Megaliths, a whole universe!

The terms of megalithism

Menhir :

From Breton: Men (stone) and Hir (long). It is an upright stone, made of a single block.
A menhir can be isolated or placed in the middle of a line of other menhirs: the whole forms an alignment. The menhirs can also be placed in a circle and form circular enclosures.
We note that the stones can sometimes be placed one against the other, or be separated by a few meters.

Alignment :

Row of menhirs, arranged one behind the other. They can form one or several parallel rows. Carnac has several alignments: the main ones are Ménec, Kermario and Kerlescan.

Megalith :

From the Greek: Mega (large) and Lithos (stone). It is one or several rough stones of very large size. Menhirs and dolmens are therefore megaliths. And the alignments of Carnac are therefore a megalithic set.

Megalithism:

Megalithism is the fact of using megaliths (enormous rough stones) to build monuments. It is thus a question of architecture. This phenomenon started in the Neolithic (last period of prehistory) and is present in many regions of the world. But it is on the whole west coast of Europe that this architecture is the most present.

Neolithic :

Prehistory is divided into 3 major periods: the Paleolithic, the Mesolithic and the Neolithic.
The Neolithic is the last period of prehistory. Stone is still the main material used and metal is not yet known. But in the Neolithic, the populations are no longer hunter-gatherers, but farmers. They cultivated crops, raised animals, made pottery, wove clothes, made frames and dugout canoes, and baked their own bread. They also traded goods (salt in Brittany, polished stone axes, flint blades, etc.)
This period in Brittany spans from 5000 to 2200 BC. The Breton megaliths date from this period, and the Carnac alignments are dated more precisely between 4,500 and 3,500 BC.

Dolmen :

From Breton: Toal (table) and Men (stone)
A dolmen is a burial chamber built with vertical stones and horizontal stones, the whole resembling a stone table. In the Neolithic period, the deceased were buried inside.
There are many different types of dolmens: simple or with corridors, sometimes with several chambers.
The dolmens were covered with earth or stones and the whole formed cairns, mounds or tumuli.

Tumulus (Tumuli in plural):

Monument composed of a dolmen or burial chamber, covered with a pile of earth and small stones.
Tumuli were most often reserved for a single person.
The Tumulus Saint-Michel in Carnac is one of the 3 largest tumuli in the region. The person buried inside must have been a particularly important person in society because the axes and polished stone jewelry found near the body were very valuable for the time.

Mound :

A monument consisting of a dolmen or burial chambers, covered with a pile of earth. The mounds were not intended to be reused once closed.

Cairn :

A monument consisting of a dolmen or burial chambers, covered with a pile of stones. Cairns were most often reopened and reused to bury other people over time.
The name Carnac may come from the word "cairn" which literally means
"pile of stones".

Enclosure:

This is a group of stones set up next to each other and forming a semicircle, a circle, an oval or a rectangle.
At Carnac, several enclosures have been found, including a semicircular one, and a rectangular one.

Cromlech :

Term that designates an enclosure of stones or the walls of dolmens, of which the covering slab has most often disappeared.

Stele:

Monolithic monument that bears an inscription, sculpted ornaments.

Funerary furniture:

Deposit of objects within the graves, found during archaeological excavations (pottery, arrows, polished axes, ornaments, tools ...) that accompanied the deceased in his grave. Probably, of greater or lesser value depending on the status of the character.

Engraving :

They vary according to the times, the regions and the cultures. Several techniques by staking, direct or indirect percussion. In the Neolithic period, certain megaliths were marked and decorated with symbols. The representations, symbolic or figurative are varied. The most remarkable in Morbihan are in Gavrinis, Locmariaquer...
Axes, crosses, aurochs, idol in shield, sperm whale...

Crosse :

The sign "crosse" in recent prehistory, is often linked to an esoteric meaning (badge of power) or exoteric (sickle, shepherd's crook), question mark ... assumptions relating to the socio-political and economic organization of the Neolithic society.

Idol in shield:

Present on the stele at the bottom of the dolmen of the Merchants' Table, this motif could symbolize a female figure, a hair, an idol, the mother goddess? or phallic symbols? crosses, plantations? or even a radiance? There are still many questions. Interpretations can vary according to the archaeologists...