Encyclopedia of Prehistory, Volume 4, Europe

LOCATION: North of the loessic soils of the North European plain, east ofthe Rhine, west ofthe Vistula, including Jutland and island Denmark, and southern Sweden.

DIAGNOSTIC MATERIAL ATfRIBUTES: For the earlier Funnel-

necked Beaker phase (TRB) (6000-5000 B.P.), diagnostic ceramics include funnel-necked beakers and collared flasks. Individual inhumations in timber or stone mortuary houses under earthen long barrows are typical of this phase. These long barrows were often trapezoidal or triangular in form, found in clusters, and typically between 60-80 m long and 3-11 m wide. Collective inhumations in megalithic dolmens and passage graves are also characteristic (Gimbutas 1991). Sherratt has suggested that the long barrows evoked, for their "immigrant" agricultural builders, the domestic structures of their Linear Pottery culture ancestors in the Central European "homeland," and that the megaliths, predominantly located where dense, Mesolithic hunting and foraging populations lived, was the "native" response to colonization (Sherratt 1990, 1994).

For the later Corded Ware and glopular Amphora phases (5000-4500 B.P.), diagnostic artifacts included tall beakers with everted rims and decorated with cord impressions in horizontal bands on the upper half of vessels, stone "battle-axes" with shaft holes, and globular amphorae with radial patterns on the shoulders. In contrast to the earlier Funnel-necked Beaker phase, single graves under round mounds were typical in this phase, although the graves often occur in groups under the mounds and the mounds themselves often occur in groups (Sherratt 1994; Whittle 1988).

CULTURAL SUMMARY

Environment

The climate of north-central Europe ranges from maritime (in continental Denmark and the Netherlands) to continental (in island Denmark, southern Sweden, Germany) (Dollfus 1963). The land is a fertile, lowland plain (less than 100 m above sea level) made up of glacial outwash sands and moraines (Dollfus 1963; Sherratt 1990). The vegetation of north-central Europe is dominantly mixed woodland forest.

Settlements

During the TRB phase, settlements were generally located on the lighter soils of both river valleys and

European Megalithic 171

higher elevations. Villages ranged from 100-500 m long, with the largest being 10 ha in area. Various of house types are known from this phase, including pit-dwellings and above-ground timber houses with clay daub and wickerwork walls (Gimbutas 1991).

The Corded Ware phase signaled a further expansion of human occupation in the northern European landscape. Many TRB sites were abandoned, and new settlements were established in previously unoccupied areas (Whittle 1985). Corded Ware settlements are typically made up of small, scattered groups of

tures were also more ephemeral, as the scatters of postholes from these sites suggest. This settlement evidence, in addition to the economic data, points to a more mobile way of life during this period, dominated, at least in some communities, by nomadic pastoralism (Sherratt 1994).

Economy

During the TRB phase, the farming of primarily wheat, but also barley, rye, oats, and flax, was undertaken, using antler hoes and sickles with flint blades hafted in bone and wooden handles. The plow was in use, as the discovery of plow marks under long barrows attests. Wild fruits and berries were also collected. Cattle were the dominant animal domesticate, but pigs, sheep, goats, and dogs were also exploited (Gimbutas 1991). Forest clearance was fairly intensive, as the abundance of flint axes found on sites attests (Sherratt 1994). Wild animals continued to be hunted, such as wild cattle, beaver, deer, and boar (Barker 1985). During the Corded Ware phase, a shift to more pastoral activities is documented, although cereal agriculture continued (Whittle 1985). The use of the plow intensified and allowed populations to farm heavier soils and to expand into new zones (Barker 1985; Sherratt 1981). Wooden wheels have been recovered from peat bogs, and ard marks have been preserved under barrows (Barker 1985). In Holland, pollen samples from barrows produced high values for plantains and grasses and low values for cereals, suggestive of a dominantly pastoral economy in some sites (Casparie and Groenman-van Waateringe 1982).

An important economic activity, in addition to agriculture, was the mining of flint, used to make blades and axes critical to farming. Flint sources from throughout Poland are known to have been quarried (Gimbutas 1991).

172 European Megalithic

Sociopolitical Organization

Evidence for sociopolitical organization throughout this tradition is ambiguous. For the TRB phase, no clear evidence for political authority can be discerned. The labor and organization necessary to construct the long barrows and megalithic tombs of the period may have required some form of leadership, if only for the purposes of building these tombs. It has been suggested by Bakker and Groenman-van Waateringe (1988), however, that the stones used to build the TRB tombs in Northeast Netherlands (known as hunebedden) were largely built from glacial erratics, and that the location of the stones determined the location of the tombs. Thus, only small-scale (less than 400 m) transport may have been necessary for the building of the hunebedden. These data suggest that the tombs may not necessarily reflect social or political territories but the availability of suitable building materials (Thorpe and WilliamsThorpe 1991). Analyzing the design of ceramics from TRB sites in southern Sweden, Tilley has suggested that the structure of the design elements (bounded vs. unbounded) and the condition of the ceramics (found broken in burial contexts) may reflect the need for dominant groups and individuals to distinguish and differentiate themselves (Tilley 1984). However, these analyses assume a number of difficult-to-prove assertions, such as that the structure of the ceramic designs was significant to the individuals or groups involved (Whittle 1988).

During the Corded Ware phase, the shift to individual burials may represent a change in the relationship between the individual and their social groups, with social differences more clearly expressed in the mortuary record (Whittle 1988). For example, differential treatment at death, between adult males and females, and by age, is attested. In the lower Rhine, for example, men were generally buried on their right sides with their heads facing west, and women on their left sides with their heads facing east (Lanting and van der Waals 1976). Whittle (1985) suggests that this shift represents an increase in social differentiation and complexity. In contrast, Kristiansen views this shift as representing a reversion from a chiefly territorial clan organization to a predatory segmentary system (Kristiansen 1982).

Because of the small size and dispersed location of communities during this period, it has been argued that exogamy was practiced (Champion et al. 1984).

There is no direct evidence of conflict at this time, as settlements were largely unfortified and dispersed. The battle-axes of the time may have been used in actual

conflict, although they may have also been predominantly symbols or emblems of male status.

Religion and Expressive Culture

During the TRB phase, when farming rather than pastoralism dominated, an emphasis on marking territory and place, through the building of burial monuments and domestic structures, has been suggested (Sherratt 1994). Individuals were buried in long barrows or megalithic tombs. In the long barrows were placed a number of single inhumations in coffins. Owing to soil conditions, however, the preservation of skeletal remains in the long barrows is rare. The grave goods deposited with the dead were simple and included ceramics, boar tusks, flint tools, and amber beads (Gimbutas 1991; Jensen 1982). Burials in megaliths were collective and point to the practice of secondary burial. Bones are often found disarticulated and burnt; skulls were sometimes stacked along the chamber walls (Gimbutas 1991). Other expressions of ritual behav~or are the potsherds, cattle bones, and human remams found in the ditches of causewayed camps (Gimbutas 1991). In bogs, flint ax blades were sometimes ritually deposited (Sherratt 1994).

During the Corded Ware phase, a period of greater mobility, owing to an emphasis on pastoralism, .is suggested, and ritual behavior appears to reflect thIS. In contrast to the earlier large collective tombs, there was a shift to single graves under round mounds. In some graves, cattle accompanied the deceased (Louwe Kooijmans 1974; Sherratt 1981). Adult males were typically buried with Corded Ware beakers and battle axes. Sherratt suggests that the beakers may have held fermented beverages, and that the rituals associated with consuming these beverages were an expression of solidarity and membership in an emerging elite who were not necessarily tied by a connection to fixed agricultural territories (Sherratt 1996).

References

Bakker, 1. A., and W. Groenman-van Waateringe (1988). "Megaliths, Soils and Vegetation on the Drenthe Plateau." In Man-made Soils, ed. W. Groenman-van Waateringe and M. Robinson. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports, International Series, 143181.

Barker, Graeme (1985). Prehistoric Farming in Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Casparie, W. A., and W. Groenman-van Waateringe (1982). "Palynological Analysis of Dutch Barrows." Palaeohistoria 22: 7-65. .

Champion, Timothy, Clive Gamble, Stephen Shennan, 2~d Alasdalr Whittle (1984). Prehistoric Europe. New York: AcademIC Press.

Dollfus, Jean (1963). Atlas of Western Europe. Chicago: Rand McNally and Company.

Gimbutas, Marija (1991). Civilization of the Goddess: The World of Old Europe. New York: HarperCollins.

Jensen, Jorgen (1982). The Prehistory of Denmark. New York: Methuen.

Kristiansen, Kristian (1982). "The Formation ofTribal Systems in Later European Prehistory: Northern Europe 4000-800 B.C" In Theory and Explanation in Archaeology, ed. C. Renfrew, M. Rowlands, and B. A. Seagraves. New York: Academic Press, 241-280.

Lanting, J. N., and J. D. van der Waals, (1976). "Beaker Culture Relations in the Lower Rhine Basin." In Glockenbecher Symposium, ed. J. N. Lanting, and J. D. van der Waals. Bussum-Haarlem: Fibula-van Dishoeck, 1-80.

Louwe Kooijmans, L. P. (1994). The Rhine/Meuse Delta. Four Studies in Its Prehistoric Occupation and Holocene Geology. Leiden: Analecta Praehistorica Leidensia 7.

Sherratt, Andrew (1981). "Plow and Pastoralism: Aspects of the Secondary Products Revolution." In Pattern of the Past, ed. L Hodder, G. Isaac, and N. Hammond. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 261-305.

Sherratt, Andrew (1990). "The Genesis of Megaliths: Monumentality, Ethnicity and Social Complexity in Neolithic North-West Europe."

World Archaeology 22, 2: 147-167.

Sherratt, Andrew (1994). "The Transformation of Early Agrarian Europe: the Later Neolithic and Copper Ages 4500-2500 B.C" In

The Oxford Illustrated Prehistory of Europe, ed. B. Cunliffe. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 167-201.

Sherratt, Andrew (1996). "Beakers." In The Oxford Companion to Archaeology, ed. B. M. Fagan. New York: Oxford University Press, 88-90.

Tilley, Christopher (1984). "Ideology and the Legitimation of Power in the Middle Neolithic of Southern Sweden." In Ideology, Power and Prehistory, ed. D. Miller and C. Tilley. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 111-146.

Whittle, Alasdair (1985). Neolithic Europe: a Survey. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Whittle, Alasdair (1988). Problems in Neolithic Archaeology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

SITES

Anta Grande do Zambujeiro

TIME PERIOD: 5lO0-4500 B.P. (Silva 1983).

LOCATION: Near the confluence of the Valverde and Peramanca streams, in the district of Evora, in the Alto Alentejo of southern Portugal.

DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Local Environment

Anta Grande is situated in a landscape of open plains and low hills, in a region of Portugal typified by

European Megalithic 173

granites and schists, and light fertile soils. Its climate is Mediterranean, with mild winters of moderate rainfall and warm and dry summers. The mean annual precipitation is 500-750 mm (Bartholomew 1971). Presently, the vegetation is dominated by groves of cork oaks and olive trees, although at the time of the site's use, this region was probably more forested.

Physical Features

Anta Grande do Zambujeiro is located on a low hill near granitic outcrops and overlooks the Valverde stream. The site is a dolmen made up of granitic slabs, some weighing many tons. It is in the form of a polygonal chamber with a long passage. The chamber is approximately 7 m in diameter and is made up of seven 6-m-high orthostats (standing stones), making this site one of the tallest dolmens in Europe (Kalb 1981; Parreira 1996; Silva and Parreira 1992). One of these orthostats has traces of red ocher-like pigment on its upper surface, which is believed to have been intentionally applied (Twohig 1981). The passage is approximately 12 m long and is delimited by orthostats approximately 2.5 m high. On the southeastern corner of the site lies a fallen stele-menhir (6.5 m x 3 m), which is covered in pecking. The dolmen was enclosed by a tumulus, 50 m in diameter and made up of boulders, gravel, and earth (Kalb 1981; Parreira 1996; Silva and Parreira 1992).

Cultural Aspects

Anta Grande do Zambujeiro was a burial place and ritual center and, like megalithic sites throughout western Europe, it is situated in a landscape dotted with hundreds of other megalithic sites (Gonc;alves 1975; Leisner 1949; Pereira 1875; Pina 1971; Santos 1994; Silva and Parreira 1992).

No radiocarbon dates exist for the site, but its enormous size places it in the second phase of megalith building in southern Portugal (Silva et al. 1993). Because of the acidity of the soil, little skeletal material has been preserved (Parreira 1996). Most of the artifacts recovered from within and outside the chamber date to the Late Neolithic, and include ceramic vessels (plain and decorated), callais beads, polished stone adzes and axes, flint blades, microliths, and arrowheads, copper objects, and engraved slate plaques and croziers. A flexed burial associated with a copper knife and a zoomorphic terracotta figurine suggest a continuity of the tomb's use into the Bronze Age and Iron Age, respectively (Parreira 1996; Silva and Parreira 1992).

174 European Megalithic

This collective tomb was possibly the burial place of a lineage or clan. The scale of its construction has suggested to some archaeologists that society at the time was able to produce a surplus, freeing individuals for some time of the year to engage in the building of the megalith (Silva 1983). Another potentially important aspect of the site is that it is located 8 km from an amphibolite source that was likely used by Late Neolithic and Copper Age peoples to make polished stone tools (Lillios 1997). Thus, in addition to a being a burial site and ritual center, it is possible that the site functioned as a marker of territory, which may have included agricultural and geological resources.

References

Bartholomew, John C. (1971). The Advanced Atlas of Modern Geography. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd.

Gon~alves, J. Pires (1975). "Roteiro de alguns megalitos da regiiio de Evora." A Cidade de Evora 58: 3-23.

Kalb, Philine (1981). "Zur relativen Chronologie portugiesischer Megalithgraber." Madrider Mitteilungen 22: 55-77.

Leisner, Georg (1949). Antas dos Arredores de Evora. Evora: Edi~6es Nazareth.

Lillios, Katina T. (1997). "Amphibolite Tools of the Portuguese Copper Age (3000-2000 B.C.): A Geoarchaeological Approach to Prehistoric Economics and Symbolism." Geoarchaeology 12,2: 137163.

Parreira, Rui (1996). "Anta Grande do Zambujeiro: Programa de salvaguarda e valoriza~iio." Unpublished manuscript.

Pereira, Gabriel (1875). Dolmens ou Antas dos Arredores de Evora.

Evora.

Pina, H. L. (1971). "Novos monumentos megaliticos do Distrito de Evora." In Actas do II Congresso Nacional de Arqueologia, Coimbra.

Coimbra.

Santos, Ana Palma dos (1994). Monumentos megaliticos do Alto Alentejo. Lisbon: Fenda.

Silva, Antonio Carlos, and Rui Parreira (1992). A Guide to the Monuments of the Evora Region. Evora: Camara Municipal de Evora.

Silva, Armando Coelho Ferreira da, Luis Raposo, and Carlos Tavares da Silva (1993). Pre-Historia de Portugal. Lisbon: Universidade Aberta.

Silva, Carlos Tavares da (1983). "0 megalitismo e os primeiros metalurgistas." In Historia de Portugal. Lisbon: Alfa.

Twohig, Elizabeth Shee (1981). The Megalithic Art of Western Europe.

Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Barnenez

TIME PERIOD: 6700-3500 B.P.

LOCATION: Located east of the estuary at Morlaix, In P10uezoc'h (Finistere), northern Brittany, France.

DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Local Environment

The site of Barnenez overlooks the estuary at Morlaix (Mohen 1990). The climate of coastal Brittany is West Maritime, with cool winters, warm summers, and rain throughout the year (Bartholomew 1971); the mean annual precipitation is between 800-1,000 mm (Dollfus 1963). Soils are generally acidic (Giot 1960). Since the site's initial construction and use in the 7th millennium B.P., sea levels have risen, and thus, the site is now closer to the coast (Mohen 1990).

Physical Features

Barnenez is an extremely large trapezoidal cairn (70 m x 20 m), which encloses a total of 11 passage graves (Burl 1985; Giot 1960; Mohen 1990). The graves were placed side by side, aligned roughly north-south, with their openings all facing the south (Giot 1960). Various of construction methods were used to build the tombs, including masonry, dry stone, and corbeling, and both large and small blocks of stone were employed (Giot 1960). Curbed tiers of dry-stone walling enclosed the tumulus and formed the outline for the mass of rubble that covered the graves (Giot 1960). The total volume of the cairn has been estimated to be over 6,000 cu m. (Mohen 1990). The stones used to build the tombs likely came from 1-2 km away (Burl 1985). Many of the stones making up the passage graves were decorated with wavy lines, yoke motives, and axes (Twohig 1981).

Cultural Aspects

Barnenez was constructed in two phases. During the first, at around 6700 B.P., the easternmost tumulus and five passage graves were built; the dominant stone used in this phase was a greenish dolerite (Joussaume 1988). During the second phase, at around 6300 B.P., the tumulus was extended to the west, and six more passage graves were built; the primary stone used at this time was a pale granite (Joussaume 1988; Mohen 1990). Artifactual remains point to the use of the site until about 3500 B.P., or the Early Bronze Age.

A few human remains have been preserved, but because of the soil's destructive acidity, it is impossible to know how many individuals were interred at the site (Mohen 1990).

The enormity of the cairn suggests that a significant labor pool was available for large collective efforts and some social ranking was present in Neolithic Brittany.

The precise motivations for constructing such large collective burial spaces will always remain unknown. However, such an enduring, monumental, and public collective burial place suggests a high value was placed on representing ancestry and enduring ties to the land and its resources.

References

Bartholomew, John C. (1971). The Advanced Atlas of Modern Geography. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd.

Burl, Aubrey (1985). Megalithic Brittany. London: Thames and Hudson.

Dollfus, Jean (1963). Atlas of Western Europe. Chicago: Rand McNally and Company.

Giot, Pierre-Roland (1960). Brittany. London: Thames and Hudson. Joussaume, Roger (1988). Dolmens for the Dead: Megalith-Building

Throughout the World. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Mohen, Jean-Pierre (1990). The World of Megaliths. New York: Facts on File.

Twohig, Elizabeth Shee (1981). The Megalithic Art of Western Europe.

Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Bougon

TIME PERIOD: 6700-4500 B.P.

LOCATION: In the departement of Deux-Sevres, in westcentral France.

DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Local Environment

The climate in the area of Bougon is West Maritime; winters are cool, summers are warm, and there is rain throughout the year (Bartholomew 1971).

Physical Features

Bougon is a necropolis and sanctuary made up of five monuments. Mound A is a circular cairn approximately 40 m in diameter, which encloses a passage grave with a rectangular chamber. The horizontal covering stone for this chamber weighs 90 tons. In the chamber, which is divided into two parts, were found the remains of about 200 individuals. Mound B is a

European Megalithic 175

trapezoidal mound (35 m by 12 m) enclosing 2 small stone cists and two small chamber tombs. Mound C is a large hemispherical mound, 57 m in diameter and presently 4 m high. To the west of this mound is a small-sided chamber tomb. Mound E has a roughly crown shape to it and contains two passage-graves. Mound F is trapezoidal, 80 m long, and encloses a number of tombs, including two chamber tombs and a long mound (Mohen 1971, 1977, 1990).

Cultural Aspects

The site of Bougon is located, as with so many European megaliths, in a veritable megalithic landscape. In addition, however, are two settlement areas, located to the north and to the south of the mortuary and sanctuary space. This landscape was clearly important to local communities for over 2000 years, as the chronology for the building and reuse of the monuments attest (Mohen 1990). As with megalithic tombs in general, the mounds and tombs at Bougon illustrate a high value placed on the visible, enduring, and public display of ancestors.

The stones used in the construction of Bougon are Jurassic and Tertiary limestone blocks, which derived from an on-site source as well as others within 5 km of the site (Mohen 1990; Thorpe and Williams-Thorpe 1991).

Bougon is perhaps most notable for the important experiments in megalith stone quarrying, moving, and erecting carried out there in 1979 by the French archaeologist J.-P. Mohen and his colleagues. For example, given the labor that was necessary to move a 32-ton slab (equivalent to the weight of the capstone of chamber tomb F2), it was deduced that the population of several villages would have had to be involved in the transport of the slab (using oak rollers) (Mohen 1990).

References

Bartholomew, John C. (1971). The Advanced Atlas of Modern Geography. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd.

Mohen, Jean-Pierre (1973). "Les Tumulus de Bougon." Bulletin de la Societe Historique et Scientifique des Deux-Sevres, nos. 2-3.

Mohen, Jean-Pierre (1977). "Les Tumulus de Bougon." Bulletin de la Societe Historique et Scientifique des Deux-Sevres, nos. 2-3.

Mohen, Jean-Pierre (1990). The World of Megaliths. New York: Facts on File.

Thorpe, R. S., and O. Williams-Thorpe (1991). "The Myth of LongDistance Megalith Transport." Antiquity 65, 246: 64-73.

176 European Megalithic

Carnac (Kermario, Le Menec,

Kerlescan, Petit Menec)

TIME PERIOD: 5000--4000 B.P.

LOCATION: Located near the village of Carnac (Morbihan), in southern Brittany, France.

DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Local Environment

The stone alignments of Carnac (elevation 20 m above sea level) are situated in an undulating terrain, 3 km from the shores of Quiberon bay (Thorn and Thorn 1978). The climate of the region is West Maritime, with cool winters, warm summers, and rain throughout the year; the mean annual precipitation is 800-1000 mm (Bartholomew 1971; Dollfus 1963). The soils are generally acidic (Giot 1960). Presently, the surrounding area is partially wooded (Giot 1960).

Physical Features

The stone alignments at Carnac might be more appropriately designated an archaeological landscape rather than a site. They extend over 4 km, run approximately southwest to northeast (although not always in a straight line and often changing direction), and are made up of nearly 3,000 standing stones (Burl 1985; Giot 1960; Thorn and Thorn 1978), although originally there were probably around 10,000 stones (Mohen 1990). Many of the stones stand directly on the bedrock surface (Giot 1960).

Four groups of standing stones make up the Carnac alignments; these are Le Menec (1,169 stones), Kermario (1,029 stones), Kerlescan (598 stones), and Petit Menec. The westernmost group at Le Menec is formed by 12 lines of stones and two cromlechs, one at the west end and one at the east end. The tallest stone of this group is about 4 m. After a gap of 240 m at Kermario, there are 10 lines of stones; the tallest stone of this group is about 6 m high. The cromlech from which this alignment likely extended has not been preserved. The Kermario group passes through a dale, crosses the Ravin de Kerloquet, and continues over the unchambered long mound of Manio. After a gap of 393 m

begins the group at Kerlescan, made up of a barrelshaped cromlech on its west end and 13 lines of 555 stones, the tallest of which is about 4 m high. Like the Kermario alignment, part of the cromlech passes another long mound. To the north of Kerlescan lies the remains of another large cromlech. To the east is the alignment of Petit Menec, which likely is a continuation of Kerlescan (Giot 1960; Thorn and Thorn 1978).

Cultural Aspects

The alignments and cromlechs at Carnac have occasioned centuries of speculation. They have been variously believed to represent the tombs of soldiers, a temple, an observatory to monitor the course of the sun and moon, and even courts ofjustice (Mohen 1990). The most famous of the studies of the Carnac alignments was carried out by the British astronomer Alexander Thorn and his son A. S. Thorn. Carefully surveying and mapping the positions of the stones, they derived regularities in the distances separating the stones and called this the megalithic rod and the megalithic yard (Thorn and Thorn 1978). Although the regularities in the positioning of the stones are clear even without precise measurements, the fact that many of the stones were moved and re-erected suggests caution in overly precise calculations at the site. Nonetheless, skills in engineering and possibly an interest in astronomy were likely characteristics of the groups that erected these stones.

References

Bartholomew, John C. (\971). The Advanced Atlas of Modern Geography. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd.

Burl, Aubrey (1985). Megalithic Brittany. London: Thames and Hudson.

Dollfus, Jean (\963). Atlas of Western Europe. Chicago: Rand McNally and Company.

Giot, Pierre-Roland (\960). Brittany. London: Thames and Hudson. Mohen, Jean-Pierre (1990). The World of Megaliths. New York: Facts

on File.

Thorn, Alexander, and A. S. Thorn (1978). Megalithic Remains in Britain and Brittany. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Le Grand Menhir Brise at

Locmariaquer (Men-er-Hroeg,

Er Grah)

TIME PERIOD: 5000 B.P.

LOCATION: Located near the village of Locmariaquer (Morbihan), in southern Brittany, France.

DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Local Environment

The Grand Menhir Brise (elevation 25 m above sea level) is situated on a tumulus in a fairly level terrain on the Locmariaquer peninsula, approximately 1 km from the shores of Quiberon bay (Thorn and Thorn 1978). The climate of the region is West Maritime, with cool winters, warm summers, and rain throughout the year; the mean annual precipitation is 800-1000 mm (Bartholomew 1971; Dollfus 1963). The soils are generally acidic (Giot 1960). Presently, the area is largely deforested, owing to agricultural activity (Giot 1960).

Physical Features

This enormous menhir (isolated standing stone), now broken into four pieces, was originally 20 m long, and as such, it is the largest artificially cut stone in Europe (Thorn and Thorn 1978). One of the menhir fragments was decorated with a carved hafted axe (Twohig 1981). The menhir is made of granite, whose source has variously been placed between 4 km (Burl 1985) and 50 km away (Michell 1982). It weighs approximately 350 ton (Giot 1960). When and why it broke are unclear. Possibly it was pulled down in the Neolithic for religious reasons (Mohen 1990), or it may have fallen down about 700 years ago as the result of an earthquake or lightning (Thorn and Thorn 1978). It is is not even certain that the monument ever stood, as its topheaviness may have caused it to collapse while being erected (Giot 1960).

As is typical of megalithic sites in western Europe, Le Grand Menhir is situated in a landscape dotted with the remains of many other megalithic sites, including other menhirs (Burl 1985; Giot 1960; Mohen 1990).

Cultural Aspects

The possible astronomical significance of the site, perhaps a reference point for lunar observations to predict eclipses, has been most commonly cited (Mohen 1990; Thorn and Thorn 1978). However, groups in Borneo are known to have erected large standing stones, brought from afar, to demonstrate the high status of a family, to memorialize acts of bravery, or to mark the grave of an important person (Renfrew 1973). Thus, it is also possible that the Grand Menhir may have served

European Megalithic 177

purposes other than as a lunar observatory. What is clear is that a high level of engineering expertise and coordinated labor would have been required to transport and erect this 350-ton block of stone.

References

Bartholomew, John C. (1971). The Advanced Atlas of Modern Geography. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd.

Burl, Aubrey (1985). Megalithic Brittany. London: Thames and

Hudson.

Dollfus, Jean (1963). Atlas of Western Europe. Chicago: Rand McNally and Company.

Giot, Pierre-Roland (1960). Brittany. London: Thames and Hudson. Michell, John (1982). Megalithomania: Artists, Antiquarians, and Archaeologists of the Old Stone Monuments. Ithaca: Cornell

University Press.

Mohen, Jean-Pierre (1990). The World of Megaliths. New York: Facts on File.

Renfrew, Colin (1973). Before Civilization: The Radiocarbon Revolution and Prehistoric Europe. London: Jonathan Cape.

Thorn, Alexander, and A. S. Thorn (1978). Megalithic Remains in Britain and Brittany. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Twohig, Elizabeth Shee (1981). The Megalithic Art of Western Europe.

Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Los Millares

TIME PERIOD: 5000-4200 B.P.

LOCATION: On a promontory (elevation 230 m) at the confluence of the Andarax river and the Rambla de Huechar, in the province of Almeria, in southeastern Spain.

DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Local Environmeut

Los Millares is situated in the calcareous lowlands of southeastern Spain (Almagro and Arribas 1963). The climate of this region is Mediterranean. Mild winters with moderate rain and warm and dry summers are typical (Bartholomew 1971), and the mean annual rainfall is between 200-400 mm (Chapman 1990). Today, only xerophytic plants can be found growing in the area of the site (Almagro and Arribas 1963).

Although the remains of pine, chestnut, and ash/ locust were found in archaeological levels at Los Millares (Oliva Rodriguez and Vernet 1991), the presence of relict xerorendsina soils at the site suggests that

178European Megalithic

the local climate was arid at the time of the site's occupation (Almagro and Arribas 1963).

Physical Features

The site of Los Millares is quite complex, the result of numerous building and rebuilding phases (Almagro and Arribas 1963; Arribas and Molina 1982, 1984; Arribas et al. 1979, 1981, 1983; Chapman 1990; Molina 1989; Molina and Arribas 1993). It includes a walled settlement (5 ha), a cemetery of approximately 80 megalithic tombs, and 13 associated outpost "forts" located on the surrounding hills. The settlement area is enclosed by three extensive lines of dry-stone walls, each with numerous bastions and towers. Within and between these walls are the remains of rectangular and circular structures, some of which were likely domestic spaces, as well as a 3-m-deep pit, possibly used for water storage (Arribas et al. 1981). The tombs are generally dry-stone-walled passage graves with corbeled vaults, but some are without the corbeled roofs or are round tombs without passages (Leisner and Leisner 1943).

Cultural Aspects

Los Millares is the type site for the Copper Age of southeastern Spain, a period notable for the emergence of social stratification in Spain. Prior to the development and calibration of radiocarbon dating, the site had been viewed as a trading outpost established by East Mediterranean colonists (in search of metals in Iberia), although no objects could be demonstrated to be of East Mediterranean origin (Almagro 1959; Blance 1961; Renfrew 1973). Presently, the site's establishment and evolution are seen in terms of local economic and sociopolitical processes. Site catchment analyses suggest the practice of wet farming, or hydraulic agriculture (Gilman and Thomes 1985), although the remains of pig, cattle, ovicaprids, dog, horse, and deer (Arribas 1968; Siret and Siret 1887) also point to pastoral and hunting activities as important elements in the site's subsistence economy. Nonlocal objects made from ivory and ostrich eggshell from North Africa, in addition to callais and amber, indicate long-distance trade (Chapman 1990; Harrison and Gilman 1977), and copper artifacts, decorated pottery, and bifacial flint tools suggest craft specialization. Evidence for on-site metallurgy, the manufacture of flint arrowheads, and the processing and storage of cereals attest to a varied productive base at the site (Molina 1989). The population at Los Millares has been estimated at 1,000 (Chapman 1990).

Social ranking between individuals or groups living at the site is suggested by differentation in the form, content, and location of the tombs, which were collective. For example, the tombs with the highest proportion of prestige goods are located closest to the settlement (Chapman 1990). The population at Los Millares itself may have dominated the regional sociopolitical landscape, as a number of contemporary smaller settlements and burials near Los Millares have been discovered (Rodriguez Lopez and Cara Barrionuevo 1985). Chapman (1978) has suggested that social stratification developed at Los Millares in response to increasing aridity, which encouraged population aggregation and specialization. Gilman (1976, 1981) has argued that the capital investments in irrigation facilities that were necessary to survive in this arid region encouraged a long-term commitment to the settlement and discouraged fission, ultimately resulting in a social environment conducive to the rise of opportunistic and self-aggrandizing elites.

References

Almagro, Martin (1959). "La primera fecha absoluta para la Cultura de Los Millares a base del Carbono 14." Ampurias 21: 249-251.

Almagro, Martin, and Antonio Arribas (1963). El Poblado y la Necropolis Megaliticos de Los Millares. Madrid: Bibliotheca Praehistorica Hispana.

Arribas, Antonio (1968). "Las bases economicas del Neolitico al Bronze." In Estudios de Economia Antigua de la Peninsula Iberica, ed. M. Tarradell. Barcelona: Vicens-Vires, 33-60.

Arribas, Antonio, and Fernando Molina (1982). "Los Millares. Neue Ausgrabungen in der Kupferzeitlichen Siedlung (1978-81)." Madrider Mitteilungen 23: 9-32.

Arribas, Antonio, and Fernando Molina (1984). "The Latest Excavations of the Copper Age settlement of Los Millares, Almeria, Spain." In The Deya Conference of Prehistory, part 3, ed. W. H. Waldren, R. Chapman, J. Lewthwaite, and R. C. Kennard. Oxford: BAR International Series, 1029-1050.

Arribas, Antonio, Fernando Molina, Leovigildo Saez, Francisco de la Torre, Pedro Aguayo, and Trinidad Najera (1979). "Excavaciones en Los Millares (Santa Fe, Almeria); Campanas de 1978 y 1979."

Cuadernos de Prehistoria de la Universidad de Granada 4: 61-110. Arribas, Antonio, Fernando Molina, Leovigildo Saez, Francisco de la Torre, Pedro Aguayo, and Trinidad Najera (1981). "Excavaciones en

Los Millares (Santa Fe de Mondujar, Almeria). Campana de 1981."

Cuadernos de Prehistoria de la Universidad de Granada 6: 91-121. Arribas, Antonio, Fernando Molina, Leovigildo Saez, Francisco de la

Torre, Pedro Aguayo, and Trinidad Najera (1983). "Nuevas excavaciones en Los Millares (1978-1981)." In XVI Congreso Nacional de Arqueologia, Zaragoza 1983. Zaragoza, 147-166.

Bartholomew, John C. (1971). The Advanced Atlas of Modern Geography. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd.

Blance, Beatrice (1961). "Early Bronze Age Colonists in Iberia." Antiquity 35: 192-202.

Chapman, Robert (1978). "The Evidence for Prehistoric Water Control in South-East Spain." Journal of Arid Environments 1: 261-274.

Chapman, Robert (l990). Emerging Complexity: The Later Prehistory of South-East Spain, Iberia and the West Mediterranean. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Gilman, Antonio (l976). "Bronze Age Dynamics in Southeast Spain."

Dialectical Anthropology I: 307-319.

Gilman, Antonio (l981). "The Development of Social Stratification in Bronze Age Europe." Current Anthropology 22: 1-23.

Gilman, Antonio, and J. B. Thomes (1985). Land-Use and Prehistory in South-East Spain. London: Allen and Unwin.

Harrison, Richard J. and Antonio Gilman (I 977}. "Trade in the Second and Third Millennia B.C. between the Maghreb and Iberia."

Ancient Europe and the Mediterranean, ed. V. Markotic. Warminster: Aris and Phillips, 89-104.

Leisner, Georg, and Vera Leisner (l943). Die Megalithgriiber der Iberischen Halbinsel. Der Siiden. Romische-Germanische Forschungen I, I. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.

Molina, Fernando (1989). "Proyecto Millares (Los inicios de la metalurgia y el desarollo de las comunidades del sudeste de la peninsula iberica durante la edad del Cobre}." Anuario Arqueol6gico de Andalucia: 211-213.

Molina, Fernando, and Antonio Arribas (1993). Proyecto: Mil/ares (Los inicios de la metalurgia y el desarollo de las comunidades del sudeste de la peninsula iberica durante la edad del Cobre). Investigaciones Arqueol6gicas en Andalucia 1985-92. Junta de Andalucia.

Oliva Rodriguez, M., and Jean-Louis Vernet (1991). "Premiers Resultats paleocologiques de l'etablissement cha\Colithique de Los Millares (Santa Fe de Mondujar, Almeria, Espagne) d'apres I'analyse anthracologique de l'etablissement." In lInd Deya International Conference of Prehistory, vol. I, ed. W. H. Waldren, J. A.

Ensenyat, and R. C. Kennard. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports, 1-16.

Renfrew, Colin (1943). Before Civilization: The Radiocarbon Revolution and Prehistoric Europe. London: Jonathan Cape.

Rodriguez Lopez, Juana Maria, and Lorenzo Cara Barrionuevo (1985). "Megalitos de puerta perforada en los alrededores de Los Millares." In XVII Congreso Nacional de Arqueologia, Zaragoza,

Spain. 211-220.

Siret, Henri, and Louis Siret (l887). Les premiers ages du metal dans Ie sud-est de I'Espagne. Anvers.

Newgrange

TIME PERIOD: 5200-4600 B.P.

LOCATION: On the river Boyne, in county Meath, in eastcentral Ireland.

DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Local Environment

Newgrange is located on a low ridge (elevation 61 m) in an area of glacial hillocks and terraces (O'Kelly, C. in M. O'Kelly, 1982). It is situated in a

European Megalithic 179

West Maritime climatic regime, which experiences cool winters, warm summers, and rain throughout the year (Bartholomew 1971). The mean annual precipitation is between 700-800 mm (Dollfus 1963).

Analyses of pollen and seed remains from the site's soils point to an open landscape at the time of the site's use, with forest vegetation probably present only along the river's banks (Groenman-van Waateringe and Pals in M. O'Kelly, 1982). It has been noted that the extensive turf stripping necessary for building the cairn must have destroyed the fertility of the surrounding soil, preventing its use for agriculture and grazing (M. O'Kelly, 1982).

Physical Features

Newgrange is an enormous and complex megalithic tomb made up of a number of elements (c. O'Kelly, 1967; M. O'Kelly, 1982; O'Riord<iin and Daniel 1964). A circle of 12 orthostats (standing stones) surrounds the large circular cairn, which encloses a passage grave. None of these orthostats is decorated, and there was likely a total of between 35 and 38 when the site was in use. They are generally made of greywacke or slate and average 2.5 m in height. The cairn, which is approximately 100 m in diameter and made up of water-worn pebbles and interspersed turf, is retained by a kerb of 97 contiguous greywacke and slate slabs (each weighing at least 1 ton) laid on their long sides. Many of the curbstones are elaborately pecked with a variety of motives, such as spirals, chevrons, and lozenges. Above the curb is a revetment wall made up of white quartz stones and granite boulders, which rose up to 3 m above the curb. Enclosed in the cairn is a long (20 m) passage grave with a cruciform corbel-vaulted chamber, whose roofed passage opens out to the southeast of the mound. Many of the orthostats that make up the passage and chamber are also decorated and made generally of greywacke or slate. Above the passage mouth is a feature unique to the site called a roof-box, which is also decorated. Blocking the entrance to the passage was a large (3.5 m long) elaborately decorated closing stone.

Two features, an oval stone setting (east of the tomb entrance) and a hut foundation (west of the tomb entrance), were found near the mound. The oval setting may date to the time of the monument's use, whereas the hut likely dates to a later period (but before the Late Neolithic/Beaker-period settlement located nearby) (M. O'Kelly, 1982).

Newgrange has undergone extensive restoration under the direction of its principal excavator, Michael

180European Megalithic

O'Kelly, and it is now possible to see the site as it may have appeared in prehistory.

Cultural Aspects

As with all megalithic sites in general, Newgrange is best understood in its spatial, historical, and cultural context. Newgrange is situated in a landscape dotted with dozens of other megalithic sites, including Dowth and Knowth (Mohen 1990; M. O'Kelly, 1982; M. O'Kelly, et al. 1982). The site appears to have been associated with a settlement in the Late Neolithic and Beaker periods (and thus postdating the use of the site as a burial) as evidenced by the flint artifacts and debitage, pottery (including Beakers), a tin-bronze ax (O'Kelly and Shell 1978), and animal bones found outside the curb (M. O'Kelly, 1982).

Given the scale and complexity of Newgrange, it was likely the burial place of an elite lineage or set of lineages. Unfortunately, however, few grave goods from within the cairn that date to the period of Newgrange's construction have survived. What has been found include faunal and botanical remains and some artifacts (M. O'Kelly, 1982). Burnt and unburnt human remains, representing at least five individuals and found in association with concave basin stones in the chamber, provide evidence for the rites of cremation as well as the burial of uncremated bodies at the site.

What is clear is that an enormous amount of energy went into the quarrying, collecting, moving, setting, and decorating of the stones at Newgrange as well as into the stripping of the turf which made up the cairn. Furthermore, to have supported and coordinated this labor, a society with an economic surplus as well as some social ranking (at least for the purposes of managing a large collective project) must have existed in Ireland at the time that Newgrange was built.

Much has been made of the possible astronomical significance of the site. It has been found that at sunrise on the day of the midwinter solstice, the rays of the sun shine through the roof-box and illuminate the inner passage and chamber (Mohen 1990; M. O'Kelly, 1982; Patrick 1974). It has also been shown that a number of tombs located within 60 km of the site are oriented toward Newgrange itself (Patrick 1975).

References

Bartholomew, John C. (1971). The Advanced Atlas of Modern Geography. Edinburgh: Oliver and Boyd.

Dollfus, Jean (1963). Atlas of Western Europe. Chicago: Rand McNally and Company.

Mohen, Jean-Pierre (1990). The World of Megaliths. New York: Facts

on File.

O'Kelly, Claire (1967). Illustrated Guide to Newgrange. Wexford: John English and Co.

O'Kelly, Michael J. (1982). Newgrange: Archaeology, Art and Legend.

London: Thames and Hudson.

O'Kelly, Michael J., and C. A. Shell (1978). "Stone Objects and a Bronze Axe from Newgrange, Co. Meath." In The Origins of Metallurgy in Atlantic Europe, 5th Atlantic Colloquium, Dublin, ed. M. Ryan. Dublin, 127-144.

O'Kelly, Michael. J., F. Lynch, and Claire O'Kelly (1982). "Three Passage-Graves at Newgrange, Co. Meath." Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 78C: 249-352.

O'Riordain, S. P., and Glyn, Daniel (1964). New Grange and the Bend of the Boyne. London: Thames and Hudson.

Patrick, J. (1974). "Midwinter Sunrise at Newgrange." Nature 249: 517-519.

Patrick, J. (1975). "Megalithic Exegesis-A Comment." Irish Archaeological Research Forum 2.2: 9-14.

Skara Brae

TIME PERIOD: 5100-4450 B.P.

LOCATION: On Skaill bay on the west coast of the mainland of Orkney, Scotland.

DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Local Environment

Skara Brae is located in a treeless landscape on sand hills close to the coast of Skaill bay. The average annual rainfall exceeds 1000 mm, and gale force winds (over 39 mph) occur regularly; the persistent rains and regular winds likely constrained outdoor activities during prehistory. The site was farther from the coast during its occupation, but a rise in sea level and consequent coastal erosion have brought the water's edge right up to the site (Davidson and Jones 1985; MacKie 1975; Ritchie and Ritchie 1981).

Physical Features

The Neolithic village of Skara Brae is a cluster of flagstone houses interconnected by narrow roofed passages, also made of flagstone (Twohig 1981). Ten houses built over a number of phases, some with walls preserved to 3 m high and plastered with clay on the outer face, have been identified (MacKie 1975; Ritchie and Ritchie 1981; Twohig 1981). The huts are generally