Menhir

"Standing stone" redirects here. For other uses, seeStanding stone (disambiguation).

Large menhir located between Millstreet and Ballinagree,County Cork,Ireland

Cwm Rhaeadr Fawrmaen hir(menhir) nearAber Falls,Gwynedd,Wales

Dry Tree menhir– a standing stone atGoonhilly DownsCornwall

Amenhir(/ˈmɛnhɪər/;fromBrittonic languages:maenormen,"stone" andhirorhîr,"long"),standing stone,orthostat,orlithis a large uprightstone,emplaced in the ground by humans, typically dating from the Europeanmiddle Bronze Age.They can be found individually asmonoliths,or as part of a group of similar stones. Menhirs' size can vary considerably, but they often taper toward the top.

Menhirs are found across Europe, Africa, and Asia, with a concentration inWestern Europe,notably inIreland,Great Britain,andBrittany.Their purpose remains speculative, with theories ranging fromdruidic ritualsto territorial markers or elements of an ideological system. Some menhirs featureengravings,including anthropomorphic figures and symbols, and are often associated with ancient religious ceremonies andburial chambers.

Etymology

The wordmenhirwas adopted from French by 19th-century archaeologists. The introduction of the word into general archaeological usage has been attributed to the 18th-century French military officerThéophile Corret de la Tour d'Auvergne.It is a combination of two words of the Breton language:maenandhir.Inmodern Welsh,they are described asmaen hir,or "long stone". In modern Breton, the wordpeulvanis used, withpeulmeaning "stake" or "post" andvanwhich is asoft mutationof the wordmaenwhich means "stone". In Germany and Scandinavia the wordBautais used (e.g.,de:Bautasteinandno:bautastein) and this occasionally makes its way into English with the term "bauta stone".

The Géant du Manio, a menhir inCarnac,Brittany

History

Almost nothing is known of the social organization or religious beliefs of the people who erected the menhirs. Their language is also unknown. It is known, however, that they buried their dead and had the skills to grow crops, farm and make pottery, stone tools and jewelry. Identifying the purpose or use of menhirs remains speculative. Until recently, standing stones were associated with theBeaker people,who inhabited Europe during the European lateNeolithicand earlyBronze Age—later third millennium BC,c. 2800–1800 BC. However, recent research into the age of megaliths in Brittany strongly suggests a far older origin, perhaps back to six to seven thousand years ago.

During the European Middle Ages, standing stones were believed to have been built by thegiantswho lived before thebiblical flood.Many of themegalithswere destroyed or defaced by early Christians; it is estimated that some 50,000 megaliths once stood in Northern Europe, where almost 10,000 now remain.Menhirs have also been found in many other parts of the world.

Many menhirs are engraved withmegalithic art,some withanthropomorphicfeatures. Other common carvings are identified as images ofstone axes,ploughs, shepherds' crooks, and yokes; and are named after these motifs. However, these identifications are not secure except for those of the stone axe images, and the names used to describe them are largely a matter of convenience. Some menhirs were broken up and incorporated into laterpassage graves,where they had new megalithic art carved with little regard for the previous pictures. It is not known if this re-use was deliberate or if the passage grave builders just saw menhirs as a convenient source of stone.

Where menhirs 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 exact function of menhirs has provoked more debate than practically any other issue inEuropean prehistory.Over the centuries, they have variously been thought to have been used bydruidsfor human sacrifice, used as territorial markers, or elements of a complex ideological system, used asmnemonicsystems fororalcultures,or functioning as early calendars.Until the nineteenth century, antiquarians did not have substantial knowledge of prehistory, and their only reference points were provided by classical literature. The developments ofradiocarbon datinganddendrochronologyhave significantly advanced scientific knowledge in this area.

Geographical distribution

Main article:List of menhirs

Menhirs are widely distributed across Europe, Africa, and Asia, but are most numerous in Western Europe; particularly in Ireland, Great Britain, andBrittany,where there are about 50,000 examples,and northwestern France, where there are some 1,200 further examples.Standing stones are usually difficult to date. They were constructed during many different periods across prehistory as part of the largermegalithiccultures in Europe and near areas. Some menhirs stand next to buildings that have an early or current religious significance. One example is theSouth ZealMenhir in Devon, which formed the basis for a 12th-centurymonasterybuilt by lay monks. The monastery later became the Oxenham Arms hotel, at South Zeal, and the standing stone remains in place in thesnug barat the hotel.

It is believed that practitioners of megalithic religions travelled via the sea, as the mass majority of menhirs are located on coasts, islands, and peninsulas.

In popular culture

The French comic book seriesAsterixfeatures the characterObelix,who is known for carrying menhirs, as a sculptor and deliveryman.

See also

• Asherah pole– Canaanite sacred tree or pole honouring goddess
• Baetyl– Type of sacred standing stone
• Carlin stone– Name of many stones in Scotland
• Carnac stones– Set of megalithic sites in Brittany, France
• Ceremonial pole– Stake or post used in ritual practice
• Cove (standing stones)– Tight rectangular group of stones
• Cromlech– Ring of standing stones
• Deer stone– Megaliths found largely in Siberia and MongoliaPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
• Dolmen– Type of single-chamber megalithic tomb
• Fulacht fiadh– Burned mound from the Bronze Age in Ireland
• Gowk stane– Standing stones and glacial erratics in Scotland
• Henge– Type of Neolithic earthwork
• High place– 1st-millennium BCE Canaanite shrine
• Inuksuk– Inuit built stone landmark or cairn
• Kigilyakh– Natural tall rock pillars in Yakutia
• Ley line– Straight alignments between historic structures and landmarks
• List of largest monoliths
• Megalith– Large stone used to build a structure or monument
• Moai– Monolithic human figures on Easter Island
• Napakivi– Standing stones in Finland
• Nature worship– Worship of the nature spirits
• Obelisk– Tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top
• Obelix– Cartoon character in the French comic book series Asterix
• Orthostates– Man-made large stone slabs set in upright position
• Matzevah– Sacred pillar (in the Bible) or Jewish headstone. Also matzeva/mazzeva/maseba/masseba/massebah.
• Statue menhir– Standing stone carved into a human shape
• Stone circle– Ring of standing stones
• Stone row– Linear row of standing stones. Also stone alignment.
• Stone ship– Stones set in the shape of a boat in north European burials. Also ship setting.
• Stone slab– Flat, thin, and big stone
• Trees in mythology– Significance of trees in religion and folklore

Further reading

• Mohen, Jean-Pierre (2000) [1998].Standing Stones: Stonehenge, Carnac and the World of Megaliths.New Horizonsseries. Translated by Baker, Dorie B.; Baker, David J. London: Thames & Hudson.ISBN0-500-30090-9.

External links

• "The mystery of France's 'Stonehenge'".BBC.20 September 2022.Retrieved20 September2022.
• Rows of menhirs in Russia, South Ural
• List of menhirs and their related stories in Czech Republic
• Ancient Europe PlacemarksGoogle Earth file downloads.