cromlech
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cromlech
Cromlech
a type of megalithic structure of the Neolithic period and primarily the Bronze Age. Usually, a cromlech consists of huge (up to 6–7 m high) free-standing stones that form one circle or several concentric circles. The stones enclose an area sometimes containing a dolmen or menhir. Cromlechs reveal that their creators already possessed the fundamentals of composition, a feeling for rhythm and scale, and the tectonics of post-and-lintel construction. Excavations within cromlechs have yielded burials, polished stone axes, modeled pottery, and stone grain mortars.
Cromlechs are encountered in Asia and America, but they are particularly abundant in Europe (France, Great Britain) and the USSR (in Transcaucasia). The cromlechs of Stonehenge and Avebury in Great Britain and Carnac in France are particularly well known. Their purpose is debatable. Most likely, they were ritual structures for burials and for religious ceremonies. According to one theory, cromlechs were connected with the sun cult and were temples of the sun.
A. L. MONGAIT