Megalithism

The monumental nature of Neolithic funerary rites is analysed by archaeologists in relation to its alleged links with the management of land by agro-pastoral communities. This article examines the social dynamics in the Neolithic of Western France, with a particular focus on how human populations mastered oceanic geographical and environmental characteristics. Numerous excavations during the
last fifteen years have significantly transformed the chronology. The evolution of the Mesolithic has been completely renewed and there is now a lack of reliable data between 5300 and 5000 BC (Mesolithic / Neolithic transition). Obviously dependent on a pioneer movement, the Late Bandkeramik of the Paris Basin and Villeneuve-Saint-Germain are well documented in villages that now cover the whole Breton peninsula up to the Loire river. Its early dates when compared to the Parisian Basin model could be due to bias within the calibration curve. South of the Loire, our knowledge of the Early Neolithic in the Centre-Atlantic
region, which is Mediterranean in origin, remains embryonic and centred on the chronological interval 4700-4500 BC. The analysis of social organization shows a clear difference between the Mesolithic and the Neolithic; it also applies to the technical traditions that are subject to an abrupt break. The issue of transmission of arrowhead technology between the Mesolithic and the Neolithic is no longer relevant, because of the revision of the chronology. Two technical domains are likely to have been inherited from the indigenous coastal communities: fisheries
and navigation. Their degree of respective control may have conditioned the socioeconomic foundations of the first agro-pastoral societies in Western France. The successive steps of the transmission of knowledge during the Atlantic Neolithic are discussed. It points to asset control and power in a few hands, which is best ‘embodied’ in the central tomb of the Tumulus Saint-Michel, dated around 4700-4600 BC. We do not know the economic foundations that ensure the ustainabilityof this social structure; their maritime dimension should not be overlooked.

Excavations were carried out in 1999 on the location of Stela 2 at the ancient site of Aksum in northern Ethiopia.
These excavations have permitted the documentation of the foundation of this stela, which was transported to Rome in 1937. Preparations were also made for the stela’s return to the site in 2005 and its re-erection in 2008 at the exact location where it stood in the 3rd or 4th century AD.
The excavations also made it possible to re-examine our perception of the three giant stelae on the site, from their conception and erection to their destruction.

Resumen: En el artículo presente se da a conocer la intervención arqueológica desarrollada en el monumento megalítico de la Pasada del Abad, que ha posibilitado su definición y caracterización como un cromlech. En torno a este círculo megalítico se plantean una serie de hipótesis de interpretación tipológica, cronológica, funcional y territoral, que ponemos en relación con la existencia de un megalitismo no funerario que debió desarrollarse entre el V-III milenios a.n.e. en el contexto de la rivera del Chanza. Por otro lado, se exponen los trabajos de consolidación que se han realizado en este monumento al objeto de garantizar la conservación futura, valorización y socialización de este bien patrimonial, creando un sitio para la visita e interpretación. ABSTRACT: It is released in this article the archaeological supervision developed in the Pasada del Abad`s megalithic monument, which has made possible its definition and characterization as a cromlech. Around this megalithic circle we pose a series of hypothesis of typological, chronological, functional and territorial interpretation related to the existence of a non funerary megalithism that must took place between V-III millennium B.C. on Chanza river context. On the other hand, consolidation works made on this monument are exposed with the object of guarantee the future preservation, valuation and socialization of this archaeological site, making a place for visit and interpretation.

Résumé: Jalon sur le chemin de Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle, le dolmen de Pech Laglaire 2 à Gréalou (Lot) est inscrit au Patrimoine Mondial de l’Unesco. Menaçant ruine, il a fait l’objet récemment d’une  modeste  intervention  archéologique,  préalable  à  une  restauration  minimaliste  consistant  en  fait  en  une  consolidation  cristallisant  l’état  antérieur  du  monument,  bien  éloigné de son état d’origine. Les motivations des restaurateurs sont présentées ici, et mises en perspective en regard des résultats et présupposés archéologiques.

Abstract: Restoring the World Heritage site dolmen of Pech Laglaire at Gréalou (Lot): yes but... from what era?A milestone on the pilgrimage of St James of Compostela, the dolmen of Pech Laglaire at Gréalou (Lot, France) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Close to collapsing, it was recently subjected  to  partial  excavation  prior  to  minimal  restoration,  focused  on  consolidating  the current state of the monument, which itself is a far cry from the original shape of the construction. The choices made by the restoration team are exposed here and put within the broader perspective of the presupposition and results of archaeological research.

I recently had the opportunity to review Alex Gibson’s thought provoking volume, 'Enclosing the Neolithic: Recent studies in Britain and Europe'. That review, to which the reader is directed for further commentary, identified as a weakness the uneven spread of regional case studies, and in particular the omission of studies from the West Country, Wales and North West England, which are so important in understanding the Irish Sea Zone. The aim of this paper is to address this with regard to the material from the North West of England, and in particular Cumbria. This paper is therefore meant to be read in conjunction with Gibson’s edited volume.

A pesar de que las Islas Baleares son conocidas por sus monumentos
ciclópeos, también hay restos de la presencia de una cultura anterior, la
cultura megalítica, famosa por el uso en sus construcciones de grandes piedras. En las Islas Baleares, esta cultura dejó su impronta mediante los sepulcros megalíticos.

Although the Balearic Islands are known for their cyclopean monuments, there are also remains of the presence of a previous culture, the megalithic culture, famous for the use of large stones in its constructions. In the Balearic Islands, this culture left its mark through the megalithic tombs.

The leading role of the geological and mineralogical, and not the geomorphological background has to be stressed in the distribution of the megalithic and rock-cut monuments. Megalithic sites in Europe (in the cases of Bulgaria, Great Britain, France, Portugal and Spain) display a tendency to be linked to a specific geological setting of the region. They are built mainly at places of distribution of quartz-bearing igneous (granites) or metamorphic (gneisses) rocks. Usually their composition is of the same rock species, but in some cases the rock blocks have been transported from remote areas. White vein quartz blocks are also considered of importance at such sites. Rock-cut trapezoidal niches on high vertical cliffs, holes and graves in the Eastern Rhodopes in Bulgaria are related mainly to regions of distribution of volcanic (including volcanic tuff) or sedimentary (limestone) rocks. Such a tendency may be observed in certain other places in Europe and worldwide. Other geological (geotectonic), geographical features and physical (including acoustical) properties of the rocks are also to be considered important for interpretation of the megalithic culture in future research.

Le dolmen de la Pierre-aux-Fées se trouve sur le territoire de la commune de Reignier, dans la Plaine dite des Rocailles ( ). Monument actuellement isolé au milieu des champs, que commence à gagner au loin l'urbanisation, il ne paraît pas avoir connu, au moins depuis la période médiévale, le voisinage immédiat de constructions, étant alors relégué aux confins de la paroisse de Reignier.

Muitas pessoas, directa ou indirectamente, contribuíram para a construção deste trabalho; a todos fica expresso o meu sincero agradecimento. Em primeiro lugar, ao Professor Doutor Victor S. Gonçalves, que aceitou orientá-lo e o ajudou a chegar a bom termo; mais do que esta tese, devo-lhe, desde os bons tempos da Vidigueira, um apoio e acompanhamente permanentes, uma enorme abertura de espírito. Um agradecimento, por muitas e boas razões, aos meus colegas do Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa, UNIARQ, sempre presentes e disponíveis e cujos padrões de qualidade foram um dos melhores estímulos para esta empreitada. À Dra. Leonor Rocha, ao Dr. Rui Mataloto, ao Dr. Artur Rocha e à Dra. Alexandra Hemming, colegas que colaboraram activa e entusiasticamente em várias fases deste projecto que, por diversas razões, se cruzou com os seus. Aos Professores Victor Hurtado e Leonardo Garcia, queridos amigos e vizinhos, pela troca de ideias verdadeiramente transfronteiriça. Pelas mesmas razões e por outras, aos Professores Primitiva Bueno e Rodrigo Balbín Ao Pedro Alvim, ao Rafael Henriques e aos Professores Marciano da Silva e Michael Hoskin, porque me ajudaram a tirar os olhos dos cacos e pedras e a olhar os horizontes mais distantes. Ao Professor Alexandre Araújo que me orientou, sem falhas, nalguns problemas geológicos e tectónicos. Várias instituições, de diversas formas, contribuíram para que este trabalho fosse possível. Em primeiro lugar, a Universidade de Lisboa e, dentro desta, o Departamento de História, onde, desde que aqui cheguei, beneficiei dos conhecimentos ou apenas da amizade de Professores excepcionais, num ambiente de genuína excelência académica. O Instituto Português de Arqueologia, que aprovou e apoiou financeiramente o projecto MAC-Menires do Alentejo Central, tal como autorizou e aprovou os relatórios das escavações efectuadas, e merece um reconhecimento especial, pelo papel desempenhado, desde a sua criação, na qualificação da Arqueologia portuguesa. O Instituto Geográfico do Exército, que forneceu a cartografia digital utilizada. A Fundação Eugénio de Almeida, instituição de quem fui bolseiro em 2002 e 2003, e que, para além disso, apoiou as prospecções arqueológicas nas Herdades de que é proprietária e financiou a organização de um Colóquio Internacional sobre Megalitismo e Arte Rupestre cujos efeitos colaterais não deixam de pesar neste trabalho, nem na valorização do património cultural alentejano; um agradecimento muito especial à Dra. Maria do Céu Ramos. A Câmara Municipal de Évora e, em particular, o seu Presidente e Vereador da Cultura, o Dr. José Ernesto de Oliveira que, em época de vacas magras, não deixou de apostar na Cultura e no Património. Ainda na Câmara Municipal de Évora, devo agradecer o entusiasmo do Prof. Luis Carmelo, do Dr. Rui Arimateia e do Dr. Panagiotis Sarantopoulos, a quem, de diversas formas, muito deve o património cultural eborense; por razões menos institucionais, um agradecimento caloroso ao grande fotógrafo José Manuel Rodrigues, ao Dr. Francisco Bilou e ao Dr. João Santos. A Câmara Municipal de Mora e, em particular o Sr. Matos, Presidente da Junta de Freguesia de Pavia, que deram apoio moral e material para a escavação e restauro do recinto do Vale d'El Rei. As Câmaras Municipais de Redondo e Vila Viçosa, que apoiaram a realização da respectivas Cartas Arqueológicas e, no primeiro caso, também custeou a publicação dos resultados. A Câmara Municipal de Reguengos de Monsaraz, que apoiou o desenho dos menires do Xarez. A Câmara Municipal de Montemor-o-Novo, que apoiou logisticamente as prospecções no concelho e a escavação e restauro do menir do Tojal. A Junta de Freguesia de S. Sebastião, que apoiou a escavação dos menires de S. Sebastião. O Mac Donald Institute e o Institute of Archaeology da Universidade de Cambridge, e, em particular, o Dr. Chris Scarre, que me acolheu e orientou na pesquisa bibliográfica. O Laboratoire d'Archéologie da Universidade de Rennes e, em especial, os colegas e amigos Grégor Marchand e Luc Laporte, que me acolheram e orientaram na pesquisa bibliográfica. O Instituto Arqueológico Alemão de Madrid, que me abriu as portas e as estantes da sua excelente biblioteca. O Museo Arqueológico de Badajoz, na pessoa do seu director, Dr. Guillermo Kurtz, vizinho e amigo, pela disponibilidade e apoio. Os meus alunos, que não sendo uma instituição fazem parte dela; é impossível nomeá-los a todos, tantos os que, nestes últimos anos participaram nas escavações e prospecções, ao Sol e à chuva. Por último, mais do que agradecimento, uma permanente gratidão, aos meus filhos e aos meus pais, porque são o melhor que tenho e por quem, quando me faltam, arranjo forças para lutar. Aos construtores de menires. Ao Alentejo. Manuel Calado RESUMO Palavras-chave: Menires; Megalitismo; Neolitização

PANTELLERIA. THE SESE DI FRESCO EXCAVATION AND FINDS
FROM DESTROYED SESES AT MURSIA. - The sese Di Fresco I  excavations, an emispheric tomb with four chamber which one, found still closed, is a tholos dome, suggest for the first time the pantellerian megalithism ritual. Each chamber contained one or two burials amongst the so-called Sicilian “banchetto funebre” typical equipment: seashells, Ovis vel capra bones, beads, flint and obsidian implements, ware. The pottery from this sese and from other seses, now destroyed, dated in Early and Middle Bronze age, suggest links with RTV, Capo Graziano, Thapsos - Milazzese, Tarxien cemetery and Borg in-Nadur pottery styles. The Mursia surviving seses also prove the existence of an unknown megalithic cemetery. The monuments seem to line up with an ancient route, now ruined but once going to a spring and then to the village.

Abstract : this study, which first aim was to demonstrate correspondences between Gaulish and Slavic languages, between which I found 500 common words, allowed me also to establish, on the basis of genetical, archaeological and religious data, that those correspondences were linked with ancient migrations which spread the Dravidian civilisation of the Indus Valley to Iran, Mesopotamia, Anatolia, the Caucasus, the North of the Black Sea, Danubian and Balkan Europe, Gaul and Iberia, where Neolithic farmers brought about 30% of the French genetic profile and contributed to the development of the megalithic civilisation which began in 5.000 BC. This also explains the linguistic correspondences I established between Gaulish and Dravidian languages – 250 common words from the 500 words I studied, as well as similarities I found in the organisation of the Society and the religion, which lead various researchers to suggest, on the basis of the diffusion of the very ancient haplogroup H2-P96 from India to Western Europe, that the first Europeans and the proto-Dravidians had a common origin.
Extrait : cette étude, dont l’objectif initial était de démontrer les correspondances entre le gaulois et les langues slaves, entre lesquelles j’ai trouvé 500 mots communs, m’a en outre permis de démontrer, sur la base de données génétiques, archéologiques et religieuses, que ces correspondances étaient liées à des migrations anciennes qui ont apporté environ 30% du profil génétique français et  diffusé la civilisation dravidienne de la vallée de l’Indus vers l’Iran, la Mésopotamie, l’Anatolie, le Caucase, le Nord de la Mer Noire, l’Europe danubienne et balkanique, la Gaule et l’Ibérie, où les agriculteurs néolithiques ont apporté environ 30% du profil génétique français et contribué à former la civilisation mégalithique qui s’est développée à partir de -5.000. Cela explique aussi les correspondances linguistiques que j’ai établies entre le gaulois et les langues dravidiennes - 250 mots communs sur les 500 mots étudiés, et les similitudes que j’ai constatées dans l’organisation de la société et la religion, qui amènent certains chercheurs à suggérer, sur la base de la diffusion du très ancien haplogroupe H2-P96 de l’Inde à l’Europe de l’Ouest, que les premiers Européens et les proto-Dravidiens avaient une origine commune.

F. RUBAT BOREL, S. ROSA, F. GIANOTTI, M. ALFIERI, Ceres (TO), loc. Airetta. Cantoira (TO), loc. Rio Combin. Groscavallo (TO), loc. Giass del Colombin. Strutture megalitiche nelle Valli di Lanzo, in «Quaderni della Soprintendenza Archeologica del Piemonte», 27, 2012, pp. 264-276 .
F. RUBAT BOREL, L. FOGLIASSO, B. PERETTO, Cuorgnè (TO). Archivio dei siti con incisioni rupestri di Luciano Gibelli, in «Quaderni della Soprintendenza Archeologica del Piemonte», 27, 2012, pp. 281-282 .
F. RUBAT BOREL, S. MARCHIARO, F. PAVIA, Pavone Canavese (TO), loc. Brich Appareglio/la Paraj Àuta. Abitato d’altura dell’età del Ferro, in «Quaderni della Soprintendenza Archeologica del Piemonte», 27, 2012, pp. 289-295

Entre 1988 e 1989, a Mamoa de Aspra (Caminha, Viana do Castelo) foi alvo de duas campanhas de escavação arqueológica por Eduardo Jorge Lopes da Silva no âmbito do projeto de investigação “O Estudo do Megalitismo Minhoto e a sua Correlação com o Douro Litoral e Beiras”. Destes trabalhos, apenas se conhece uma publicação genérica em revista da especialidade que, à luz dos conhecimentos e metodologias científicas atuais, se mostra insuficiente para a compreensão dos contextos e práticas funerárias do neolítico no noroeste português. A consulta dos relatórios entregues à tutela por este investigador, a relocalização do monumento, bem como as várias visitas ao local no ano de 2014 permitiram, entre outras coisas, descobrir novos dados que aqui pretendemos dar a conhecer.

Megalithic monuments are seen as memorials, which receive the souls of ancestors and in the same time they are commited to healing practices, mainly relating to conception, suggesting that they are seen as a facility associated with the reincarnation of souls. These archaic beliefs are associated not only with dolmens and menhirs, in most cases they are associated with natural rock formations, characterized by something unusual and impressive. Significantly, in many places
around the world similar rock monuments, apart of their relationship with the Beyond are associated with health related practices and practices related to fertility.

In the Indian context, megaliths are essentially funerary and memorial structures erected by different cultures over vast swathes of time, from the Neolithic to the Iron Age, and in later periods too. Megaliths represent some of the oldest monuments in the subcontinent, of which only traces survive today. Though early scholarship attributed the phenomenon of the erection of megalithic structures over the entire range of its occurrence to a single "megalithic culture", today it is seen as a means of interring the dead, or erecting memorials, which was adopted by different cultures during different periods. The early part of the first millennium (and indeed a few centuries prior to that) is an important period in the history of monumental architecture in the subcontinent. During this time, the diminishing practice of erecting megaliths co-existed alongside the construction of some of the earliest religious monuments in stone which would, over a millennium and a half, evolve into the richly diverse traditions of monumental architecture which characterize the subcontinent. In this chapter, the possibility that megalithic construction had some influence on the architecture of later monuments, is explored. Instances where megalithic architecture seems to have inspired later monuments both in techniques as well as purpose is presented with the aid of examples from the Malaprabha Valley and the megalithic site at Mallasandram. Megaliths are not confined to the Indian subcontinent. Megalithic construction is encountered in various parts of the world during different periods. Though very early attempts to explain this by resorting to the "diffusion theories"-which involved the origin of megalithism in one part of the world and its subsequent dispersion, have been discredited, there has been no clear understanding of why cultures widely separated in space and time have been erecting monuments with nearly identical form. Is it possible that the adoption of this cultural trait by cultures in different geographical regions could be the result of the movement of ideas, or even people? In the conclusion, I will present a case for studying megaliths on a wider geographical canvas to better understand this phenomenon, especially considering the impact it seems to have had on later monument-building traditions in India.

"The megalithic tomb at Montelirio is off the scale in more ways than one. As well as being the largest example of its type known in Spain, the burial goods secreted in its subterranean chambers are unsurpassed in both quantity and quality. Leonardo García Sanjuán reveals what the dead of Montelirio can tell us about Copper Age society."

Aix-Marseille Université Laboratoire d'Archéologie Méditerranéenne Préhistorique Europe/Afrique (UMR 7269) Maison Méditerranéenne des Sciences de l'Homme 5, rue du Château de l'Horloge BP 647, 13094 Aix-en-Provence (France) 3 4 REMERCIEMENTS RINGRAZIAMENTI 5 LES PIERRES DRESSÉES DE L'AIRE CORSO-SARDE. ETUDE SYSTÉMIQUE DES TERRITOIRES. LE PIETRE FITTE DELL'AREA CORSO-SARDA. STUDIO SISTEMICO DEI TERRITORI. 6 9

"This special issue of "Patrimonio Histórico" (Historical Heritage), the bulletin of the Andalusian Historical Heritage Institute, brings together a series of contributions aimed at disseminating the concept of megalithic heritage among cultural and historical heritage specialists. It provides a general overview of the basic themes involved in today's research of the megalithic phenomenon (section "ideas, theories, problems"), the main methodological innovations the field has experienced in recent years ("sciences, methods"), the public perceptions involved ("perceptions") as well as a series of major megalithic sites of southern Iberia ("sites, interventions, management")."

In the summer of 1961 in Sion (Valais, Switzerland) the slabs
of a prehistoric tomb appeared in a pipe trench at the Avenue
du Petit-Chasseur. While uncovering them, someone exclaimed:
“prehistoric engravings!”.The first funerary stela of
the megalithic site had been discovered. The excavations, first
conducted by Olivier-Jean Bocksberger, high school teacher
at Aigle, then by Alain Gallay of the University of Geneva,
lasted about ten years. Patiently reconstructed by the scientists,
the eventful history of this necropolis made it possible
for the rites, the beliefs and the social structure of these prehistoric communities in Valais to be studied in detail. Later,
between 1987 and 2003, further investigations were carried
out in the area and added to the discoveries.
In order to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the discovery
of the site, a scientific committee consisting of the
representatives of the Archéologie cantonale and the Musées
cantonaux du Valais, and of the University of Geneva and the
Association valaisanne d’archéologie organised several events
during autumn 2011.
An international conference at Sion was held from 27 October to 29 October in Sion, at the François-Xavier Bagnoud hall.
The necropolis of Sion still remains a key reference for the
understanding of the Final Neolithic period, not only in the
Alpine countries, but also throughout Europe. The scientific
meeting therefore focused on the end of the Neolithic period
in Valais and in the adjacent regions, on the Bell Beaker phenomenon
(a European culture?) and on the funerary rites of
this period whereas the doctoral course dealt with the end of
the Neolithic period in Valais and with the anthropology of
megalithic societies.
The conference was attended by nearly 200 people, students,
junior and senior scholars from many countries including
Austria, Belgium, Spain, France, Hungary, Italy,
Morocco, the Netherlands, Poland, the Czech Republic
and Switzerland. Thirty-eight papers were grouped into
five sessions each preceded by an introductory one-hour
conference: Fifty Years of Discoveries at the site of Sion/
Petit-Chasseur; The Neolithic in Valais and its Neighbouring
Regions presented by Alain Gallay; Is the Bell Beaker Culture
a European? Economy, Culture and Society by Maxence
Bailly; Funerary Rituals during the Final Neolithic and the
Bell Beaker Period by Henri Duday; and Anthropology of
the Megalithic Societies presented by Alain Testart. The present
volume reports on these scientific presentations and the
ensuing lively debates.

For a long time, the absence of megalithic monuments in the Levant of the Iberian Peninsula has surprised investigators. Many and diverse hypothesis have been proposed to explain this, but none of them has brought a satisfactory explanation about some essential questions. In this paper we suggest that the regional distribution of copper mines and megalithic tombs in the oriental area of the South East of the Iberian Peninsula were related with the conditions that promote the social transformations that we can recognize in the archaeological record at the middle of the III milennium BC.

The megalithic phenomenon is one of the most exciting subjects of study in prehistory. The practice of monumentalising places of special significance by erecting large stones started during the Neolithic period, approximately 10.000 years ago. On time, it acquired such a social and ideological depth that it became one of the most geographically and temporally widespread cultural phenomena ever known in Europe. In Andalusia,  megalithic sites and landscapes express themselves with great richness and diversity, representing an exceptional source of scientific information for our understanding of our forebears’ ways of life, as well as a unique and beautiful historical legacy. This book combines the contributions of various university professors, who bring us up to date with their research, with excellent photographic illustrations and, for the first time, reflects the spread of this cultural phenomenon throughout Andalusia. It is suitable for both those who wish to deepen their knowledge of this professional specialisation and those who seek the pleasure of a satisfied interest.

This article does not presume to summarize the immense complexity of megalithism in France over a period of nearly three millenia, but rather to contribute a few elements of reflection to the numerous  research directions it inspires. It first insists on the importance of finally eliminating a number of accepted ideas; among which, the tendency to systematically classify the architecture of burial spaces in function of their “apparent” complexity, from the most simple to the most elaborate. Numerous examples show that the megalithic  phenomenon is complex, not linear. Each monument, today in ruins, is the result of several architectural projects, in the true sense of the term. The construction of a site, supposes at the same time a  succession of technical acts that also merit detailed study, in the same manner as that which specialists of the Medieval period call the archeology of construction. We also wish to emphasize the necessity of addressing Megalithism from the perspective of architecture, grave goods and human remains (when they are preserved), as these three aspects are often intertwined. Finally, a megalithic monument must be understood in its space, the funerary space in the broad sense, as well as the burial space. From this perspective, a multitude of question and numerous research directions appear. Megalithism is not an outdated subjet, but an innovative one, for which much remains to be done.

" Ce livre donne leur unité aux mégalithismes des différentes régions de l'Ouest de la France, sans occulter les particularismes locaux. Ces monuments de pierre, oeuvre des premiers agriculteurs et  éleveurs pendant plusieurs millénaires, témoignent de la richesse et de la diversité architecturale du Néolithique, qui voit s'élever les tous premiers monuments d'Europe. Du Bassin Aquitain à la Vendée, la Bretagne ou la Normandie, sans oublier les plaines du Centre-Ouest, les auteurs inventorient les formes variées du mégalithisme, avec ses particularités régionales, et font aussi le point des connaissances sur leur cadre naturel et humain. Ils s'attachent enfin à la recherche du sens perdu de cet art et lui restitue ses dimensions sacrées ou funéraires, issues d'un même corps social et d'un même système de pensée et de vision du monde. "

Настоящата публикация има за цел да запознае научната общност с новооткрит в землището на с.
Розовец, общ. Брезово обект, притежаващ съвкупност от характеристики, за която липсва описание в
научната литература, посветена на мегалитните конструкции. Единственият засега и най-близък негов
аналог се явява вече известният мегалит „Момини гърди“, намиращ се край с. Старосел. Въз основа на
техните специфики се предлага обединяването на тези засега само два обекта в нов тип мегалитни
конструкции: „Двойка балансирани монолити“, като разновидност на този неописан досега в
литературата тип е мегалитът от Розовец, който представлява двойка балансирани успоредни
ортостати.
След описанието на обекта следват аргументи в полза на твърдението на авторите, че се касае за
мегалитен обект с антропогенен произход, принадлежащ към непроучените у нас ‘деликатно
балансирани камъни’ (Precariously balanced rocks). Допълнителен фокус в публикацията е опитът й да
привлече вниманието и интереса на научната общност у нас към огромното богатство от мегалитни
структури в Сърнена и Същинска Средна гора, на които не следва да се гледа само като на обекти,
подходящи за културен туризъм, а като на научно предизвикателство пред съществуващата типология
на мегалитните обекти от Странджа, Сакар и Източните Родопи. Описани са основните характеристики,
отличаващи ‘Средногорския прото-долмен’ от долмените в гореспоменатите райони и са предложени
аргументи за обособяването му като отделна, и като типология, и като хронология, група мегалитни
паметници.

1. Megalitismo: características gerais Os monumentos megalíticos com câmaras e corredores construídos com grandes esteios e, por vezes, com inúmeros blocos usados nos contrafortes e couraças pétreas de cobertura, correspondem às primeiras manifestações arquitectónicas que marcaram de forma definitiva o espaço de vivência das comunidades pré-históricas, dando origem à criação de cenários artificiais e impressivos. Correspondem a monumentos de grande complexidade interpretativa, de carácter por vezes funerário e cerimonial ou apenas cerimonial. Trata-se de um fenómeno atlântico que emerge e se desenvolve entre o 5º e o 4º milénios a.C., ou seja, no Neolítico, tendo perdurado nalgumas regiões para o 3º milénio a.C.. Resulta de uma ideologia que circula pelo mundo atlântico litoral, tendo sido adotada, de forma específica, por diferentes comunidades de agricultores e/ou pastores, motivo pelo qual se detetam, em cada região, particularidades, também percebidas a nível intrarregional. No Noroeste Ibérico conhecem-se dois grandes grupos de monumentos megalíticos: os menires e os monumentos ditos funerários. Os primeiros correspondem a monólitos verticais, mais ou menos afeiçoados, de diferentes dimensões que distinguem, marcam ou celebram lugares de importância coletiva, certamente com multiplicidade de significações mágico-rituais: simbologia astral; cultos de fertilidade; marcação física e simbólica de territórios de grande significação coletiva; representação de divindades ou de ancestrais, entre outros. Os segundos, popularmente designados por mamoas ou eruditamente por antas, antelas ou dólmenes, são compostos por câmaras cobertas por acumulações de blocos pétreos e de sedimentos ou só de sedimentos compactados, provavelmente pela ação do fogo de que resultam montículos artificiais. As áreas fronteiras aos corredores

"This book presents the papers and discussions held at the second meeting of the European Megalithic Studies Group (Seville, Spain, November 2008). This is therefore a cooperative, international book that brings together leading specialists from several European countries, including France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Portugal, Sweden, and Spain. This volume revolves around two crucial aspects of recent research on prehistoric monuments: time (chronology) and matter (raw materials as used in both architecture and artefacts). Both topics have generated much discussion in recent years and form one of the main cutting edges of current research on prehistoric monuments. These two main themes have recently witnessed major advances thanks to the application of new scientific techniques to old and new archaeological problems. For the chronology theme, specific issues include the origin of prehistoric monuments, the limitations and advantages of newly available high-resolution dating techniques (such as AMS radiocarbon analysis of pigments, thermoluminiscence and OSL), and patterns of utilisation, re-utilisation and abandonment. For rare rocks, some of the specific issues covered by this book are rock selection, the frequency and type of rare materials (variscite, quartz, amber, etc.), trade and exchange, the manipulation of raw materials, the symbolic catchment of geological landscapes, and the sourcing of stones. The idea here is to explore the value, function and symbolism of the materials in their prehistoric context, their placement and positioning in relation to funerary structures (architecture) and human remains (individuals), and the evidence they provide for interregional interaction."

The dolmen of La Pinilla in Alcolea del Pinar.  The megalithic architecture and the surface deposit next to it, we will interpret it with the nearby data from the Ambrona Valley, in the province of Soria, and El Portillo de las Cortes in the province of Guadalajara, next to which they form a larger group dimension, which gives meaning to current work hypotheses, associated with settlement during the Recent Prehistory of the interior of the Iberian Peninsula.

This paper contains a summary of many of the ideas that I have had, discussed or encountered about standing stones over the years and much of which has been published or are in press. In particular, this includes the possible anthropomorphic connotations and roles that standing stones might have played in the communities that built them. It begins with a very short review of some of the interpretations on standing stones known to date, firstly the oldest known standing stones, or their first appearances in some regions and then those of Britain, followed by a discussion of the author’s research results that incorporate standing stones connection to Nature. The chapter finishes with the ideas on the place that standing stones had within societies within Scotland, namely as active individuals of their communities.
Book can be found at https://www.archaeopress.com/Archaeopress/Products/9781789694994

Several issues are discussed in this paper: 1) the different implementation (and distribution) of the megaliths in each zone (or rather within) and its role in controlling the territory, 2) the diversity of megalithic manifestations and their role in justification of the social order, 3) the chronology of the phenomenon, from the discussions on its origin to its many «ends». Finally we propose that «collectivism» was a way of masking the social differences which began to be exhibited from 2500 cal BC.

Dr Shirodkar's volume on rock art in Goa is an encyclopedic and pioneering venture in rock art studies in India. It has placed the petroglyphs of Usgalimal and Kajur in the background of the history of geological formation, biological evolution, megalithism, mother goddess and fertility cults in India and the world . it has put the faunal, human and geometrical designs on laterite rocks in the backdrop of hunting ,gathering and foraging communities in the river valleys of Goa.

From the point of view of funerary practices, two large, broad provinces of the Beaker culture used to be distinguished : in the south (the western Mediterranean and Iberian Peninsula) and in the west (the Atlantic region) areas of the Beaker culture, the dead would be preferentially buried in reused pre-Beaker megaliths, while the domain of the individual grave falls in the eastern region. A closer examination shows that this division does not reflect the prehistoric reality. Far from being specific to the Atlantic-Mediterranean region, the reutilisation of earlier monumental tombs (megalithic chambers or tumulus) is commonly practiced throughout the Beaker area. This practice is simply more visible in the zone with the most monumental graves which corresponds to the southern and western areas of the second megalithism. A careful review of the available literature also shows that the southern and western zone produced, alongside reused megaliths, numerous flat individual graves, which in certain cases had been covered by a tumulus. This mixture of practices is attested in all the regions of the Beaker culture where monumental tombs existed. In the south and west, the predominance of reuse is only manifested by the great visibility of monumental graves. The traditional opposition between a large province where reuse was practised and a province where individual graves were used, therefore has to be abandoned. Before the beginning of the Beaker period, reuse had already been widely practiced in the Corded ware and Yamnaja cultures, posing the question of an eventual eastern origin for this usage. In the Corded ware and Beaker culture, reused structures are not systematically monumental tombs, in a number of cases flat graves were reused. The reused funerary contexts were either old tombs, pre-Beaker or pre-Corded ware, or the first users of the tombs had the same material culture as the second users. In the first case, the chronological scope between the two users is very variable. The reuse can involve monuments abandoned for many centuries as well as 'living' structures. The idea frequently advanced that Beaker period reuse hides the reality, particularly for the Iberian Peninsula, of a continuity both demographic and ideologically from the culture substrate, is equally open to discussion. Actually, the available data strongly support a hypothesis which, in contrast, places a greater emphasis on notions of intrusion or rupture. The corresponding scenario is illustrated by the cases of partial destruction and the emptying of older monuments. The fact that monuments are frequently abandoned for centuries before they are reused also supports this argument. Finally, it is important to underline that Beaker communities in general only placed a single burial in pre-Beaker funerary chambers. There is thus not a continuity with the previous practice of collective burial, but rather the placing of an individual burial within a collective tomb. The treatment of the dead therefore obeys the same rule across the whole of the Beaker field. In the south and in the west, this practice is clearly a rupture with indigenous use. Generally, this is merely a reproduction of the funerary system used in the Corded ware culture. Résumé : Du point de vue des pratiques funéraires, les spécialistes du Campaniforme distinguent en général deux grandes provinces : au sud et à l'ouest de l'aire campaniforme, les morts seraient enterrés préférentiellement dans des sépultures mégalithiques pré-campaniformes réutilisées alors que la partie orientale serait le domaine de la tombe individuelle. Un examen approfondi montre que ce clivage ne reflète en rien la réalité préhistorique. Loin d'être spécifique à l'aire atlantico-méditerranéenne, la réutilisation de tombes monumentales anciennes est couramment pratiquée dans toute l'aire campaniforme. Elle est simplement plus visible dans la zone la mieux pourvue en sépultures monumentales, qui correspond à la partie méridionale et occidentale de l'aire de répartition du second mégalithisme. Avant de l'être par le Campaniforme, la réutilisation était déjà massivement pratiquée par le Cordé et la culture de Yamnaja, ce qui soulève la question d'une éventuelle origine orientale de cet usage. L'idée souvent avancée que la réutilisation campaniforme cache en réalité, notamment pour la Péninsule ibérique, une continuité à la fois démographique et idéologique avec les cultures du substrat, est également hautement discutable. Les données disponibles plaident en effet massivement en faveur d'une hypothèse qui, à l'inverse, fait la part belle aux notions d'intrusion et de rupture.

In this book, we review the studies concerning the genetic and cultural anthropology of the Po Valley (northern Italy), as far as they can shed light on its Celtic roots. As for genetic anthropology, we refer to the pioneering studies by Luca Cavalli Sforza and Alberto Piazza; according to these studies, the genetic landscape of modern-day Italy is virtually frozen to pre-Roman times and modern-day northern Italy is characterized by a strong Celtic component. As for cultural anthropology, we claim that some peculiarities of the Latin epigraphy, religion, onomastics and literature - and of modern-day cultural anthropology and toponomastics - of the Po Valley are perfectly compatible with the hypothesis of a Celtic imprinting that survived Romanization.

A Serra da Freita constitui um sector importante do Maciço da Gralheira, corónimo com que A. Girão designou “as complicadas formas de relevo que limitam ao Norte a bacia hidrográica do Vouga”, do qual fazem parte ainda os relevos de Arada e Arestal. O patamar altimétrico situado entre os 800 e os 1000 metros constitui um vasto planalto, pontuado por diversos relevos residuais (castle kopje), compondo um espaço natural de características muito próprias de que as comunidades pré-históricas naturalmente incorporam, culturizando-o de diferentes modos. Essa interiorização ritualizada do espaço serrano concretizou-se pela implantação de várias necrópoles, com mais de duas dezenas de monumentos megalíticos e de tradição megalítica, o conjunto de menires dos Três Irmãos e a aplicação de motivos gravados sobre algumas rochas, para além de vestígios romanos e de épocas posteriores, não considerados neste trabalho. Por outro lado, destacam-se no planalto diversos elementos geológicos de elevado interesse, recentemente inventariados e integrados no conjunto de geossítios do Geopark Arouca (membro das redes europeia e global de geoparques, sob os auspícios da UNESCO), do qual fazem parte a Frecha da Mizarela (a mais alta queda de água do território continental, com mais de 70 metros de desnível), microformas graníticas como as pedras boroas do Junqueiro ou o granito nodular da Castanheira, de onde se destacam os curiosos nódulos biotíticos que fazem das pedras parideiras da Freita, registadas pelo menos desde o século XVIII, um fenómeno único em todo o mundo, para além de numerosas pias e outras geoformas de grande interesse. Partindo do pressuposto de que às comunidades pré-históricas não seriam de todo indiferentes a estes particularismos geológicos, constituindo estes e outros geossítios verdadeiros marcadores da paisagem, a par e em articulação com os arqueossítios, ensaiam-se algumas interpretações sobre o modo como as comunidades interagiram e se incorporaram nessas dimensões espaciais, considerando a necessidade de ultrapassar as dicotomias convencionais entre o construído (arqueológico) e o não-construído (o suposto espaço “natural”), no quadro de um sentido de paisagem dinâmica, vivenciada e em profunda interacção semântica com as comunidades, de acordo com as sugestões de R. Bradley, T. Ingold e outros autores modernos. O texto incide essencialmente sobre vestígios arqueológicos pré-históricos (do 3.º ao 1.º milénios a.C.); não obstante, o inquérito antropológico aos residentes da Freita não deixaria por certo de revelar o modo como as comunidades contemporâneas perenizam a expressividade dos antigos microtopónimos e das mitograias locais como formas de criar “lugares”, na paisagem.