cromlech

cromlech

cromlech (krŏmˈlĕk) [Welsh or Breton,=crooked stone], term that has changed in meaning from its original equivalent to dolmen. It later came to be used for a single standing stone and now usually refers to a circle of such stones; however, the term is used in this sense for such remains on the Continent, e.g., Britanny and Portugal, rather than for those on the British Isles.

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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

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

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

cromlech

1. A monument of prehistoric or uncertain date consisting of an enclosure formed by huge stones planted in the ground in a circle.

2. A dolmen.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

cromlech

1. a circle of prehistoric standing stones

2. (no longer in technical usage) a megalithic chamber tomb or dolmen

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005