menhir


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menhir

(mĕn`hēr') [Breton,=long stone], in archaeology, name given to the single standing stones of Western Europe, and by extension to those of other lands. Their size varies and their shape is rough and squared, tapering toward the top. See megalithic monumentsmegalithic monument
[Gr.,=large stone], in archaeology, a construction involving one or several roughly hewn stone slabs of great size; it is usually of prehistoric antiquity.
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Menhir

 

the simplest type of megalithic structure, consisting of a single block of upright stone sunk into the ground. Menhirs measure 4-5 m high and more; the highest one is in France, and it stands 20 m high and weighs about 300 tons. Menhirs some-times form long avenues (as in Karnak) or are sometimes ar-ranged in a circle (cromlechs). Apparently, they had a religious significance. Most of the menhirs are in northwestern Europe, but some have been found in Asia and Africa. They are common in the USSR in certain parts of Siberia and the Caucasus.

REFERENCE

Schuchhardt, C. Alteuropa, 4th ed. Berlin, 1941.

menhir

A prehistoric monument consisting of a single large standing stone, sometimes rudely sculptured.

menhir

a single standing stone, often carved, dating from the middle Bronze Age in the British Isles and from the late Neolithic Age in W Europe
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References in periodicals archive ?
Una de las circunstancias mas senaladas de las estatuas menhir del noroeste es su variedad formal, hasta el punto de que, en algunos casos, el unico vinculo entre buena parte de estas estatuas menhir es su distribucion geografica.
La estela de guerrero y la estela antropomorfa de Pedra Alta (Castrelo de Val, Galicia)
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Decorated stela in Alto de la Huesera dolmen (Laguardia, Alava)/ESTELA DECORADA EN EL DOLMEN DEL ALTO DE LA HUESERA (LAGUARDIA, ALAVA)
Archaeologists Sarah Semple and Howard Williams show how prehistoric monuments (barrows, stone circles and menhirs, earthworks) retained symbolic power throughout the Anglo-Saxon period, long after their original uses had been lost or altered.
Archaeology and the sense of history in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth (1)
Similarly, the terms dolmens, menhirs, and cromlechs, words of Breton or Welsh origin that mean stone table, long stone, and stone circle, seem to be full of mystical content.
Dolmens, cromlechs, and menhirs
And also last year it bought UK companies MSB Consultants and Menhir Ltd to speed up it expansion into Europe.
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In contrast, a menhir, or 'standing stone' is a solitary, naturally shaped, phallic rock most likely associated with fertility rites.
Mysterious megaliths of Portugal
Word got around that this was the wine Pope Francis liked, and it quickly reached Menhir Salento, the Italian winery that produced the wine.
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El conjunto incluye el menhir partido en dos de la Pitera, que mide 4,35 m de largo por 1,35 m de ancho y presenta un extremo apuntado.
El dolmen del Milano y la articulacion territorial del fenomeno megalitico en el area de Barcarrota (Badajoz)
1978): La estatua menhir de Valdefuentes de Sangusin.
Las estatuas-menhir noroccidentales en contexto: conectividad y conexiones materiales durante el bronce tardio/final

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