent research into the megaliths in Brittany suggests a much older origin, perhaps back to six to seven thousand years ago. This is not generally accepted at present.
Related pages
- Malone, Caroline. 2005. Neolithic Britain and Ireland. Tempus, Stroud, Gloucestershire.
Images for kids
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Megalithic grave Harhoog in Keitum, Sylt, Germany (c. 3000 BC)
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Göbekli Tepe
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Standing stone at Ader, Southern Jordan
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Standing stone in Amman, Jordan.
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Triangle megalith of Valle Levante, Fondachelli-Fantina, Sicily
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Poulnabrone portal tomb, Ireland
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Zorats Karer at Armenia (Armenian Stonehenge)
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Large T shaped Hunebed D27 in Borger-Odoorn, Netherlands.
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Construction of a megalith grave
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Eagle, one of the Megaliths of Argimusco, Sicily
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Saint-Michel tumulus, megalith grave in Brittany
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Cup and ring marks, in England
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Nurage in Sardinia
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Representations of a dagger (right) and two human figures, one of which is kneeling (left), carved into the capstone of Megalithic Burial No. 5, Orim-dong, Yeosu, Korea.
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Toraja monolith, c. 1935.
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Megalithic dolmen in Marayoor, India.
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Easter Island's Moai at Rano Raraku
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Inside the burial chamber at Mane Braz, Brittany, France
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Menhirs at the Almendres Cromlech, Évora, Portugal
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Megalithic tomb in Khakasiya, Russian Federation
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Capstones of southern-style megalithic burials in Guam-ri, Jeollabuk-do, Korea
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Ale's Stones at Kåseberga, around ten kilometres south east of Ystad, Sweden
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Talaiot in Majorca
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Deer stone near Mörön in Mongolia
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the Great Menhir of Er Grah in Brittany, the largest known single stone erected by Neolithic man, which later fell down
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Megaliths with engraved figures in Tiya, southern Ethiopia
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Dolmen of Avola (Sicily, Italy)
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Dolmen at the Kuejiyeh dolmen field close to Madaba, Jordan
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Dolmen of Menga in Antequera, Spain
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