What are Megaliths?

"Megaliths are big rocks"
Gustave Flaubert



"Oh, hullo. My name is Obelix. You probably have seen me wandering around Celtia from time to time carrying big rocks on my back. That is because I am the designated big rock carrier around here. Its alright. I don't mind, as I can carry quite a bit. But I'm sure you didn't come here just to listen to me ramble on about what I do around, rather what the big rocks are doing around Celtia. Hopefully I can help you answer a few questions about why they are here, and hopefully how they got here."

"Although the Celts didn't originally put the stones up, they did use them for many different reasons. One was for the burial of important people in our village. Hopefully when I die, my clansmen will think highly enough of me to bury me beneath a temple of stone to give me back to the earth. I am much like a megalith, only I'm not made of stone (megalith litterally means 'large stone'). I usually make three different types of structures when I do build the things."

"The first one is called a menhir, or 'standing stone' in Breton. It does make sense that we would call it that, considering that it is just that, a standing stone. It is usually what I carry the most around here. Many people think that these are simply just monuments, where others have guessed that we put them up to keep time during the year. I'm not really sure what we do with them, I just move them. The second type is called a dolmen. The dolmens are usually 3 or 4 stones, stood on end, with a capstone on top of them. It is what we would use to bury our most important people. Some of the less important people were buried in less nice ones, and their remains will get carried off by animals. Finally, the grandest and largest are called tumulus, or burial mounds. These were also the earliest stone structures that we built around here. Many dating back longer than any of us can remember and were probably here before there were any Celts around. These were the burial mounds for the most important people of the region, rather than just some local chief."

"Well, I'm sure you have had just about enough of my rambling. I will let you get on with the tour across Europe to see the sights of the great megaliths of our beautiful Celtic nation. To get started, just scroll down to the map of Europe and click on a number. There is also a list of numbers below the map with details of where you are going to be taken. Have fun, and please, watch out for falling rocks!"

Subuta te!

Obelix