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A megalith is a large Stone which has been used to construct a structure or monument either alone or with other stones. '''''Megalithic''''' means made of such stones, but uses an interlocking system without the use of mortar or cement. The word ''megalith'' comes from the Ancient Greek ''megas'' meaning ''large'', and ''lithos'' meaning ''stone''. Distribution of megaliths The term can be used to describe buildings erected by people from many parts of the world living in many different periods. In the early 20th century, some scholars believed that all megaliths belonged to one global "Megalithic culture" ( Hyperdiffusionism , e. g. by Grafton Elliot Smith and William James Perry ), but this has long been disproved by modern dating methods. Nabta Playa megalith]] the peoples in Nabta Playa had fashioned the world's earliest known Astronomical device, 1000 years older than but comparable to Stonehenge {Link without Title} . Research shows it to be a prehistoric when the local lake filled with water for grazing Cattle [http://www.comp-archaeology.org/WendorfSAA98.html . Western European megaliths In Western Europe and the Mediterranean , megaliths are generally constructions erected during the Neolithic or late Stone Age and Chalcolithic or Copper Age (4500 - 1500 B.C.E). Perhaps the most famous megalithic structure is Stonehenge in England , although many others are known throughout the world. The French Comte De Caylus was the first to describe the Monuments of Carnac . Legrand D'Aussy introduced the terms '' Menhir '' and '' Dolmen '', both taken from the Breton Language , into antiquarian terminology. He interpreted megaliths as gallic tombs. In Britain, the Antiquarian s Aubrey and Stukeley conducted early research into megaliths. In 1805 , Jacques Cambry published a book called ''Monuments celtiques, ou recherches sur le culte des Pierres, précédées d'une notice sur les Celtes et sur les Druides, et suivies d'Etymologie celtiques'', where he proposed a Celt ic stone cult. This completely unfounded connection between Druids and megaliths has haunted the public imagination since. In Belgium there is a megalithic site at Wéris, a little town situated in the Ardennes . In the Netherlands megalithic structures can be found in the north-east of the current, mostly in the province of Drenthe . Types of megalithic structures Different megalithic structures include:
Megalithic graves ''Main article: Megalithic Tomb '' , Russian Federation ]] , Russian Federation ]] Many megalithic monuments were burial mounds which were often re-used by different generations. The Chambered Cairn is a common type of collective tomb. Some of these are Passage Graves generally built of drystone walling and/or megaliths often with a round burial chamber in a round mound with a straight passage leading out. Gallery Grave s have a long megalithic chamber with parallel sides often in a long mound with an entrance at one end. Astronomical use Many megaliths were thought to have a purpose in determining important astronomical events such as the Solstice and Equinox dates (see Archaeoastronomy ). Cup marks on megaliths have been thought by some to represent stars and thus to show the stellar orientation of megalithic sites. Modern megaliths There are even some modern megalithic structures. The Coral Castle is an unusual stone structure created in the 1920 s in Homestead, Florida by Edward Leedskalnin . Examples of megaliths Other megaliths include:
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