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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The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia™ Copyright © 2013, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

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

menhir

A prehistoric monument consisting of a single large standing stone, sometimes rudely sculptured.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

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
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
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