Megalith
A large stone used alone or with other stones to construct a prehistoric monument or structure. Megaliths include both worked and unworked stones.
Menhir: A single upright stone erected as a monument, often in prehistoric times. A menhir is the simplest arrangement: one megalith standing alone.
Stonehenge: A prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England, composed of standing stones arranged in circles. Its sarsen stones and smaller bluestones form one of the best-known megalithic monuments.
Neolithic Europe: The period and societies associated with the spread of farming across Europe, beginning around the seventh millennium BCE. Many European megalithic traditions developed within Neolithic farming societies.
Stone dressing: The process of shaping stone by cutting, pecking, or grinding its surface. Builders sometimes shaped megaliths to fit joints or achieve a deliberate form.
Archaeological dating: Methods archaeologists use to estimate when artifacts, structures, or deposits were created. Dating nearby deposits helps establish when a megalithic monument was built or used.
Dolmen: A prehistoric structure made from upright stones supporting a large horizontal capstone. Dolmens use large stones to form a chamber or table-like structure.
Newgrange: A prehistoric passage tomb in County Meath, Ireland, built around 3200 BCE. Its great stone-built chamber and decorated kerbstones exemplify passage-tomb construction.
Neolithic Britain: The period of early farming societies in Britain, beginning in the fourth millennium BCE. Britain's earliest major megalithic monuments belong to its Neolithic communities.
Quarrying: The extraction of stone from a natural deposit for construction or other uses. Quarries and extraction traces can identify where monument stones originated.
Radiocarbon dating: A method for estimating the age of once-living material by measuring its carbon-14 content. Organic remains associated with stones can date construction or later activity.