right|thumb|200px|[[Poulnabrone dolmen in
the Burren,
County Clare,
Ireland]]
thumb|200px|Kilclooney dolmen near [[Ardara in
County Donegal, Ireland]]
A
dolmen (also known as
cromlech (
Welsh),
anta,
Hünengrab,
Hunebed,
Goindol,
quoit, and
portal dolmen) is a type of single-chamber
megalithic tomb, usually consisting of three or more
upright stones supporting a large flat horizontal capstone (table). Most date from the early
Neolithic period (4000 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 evoke the image 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
>
Image:hunebed-d27.jpg|T-shaped Hunebed D27 in Borger-Odoorn, Netherlands.
Image:Antadaaboboreira.jpg|Dólmen da Aboboreira, Baião, Portugal.
Image:Dolmen Roch-Feutet.JPG|The dolmen Er-Roc'h-Feutet in Carnac, Brittany, France.
Image:Dolmennormandy.jpg|A dolmen in Normandy, 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, Devon and Cornwall. In
Ireland, however, dolmens are more to be found on the west coast, particularly in the
Burren and
Connemara, where some of the better-known examples, such as
Poulnabrone dolmen, 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.
A great many examples can also be found on the Channel Island of Jersey, such as La Pouquelaye de Faldouet, La Hougue des Géonnais and La Sergenté. The most famous of these sites is
La Hougue Bie a 6,000 year old neolithic site that sits inside a large mound; later a chapel was built on the top of the mound.
Amongst the vast Neolithic collections of the
Carnac stones in
Brittany,
France, several dozen dolmens are found. And all around the country, several dolmens still stand, such as the ones of Passebonneau and des Gorces near
Saint-Benoît-du-Sault.
Various
menhirs and dolmens are located around the
Mediterranean islands of
Malta and
Gozo. Pottery uncovered in these structures allowed the attribution of the monuments to the Tarxien cemetery culture of the
Early Bronze Age. This later culture is not to be confused with the
Neolithic inhabitants of Malta, who built the
Tarxien Temples circa
3100 BC.
In
France, important megalithic zones are situated in Brittany, Vendée, Quercy and in the south of France (Languedoc, Rouergue and Corsica). More than 10,000 dolmens and menhirs cover a large part of the country (west and south). Importants menhirs alignments in Brittany (Carnac's alignments count more than 1,000 menhirs)
In
Spain dolmens can be found in
Galicia (such as
Axeitos, pictured below),
Catalonia (like
Romanyà de la Selva or
Creu d'en Cobertella),
Andalusia (like the
Cueva de Menga) and
Extremadura (like "Dolmen de Lácara").
Dolmens can be found all over
Portugal, from 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 (
The Netherlands), large numbers of these graves were disturbed when harbours, towns, and cities were built. The boulders were used in
construction and
road building. There are still many thousands left today in Europe.
In
Italy some dolmens can be found in the south (
Puglia) and in
Sardinia.
In
Bulgaria there are many dolmens, and more are being recorded by archaeologists.
In
Turkey, in the Provinces of Edirne And Kirklareli there are dolmens. They have been studied by Prof. Dr. Engin Beksaç since 2004.
The largest dolmen in Europe is the
Brownshill Dolmen in
County Carlow, Ireland. Its capstone weighs about 150 tonnes.
Asia
thumb|Dolmens of [[Marayoor,
South India]]
thumb|Dolmen at Marayoor,Kerala IndiaSimilar 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,
South India, about 7 km from
Marayoor near the small village of
Pius 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 burial chambers built with dressed stone slabs have also been 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, the royal family, which rose as a paramount power in South India in the First Century CE. The Adi Chera tribe traded with the
Egyptian and
Roman empires of the time. Most of the overground dolmens found in Alinchuvad were made before the
Iron Age since no tools were used to dress the granite slabs. On a nearby hill, granite dolmens made, using tools, are also seen. One is underground and the other is overground. The overground dolmen of this type was not used for burial. The length of the dolmens range from 11 ft to 4 ft. There are scores of 4 ft versions of underground type. They had two earthenware pots, one containing the ornaments and weapons of the individual and the other contained the cremation remains. Such underground dolmens are located in various places, like
Chelamala,in
Ernakulam District,
Mattathipara,
Muniyara,
Panapilavu, etc in the district of
Idukki in Kerala State, where Marayoor also is located. It appears that the tribe continued to use this burial practice until the tribe was destroyed in the beginning of third century CE.
Middle East
Dolmens are also found in
Israel,
Syria and
Jordan. Numerous large dolmens can be viewed in the Israeli National park at
Gamla.
Eurasia
Over 3,000 dolmens and other structures can be found in the North-Western Caucasus region in Russia, where more and more dolmens are discovered in the mountains each year.
See also
