Dolmen

Poulnabrone dolmen in County Clare, Ireland

For the French TV miniseries, see Dolmen (TV miniseries).

Dolmens (also known as cromlechs, antas, Hünengräber, Hunebedden, quoits, and portal dolmens) are a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of three or more upright stones (megaliths) supporting a large flat horizontal capstone (table). Most date from the early Neolithic period in Britain (4000 BC to 3000 BC). Dolmens were usually covered with earth or smaller stones to form a barrow, though in many cases that covering has weathered away, leaving only the stone 'skeleton' of the burial mound intact.

Etymology

Dolmen originates from the expression taol maen, which means "stone table" in Breton, and was first used archaeologically by Théophile Corret de la Tour d'Auvergne. The etymology of the German Hünenbett or Hünengrab and Dutch Hunebed all invoke the imagery of giants building the structures. Of other Celtic languages, "cromlech" derives from Welsh and "quoit" is commonly used in Cornwall. Anta is the term used in Portugal and dös in Sweden.

Dolmen sites

T-shaped Hunebed D27 in Borger-Odoorn, Netherlands.

Dolmen da Aboboreira, Baião, Portugal.

The dolmen Er-Roc'h-Feutet found in Carnac, in Brittany, France. An inscription proclaims ownership by the state of France.

Europe

Megalithic tombs are found from the Baltic Sea and North Sea coasts, south to Spain and Portugal. Hunebedden are chamber tombs similar to dolmens and date to the middle Neolithic (Funnelbeaker culture, 4th millennium BC). They consist of a kerb surrounding an oval mound which covered a rectangular chamber of stones with the entrance on one of the long sides. Some have a more complex layout and include an entrance passage giving them a T-shape. It has been suggested that this means they are related to the Passage graves found in Denmark and elsewhere.

Dolmen sites fringe the Irish Sea and are found in south east Ireland, Wales and Cornwall. In Ireland, however, dolmens are more to be found on the west coast, particularly the Burren and Connemara, where some of the more well known examples, such as Poulnabrone, are to be found. Examples have also been found in northern Ireland where they may have co-existed with the Court cairn tombs. It is thought that the dolmens themselves evolved from a simpler cist burial method.

Amongst the vast Neolithic collections of the Carnac stones, in Brittany, France, several dozen dolmens are found. And all around the country, several dolmens stand still, such as the ones of Passebonneau and des Gorces near Saint-Benoît-du-Sault.

In Spain dolmens can be found in Galicia (such as Axeitos, pictured below), Catalonia (like Romanyà de la Selva or Creu d'en Cobertella) and Andalusia (like the Cueva de Menga).

Many dolmens can be found all over Portugal, from the more simple ones to the more complex examples of megalithic architecture, such as the Almendres Cromlech or the Anta Grande do Zambujeiro.

In Mecklenburg and Pomerania (Germany) and Drenthe (Netherlands), large numbers of these graves were disturbed when towns and cities were built. The boulders were used in construction and road building. There are still many thousands left today in Europe; for example, more than a thousand on the island of Rügen alone.

The largest dolmen in Europe is the Browneshil Dolmen in Carlow, Ireland. Its capstone weighs over 120 tonnes.

Asia

Similar tombs can be found all over the world. Korea has many of the Asian dolmens, dating from the 1st millennium BC. The dolmen in Ganghwa is a northern-type, table-shaped dolmen where ancestral rites were held. It is the biggest stone of this kind in South Korea, measuring 2.6 by 7.1 by 5.5 metres. The number of dolmens in North and South Korea, approximately 30,000, is about 40% of the total number of dolmens in the world. There are also dolmens in Kerala, India, about 7 km from Marayoor, Kerala, near a small village of Pious Nagar, also known as Alinchuvad. These dolmens are set in clusters of two to five dolmens obviously for the burial of a family. There are hundreds of such dolmen clusters in the area. Apart from overground dolmens, underground buiral chambers built with dressed stone slabs are also discovered in Marayoor. All these dolmens are made from heavy granite slabs, mined using primitive technology. This was a burial ground for several centuries for a noble tribal dynasty known as Adi Cheras.

Middle East

Dolmens are also found in Syria, Jordan and Israel, in the Golan Heights.

Eurasia

Main article: Dolmens of Russia Over 3000 dolmens and other structures can be found in the North-Western Caucasus region of Russia], where more and more dolmens are discovered in the mountains each year.

Other photos

• Ganghwa dolmen, South Korea
  Ganghwa dolmen, South Korea
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  Dolmen near the Jane river, Russia
• 
  Dolmen near the Jane River, Russia
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  Knocknakilla Dolmen, Ireland
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  Wedge Tomb at Glantane east, Ireland
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  Dolmen de Axeitos, Galicia, Spain.
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  Chûn Quoit, in Penwith, Cornwall, UK.
• Hunebed of Noordlaren (G1) The Netherlands.
  Hunebed of Noordlaren (G1) The Netherlands.
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  Poulnabrone dolmen, Ireland.

See also

• Dolmen deity
• European Megalithic Culture
• Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa Dolmen Sites
• Megalith
• Neolithic Europe
• Stone circle

References

• Trifonov, V., 2006. Russia's megaliths: unearthing the lost prehistoric tombs of Caucasian warlords in the Zhane valley. St.Petersburg: The Institute for Study of Material Culture History, Russian Academy of Sciences. Available from [1]
• Kudin, M., 2001. Dolmeni i ritual. Dolmen Path - Russian Megaliths. Available from [2]

External links

• Some monuments with QTVR panoramic views in Archeologia Sarda
• Dolmens, Menhirs & Stones-Circles in the South of France in French and English
• Template:Nl icon Pictures of Hunebedden in the Netherlands
• Poulnabrone Dolmen in the Burren, County Clare, Ireland
• Template:PDFlink on UNESCO's World Heritage List.
• Dolmen Pictures by Robert Triest.
• Dolmens, Menhirs and Megaliths in the Languedoc in the South of France
• Russian Megaliths
• Legananny Dolmen, Ireland
• World heritage site of dolmen in Korea
• Llech-y-Filiast Dolmen, Llanglydwyn, Wales