Structures made of huge boulders. Megalithic structures: types and types

On all continents of our planet, with the exception of Antarctica, you can find mysterious structures made of processed blocks of stone. They are called megaliths. Most of the buildings consist of huge, weighing from tens to hundreds and even thousands of tons. boulders.

Stone blocks are carefully hewn and polished thousands of years ago. But even the past centuries could not affect the quality of their connection - they are fitted to each other so precisely that it is impossible to stick a knife blade into the joints.

Most of the megaliths are located near the shores of seas and rivers, sometimes they are under water, and often occupy high mountains. The material for the manufacture of megaliths is often not found in the nearest district and was probably delivered hundreds of kilometers from the place of extraction to the construction site.

All tens of thousands of currently known dolmens can be divided into several types, according to the features of their design:

1. Actually classical dolmens.
2. Underground dolmens - tulumus.
3. Ensembles of dolmens - cairns.
4. Single processed stones - menhirs.
5. Constructions of three stones - triliths.
6. Complexes of many triliths - cromlechs.
7. Cyclopean walls, built from the likeness of bricks - huge stone blocks.

Classic dolmens. They are the most common. There are more than 65 thousand of them scientifically described in the world! By their design, they represent four vertically placed stone slabs that form walls, and a thicker slab covering them - a kind of cover.

Often the "lid" is located with a bevel in one direction and an overhang in the opposite direction. Thus, a "visor" is formed. In the slab, under this visor, at a height of about half a meter from the ground, there is a through hole drilled with excellent quality. The diameter of such a hole is about 50-60 centimeters.

It is extremely rare to find dolmens, the openings of which are either completely absent or closed with a kind of mushroom-shaped plug, carved from the same material as the wall slabs. Even more rare are classical dolmens that do not have walls at all; they are replaced by four pillars carved from stone, on which a multi-ton cover rests.

Geographically, classical dolmens are scattered across all latitudes - from northern Scotland to the islands of Oceania.

A rare type of classic dolmens are tulumus. Even in ancient times, builders placed them either in the bowels of caves, or simply covered them with earth for unknown purposes. Otherwise, in their design, tulumuses are no different from ordinary dolmens.

Cairns. They are huge ensembles of many classical dolmens. Placed side by side, such dolmens form giant covered galleries. In terms of size, the cairns are in no way inferior to the pyramids. But not in terms of height - it rarely exceeds 15-20 meters, but in its area - for example, the Barneiz cairn (located in northern France) covers an area of ​​more than two hectares!

Menhirs. This is another type of dolmen, distinguished by its minimalism. Their appearance is stone columns, up to 25-30 meters high, whose weight sometimes exceeds 500 tons! Such columns are often installed strictly vertically or at a certain, strictly adjusted angle in desert places.

Sometimes dozens or even thousands of menhirs are installed not far from each other. Thus, they form huge fields of vertically standing cyclopean columns.

Triliths. A curious type of dolmen is the development of the menhir - two vertical stone columns were installed nearby, and a third was placed horizontally on top of them. So the giant gate was obtained.

Cromlechs are complex, ring-shaped complexes of triliths spread over vast areas. Such a design is the well-known Stonehenge. This monument ancient architecture built from dozens of stone blocks, whose weight is about 50 tons, and the length is 8-10 meters! The area of ​​Stonehenge exceeds one and a half hectares!

Particularly worth it. For a very long time it was believed that megaliths can only be on the surface of the land. However, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, reputable archaeological expeditions made a series of sensational discoveries - they found a lot of underwater megaliths!

The first such discovery was made by west coast islands of Cuba (at a depth of more than 600 meters), a little later, megaliths were discovered in Indian Ocean off the coast of Indonesia and pacific ocean, off the coast of Japan and a number of islands in Oceania.

Not far from the last of the megaliths, in fact, there are almost a hundred small islands, with an area of ​​more than 90 hectares. Here, under the waters of the Pacific Ocean, giant buildings were found - the Non-Madol Temple, fortress walls and sea dams.

Their height in some places exceeds 20-30 meters and never falls below 10 meters. Since it is well known from the studies of paleoclimatologists, and there is no doubt about the dynamics of the ocean level, this makes it possible to accurately date the minimum age of these grandiose structures: from 10 to 15 millennia ago!

But, despite all of the above, official historical science is still recognized as an indisputable truth: megaliths were built by primitive tribes in the era of the end of the Stone Age - in the Neolithic. This was, according to the assurances of venerable archaeologists, not earlier than the 7th millennium BC.

But as shown above, this statement is erroneous. In addition to the facts of the latest finds, there are a number of controversial issues.

The material for the construction of megaliths was a natural mineral, which was formed hundreds of millions of years ago. Until now, there is no sufficiently reliable method for determining the time when the megalith blocks were cut from the rock mass in a quarry.

For this reason, a radiocarbon analysis of the remains of the vital activity of people found next to the megalith in the cultural layers accompanying it is carried out. Often such objects are the traces of ancient fires that were bred inside dolmens.

In the case of menhirs, the age of the nearest Paleolithic site of primitive people is usually taken as the point of their creation. With all the obvious unreliability and proximity of such dating, even it suggests that the megaliths are orders of magnitude older than all the peoples known to us who lived on these lands.

BEHIND THE MYSTERIES OF MEGALITHES.

As a result, a logical question arises - why did people build these gigantic structures in those ancient times? The first step to answering this question is to find out how the megaliths were built.

The most common explanation in the scientific community for the construction of megaliths comes down to an analogy with the construction of pyramids. In the sense that hundreds of people were involved, from blocks, ropes and levers. It was in this way that giant stone blocks.

But if you think about it, you can find a number of contradictions in this explanation. First of all, the fact that the pyramids are relatively few and they were built for decades in lands rich in resources to provide builders. But megaliths are known tens of thousands of copies. And many of them stand in hard-to-reach places, and in the lands surrounding them there have never been rich sources for the life of primitive tribes.

It can be concluded that megaliths were built quite quickly. This is confirmed by many legends among various peoples about the creators of megaliths. In these legends, white, red-bearded gods or goddesses are reported who came to these lands from afar and built megaliths in a matter of days.

After analyzing all the above facts, we can conclude that the megaliths were built by some ancient sailors. They belonged to an ancient culture unknown to us, quite highly developed, possessing a significant amount of knowledge about mechanics, geometry and crystal chemistry.

In search of an answer to the question of the purpose of megaliths, it was believed for a very long time that they were tombs. But in thousands of structures that have been studied in detail, not even a hint of the remains of burials has been revealed. And if they were there, then a much later era. If megaliths were structures for ritual purposes, then why are they so unlike other structures for performing religious rituals? Why are megaliths so simple and utilitarian?

Another common explanation for the purpose of megaliths is that they were ancient observatories. As evidence, the facts were usually cited that most of the megaliths are oriented according to the time and place of the equinox. But this is completely irrational even for primitive thinking. The stone blocks used are too huge.

And, what is most interesting, indeed from ancient times there were stone structures used as observatories (this is a proven fact), but Weight Limit the stones from which they were built do not exceed 250-300 kilograms, and not 50 tons like ordinary megaliths!

In the "yellow press" from time to time there are publications, the authors of which claim that the megaliths were landmarks for any transport (most often alien). But then why are the pointers arranged like this? huge complexes and often in hard-to-reach places where they are not visible at all?

All of these issues remain unresolved to this day. So far, a detailed study of megaliths by methods of natural sciences continues. And it has already produced amazing results.

Examining the megaliths in detail, the researchers were able to find a number of interesting facts. First of all, it turned out that without exception, all megalithic structures on all continents of the planet were built from the same material - quartz sandstone. Often, its deposits are located hundreds of kilometers from the location of the megalith.

Now science knows that quartz (the main element of which quartz sandstone is composed) is an excellent generator of electric current when it is compressed (this is called the piezoelectric effect) and is able to stabilize the oscillation frequency. After the occurrence of an electromagnetic field and with simultaneous compression, quartz crystals generate simultaneously ultrasound and radio waves.

Nowadays, all these features of quartz are used in electronics. For example, during the study of the well-preserved cromlech Royallight (located in Britain), it was revealed that this cromlech emits powerful ultrasonic pulses shortly before sunrise. They are most intense and complex in structure during the equinox.

All individual stones of the Royallight megalith have their own diagram and radiation intensity. This is multiplied and modulated in some way due to the thoughtful arrangement of all the stone blocks that make up this megalith.

In the course of further research, it was found that some of the stones of the megalith emit strong ultrasound directed outside the complex.

Almost all megalithic structures, without exception, are emitters. To increase their power, one stone block was placed on top of another in a special way. And menhirs were installed on a thinner end, under which they placed a specially processed supporting stone - which had a well-pronounced piezoelectric effect.

And the last mysterious fact - many megaliths are located above the deep faults of the earth's crust. These are the so-called pathogenic/geopathogenic regions. This is hardly a mere coincidence, but what does it mean and how did the people of the Stone Age determine the structure of the earth's firmament at a depth of kilometers? All this remains a mystery awaiting a scientific solution.

Scientists argue about the appointment of megaliths no less than about who built them. But there is still a consensus on this issue today. Megaliths, as the researchers suggest, had three main functions.

Single megaliths, menhirs, characteristic of the earliest period of this era, are believed by some archaeologists to have served as a kind of symbols that stood out against the background of the agricultural landscape, and may have been boundary signs in the face of a growing shortage of land suitable for arable land and pastures.

The most common European megaliths - dolmens, or stone boxes, were tombs for wealthy leaders or entire communities. Some of the earliest were simple tombs, consisting of vertically placed slabs, covered with a horizontal slab. Access to such a grave was limited to a very narrow passage, which was blocked by a stone or earthen mound. Even though the passage was often very low and narrow, it provided access to the grave for the performance of rites. More complex structures consisted of whole alleys of stones. Under a long embankment there was a corridor with side stone chambers. Where there was not enough stone, the chambers were built of wood.

Many of these collective stone tombs were used for decades, even centuries, and such a large cemetery as, for example, Bouton in Western France, for more than 2 thousand years and contained the remains of hundreds of people buried.

The most complex stone buildings, alleys and cromlechs, according to scientists, were a kind of astronomical observatory. These megalithic buildings were built collectively - by entire clans and tribes, because their construction required a huge expenditure of muscular strength.

The labor force needed to create even the smallest cromlechs and galleries was incomparable with the capabilities of a single community. The digging of ditches, the transportation and installation of huge stones, involved cooperation between communities. Estimates of man-hours required for the construction of these monuments show an interesting progression: the most ancient megaliths in Wessex, according to the calculations of the researchers, required about 50 - 70 thousand man-hours, while for later and larger structures already about half a million man-hours were needed. And for the construction of Stonehenge at the third stage, it took already 2 million! The grandiosity of such buildings and the colossal costs of their construction testify to the great importance of religion and ritual centers in the life of ancient Europeans. Although we know little about the religious beliefs of the builders of megaliths, there is no doubt that the heavenly bodies played an important role in them: the Sun, the Moon, the stars. Observations of astronomical and seasonal natural phenomena were the main functions of ancient observatories - ritual centers.

Cromlech Newgrange in Ireland is oriented so that sunlight enters the central chamber inside the stone circle exactly on the winter solstice in the middle of winter. Stonehenge was oriented on the day of the summer solstice. With the help of these structures, it is possible to fix other astronomical phenomena, in particular, the location of stars in the sky.

Megalithic tomb under a long barrow at West Kennet. England

Hundreds of various carved drawings, which cover many megaliths, also give ideas about the lifestyle and worldview of the builders of megaliths. The earliest examples are simple axes and intersections, but over time more complex elements appear on them: spirals are symbols of the Sun, wavy lines are symbols of the water element. Entire galleries of such "engravings" are open in Scandinavia. Here are images of human figures, and hunting scenes, and fantastic creatures. They testify to how complex the religious ideas of the ancestors of Europeans were.

The old agricultural symbols of the Neolithic era, especially the female deity associated with abundance and the Earth, gradually gave way to a male mythology more in line with the new order: wealth expressed in quantities of cattle and metal, valuables captured in war. The old myth of the Mother Goddess gave way to new ones. Circles, wheels, spirals and similar elements reflect the endless movement associated with fire, the Sun and their opposite - water, the source of life. These elements have become the main objects of veneration in Central and Western Europe.

Around the middle of the VI millennium BC. e. the construction of stone circles and galleries in Spain, Portugal, northwestern France and the British Isles ceases. The old cults are being replaced by new ones associated with the era of wars and enrichment. The objects of worship are Earth and water. Gifts are dedicated to them - treasures buried in the ground or flooded in swamps and lakes. Collective tombs - dolmens are being replaced by other forms of grave structures. In Europe, a new era of warriors and heroes is beginning, the era of barrows, under which ordinary community members and noble leaders were buried.

Megaliths of the valley of the river of wars

This small river flows in Ireland, in a coastal region located north of Dublin. In its valley, several burial mounds were found, as well as separate stone blocks belonging to the so-called slaughterhouse culture. Apparently, in ancient times this valley was considered a sacred place. The center of the entire local megalithic complex, of course, is Newgrange.

The Irish, who discovered Newgrange at the very end of the 17th century, considered it the tomb of the Celtic kings for a long time.

Only later it was proved that this burial dates back to the 4th millennium BC. e., i.e. it is older Egyptian pyramids. In the list of World Heritage Sites, Newgrange is characterized as the largest and most important of the megalithic structures in Europe of that period.

Indeed, this huge dolmen structure, 60-80 m long and 11 m high, is made of 200 thousand tons of stones, and is covered with earth and white quartz pebbles on top. An 18-meter corridor made of stone slabs leads from the entrance into the depths of the dolmen. It hides the path to the actual burial chamber with a ritual bowl and three niches decorated with stone carvings. Above the entrance, oriented to the southeast, there is a hole - a window through which the sun's rays can penetrate into the inner chamber, but only once a year - on the day of the winter solstice, and even then only for 17 minutes. What is it connected with? Why are there only five people buried at Newgrange? How could ancient people bring such huge stone blocks here? There are no answers to these questions yet.

Ancient observatory?

Perhaps the most famous megalithic monument in Europe is the giant cromlech Stonehenge (translated from the Celtic, its name means “hanging stones”), not far from the city of Salisbury in southern England. Stonehenge has become a favorite object of study not only for archaeologists, but also for astronomers. It is estimated that the work to erect Stonehenge in total took a third of a million hours. It turned out that the ring of giant boulders served as an astronomical observatory. 2 thousand years before Euclid and Pythagoras, the builders of Stonehenge used the mathematical laws they discovered in practice.

This structure has survived to this day in the form of a horseshoe of five pairs of vertical sandstone stones, covered on top with the same stone blocks (triliths). This horseshoe was surrounded by a ring of 30 stone monoliths weighing 25 tons and 4.5 m high. There was a stone altar inside it.

Stonehenge stones clearly indicate the sunrise and sunset at different times of the year. Obviously, this cult was most closely associated with observations of the cyclical changes in nature, the movement of the Sun, Moon and stars. Stonehenge performed many functions. It was a monument that embodied the energy power of the Earth. It was an astronomical observatory. And, finally, it was a temple built for people who prayed here and celebrated religious holidays.

The megalith in Avebury next to Stonehenge is also a giant cromlech. Modern researchers believe that the outer circle consisted of about 100 stone blocks and was surrounded by a very wide moat. Together with the two inner circles and the road leading to the monument, the total number of stones reached 274. The stones are unhewn and not decorated with patterns. It is believed that they were installed around 2600 BC. e., although religious rites were performed here before. The mysteries of Avebury's stone rings have also not yet been fully unraveled. It is possible that the ancient people in this place worshiped the Sun and the Moon.

The so-called megalithic structures (Greek for “large stones”) began to appear as early as the late Neolithic period, and became quite common in the Bronze Age. Megaliths include dolmens, menhirs, cromlechs, alignemans, covered passages, etc. All these structures are built from very large stone slabs or blocks. Their geography is very extensive - they are found in the Caucasus, in the Crimea, in the north and west of Europe (England, France, the Netherlands, Denmark), in the Balkans, in India, Iran, North Africa, Korea and many other corners.
Megaliths served as cult places for ancestors: dolmens and menhirs for honoring ancestors, cromlechs for worshiping the sun and fire, etc. For the hardest work of moving and installing giant stones, primitive communal people required the combined efforts of significant groups. Most of all, dolmens have survived to this day.

1. Stonehenge (UK)

130 km southwest of London is a unique megalith - Stonehenge, listed in 1986 by UNESCO. world heritage, and domestically under the care of English Heritage.
According to scientists, this structure is about 5000 years old. Its appearance is widely known - a circle of stones, around which there are 56 burial holes. In the center of the megalith is a stone altar weighing about 6 tons. In total, Stonehenge counted 82 stone blocks weighing 5 tons each, 30 - 25 tons each, and 5 arches of three stones (triliths) - 50 tons each. The arches are precisely oriented to the cardinal points. To create Stonehenge, stones from different places were used, some of which were located 210 km from the megalith.

2. Puma Punku and Kalasasaya (Tiwanaku)

Near the Bolivian village of Tiwanaku, located 20 km from Lake Titicaca at an altitude of 4000 m above sea level, there are the famous megaliths Puma Punku and Calasasaya. In the distant past, they were cyclopean structures, outer walls big temple The suns of Kalasasaya had a length of 130x1500 m. Next to it was the Akapana pyramid with dimensions of 200x220 m. Made of giant stone blocks of andesite, sandstone or diorite, weighing up to 120 tons, the walls in some places had a thickness of more than 3 meters.
The ruins of Puma Punku, lying just 300 meters from Tiwanaku, amaze with grandiose scope - huge slabs weighing up to 500 tons are scattered over several hectares. They are hewn from diorite and andesite, mined in the mountains 17 km away.
In addition to their enormous size and weight, Kalasasaya and Puma Punku stones surprise with filigree processing using a technology unknown to us. There are suggestions that the ancient builders worked with these rocks, as with plasticine, perhaps even melted and poured into molds.
In the local ancient quarries, there are no signs of crushing or drilling, only even niches remain, as if someone had cut the blocks with a giant knife from the “plasticine” rock. The blocks often have very complex shapes, with a variety of cutouts with ideal geometry. They are so tightly fitted that even a thin blade cannot be inserted between them.

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3. Sacsayhuaman

There are other megalithic structures in South America - the remains of Cyclopean walls, the lower tier of the most ancient terraces and buildings in Machu Picchu, Sacsayhuaman, Ollantaytambo, Cusco, Tambomachay (Peru) are composed of them. The age of some of them is determined at 14,000-17,000 years. Similar ruins are found in dozens of regions of Peru, Bolivia, Mexico and Colombia near the villages of Vinay Wayna, Taraco, Llaktapat, Copacapana, Lokvepayya and others. But those are much less studied.
Particularly interesting are the ruins of 3 walls about 600 m long in the "fortress" of Sacsayhuaman. The height of two walls is 10 m, and the third - 5 m. The first (lower) wall is made of diorite and andesite blocks weighing 100-200 tons, the largest dimensions are 4x5x9 m. The second and third walls are built from several smaller blocks. At the same time, all blocks fit perfectly to each other, the gaps between them are simply not visible. Polyhedral blocks have a rather complex shape. They were mined in a quarry, 20 kilometers away from Sacsayhuaman, and at this distance there is a very uneven terrain (steep descents, ascents, gorges).

4. Ahu and moai - megaliths of Easter Island

Lost in the Pacific Ocean, Easter Island is home to 887 famous moai sculptures. The largest idols are located on the slope of the Rano Raraku volcano. They have already gone up to their necks into the earth for many millennia. Some originally stood on ahu - stone pedestals, of which there are about 300 on the island. The dimensions of the pedestals range from tens of meters to 200 m. The height of the largest moai "El Giante" (that is, "giant") is 21.6 m, and the weight 150 to 270 tons. It is located in the Rano Raraku quarry. The largest moai that stood on a pedestal - "Paro" weighs 80 tons and is 10 m high. Other moai scattered along the slope of the volcano also have a height of about 10 m.

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5. Baalbek (Lebanon)

The Middle East also boasts of its megaliths, for example, in Lebanon are the ruins of Baalbek. There are three stone blocks, each of which weighs 750 tons, and the Romans at one time used them as the basis for the temple of Jupiter. The dimensions of the blocks are amazing - 4.3x5.6x19.1 m, while their surfaces are perfectly processed. These giant blocks are up to 8 meters high, resting on slightly smaller blocks.
500 m south of the Temple of Jupiter, the South Stone sticks out of the ground, weighing approximately 1050 tons and is considered the largest processed stone in Baalbek (4.2x4.8x21.5 m). Modern engineers estimate that only a mighty crawler crane could lift such a colossus and transport it along a good road. What technique did the builders of Baalbek use?

6. Temple Mount in Jerusalem

When archaeological work was carried out under the Temple Mount in Jerusalem at the end of the last century, the remains of megalithic structures were found during them. Of these, the southern part of the fragment of the foundation of the western supporting wall of the temple of Solomon built before our era is composed. The rows of masonry of this wall were hidden by the earth for several millennia, and since 1996 they have become visible in the tunnel of the Western Wall, about 500 meters long, which stretches from Via Dolorosa to Wilson's arch. At the level of the ancient street, 4 huge stone blocks were exposed here, the lengths of three of which are 8.5, 13.5 and 14 meters, and the weight is 355, 570 and 600 tons. Just like in Baalbek, these huge blocks are laid on smaller stones. All of them were moved here from a quarry located west of Jerusalem.

7. Megaliths of Ethiopia

The basalt stelae that either lie on the ground or stand in the city of Aksum in Ethiopia, not far from the shores of the Red Sea, are also a mystery. The largest obelisk has a rectangular shape, 33.5 meters high, and it weighs about 500 tons. Other stones are noticeably smaller - from 20 to 24 meters. Their surfaces are carefully processed and dotted with ornaments. The stones are in disarray, and many are broken. The locals have a legend about the cyclops who built them, who could melt stones. Allegedly, they poured the molten mass into molds, and after the blanks cooled, they cut them and polished them.
Excavations in Aksum showed that before the stelae stood on pedestals, one of which was a three-tiered platform made of large basalt slabs and found itself under the Bete Georgis hill. The stone for the blocks was mined in quarries located a few kilometers from this place.

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8. Underwater megaliths of Yonaguni

Pyramids and megalithic structures of unknown antiquity exist in a variety of places:

• at the bottom of the Bahama bank near the islands of Andros and Bimini;
• on Ponape Island and 92 artificial islands Nan Madol, as well as in shallow water near them - in the Pacific archipelago of the Caroline Islands;
• at the bottom of Rock Lake in Wisconsin (USA);
• at the bottom of the sea near the Japanese island of Yonaguni, etc.

The latter deserve special attention, because multi-meter blocks with regular outlines were found there, resting at a depth of 6 meters near the coast of Yonaguni Island from the Okinawa archipelago. In 1985, they were discovered by Japanese scuba diver K. Aratake. He told M. Kimura, a marine seismologist from the University of Okinawa, about his find. The scientist conducted a detailed study of them for 10 years, after which he concluded that this was nothing more than a sunken prehistoric city. In 1997, underwater video filming by the film crew of G. Hancock was carried out here, and at the same time professor of geology R. Schoch from the University of Boston was working. They were able to confirm that the stone blocks near the coast of the island of Yonaguni are of artificial origin.

9. Zorats Karer

In Armenian, Zorats-Karer means "stone army", but this one, located at an altitude of 1770 m on a mountain plateau in the Sinyuk region of Armenia, 3 km from the city of Sisian ancient megalith there is another name "Karahunj" - "singing stones". This complex contains many huge upright stones, some of which have round holes at the top. This building with an unspecified age (from 4000 to 7700 years) was declared a historical and cultural reserve in 2009.
The place is a field strewn with stones. In the structure, 223 andesitic (basalt) slabs weighing up to 8.5 m and 1.5-2.8 m long were numbered. Some stones form a not very even row stretching from the southeast to the northwest. In the central part of the row there is an oval of stones, and on its opposite sides corridors-passages are visible. Near the mound there is a stone box - a tomb.
Most of all, the through holes made in the upper part of 80 stones with a diameter of 40-50 mm represent the riddle. They are made quite roughly, some of them are curved at an angle - the result of conical drilling from opposite sides. The stone inside the holes is better preserved than on the surface of the monolith. Now there are 37 stones with 47 holes left standing.

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10. American Stonehenge

This is the name of the archaeological site, consisting of several stone structures and large boulders scattered over 120 square meters. m in the city of Salem (New Hampshire, USA). There are different versions of its origin: it could be built by settlers from Europe in pre-Columbian times, by local farmers in the 18th-19th centuries, or by the owner of the site, W. Goodwin, in the 30s of the last century. The carried out radiocarbon analysis of local deposits showed dates from 2000 to 173 BC. e., which corresponds to one of the archaic Indian cultures or the early Woodland period.
In 1982, the director of a local restaurant, D. Stuart-Smith, began excavating a megalith found in a quarry north of the monument. A team of researchers and archaeologists found a quarry and hundreds of stone fragments, which were mistaken for waste from the production of primitive stone tools.

Around the world, you can see incredible boulders that have stood on Earth for thousands of years. They were installed long before people began to make any historical records, and therefore who built them and why remains unknown. It is believed that some dolmens were used as burial places, others for stargazing. In our review, the most interesting megalithic structures and related stories.

1. Stone Circle Beltani

Found in the northwest of Ireland, near the town of Rafo, the Beltany stone circle consists of 64 stones arranged in a circle 45 meters in diameter around a mound. It is believed that the stones (which are mostly 2 meters high) were installed around 1400 - 800 BC.

Apparently, in the early 20th century, a preliminary study of this site was carried out, when a certain Oliver Davis stated that "non-scientific excavations were recently carried out at the site of the stone circle, after which everything was left in a terrible confusion." Despite the excavations, almost nothing is known about Beltani. The word "Beltany" possibly comes from the word "Beltane", which was the name of a pagan holiday.

"Beltane", in turn, comes from "Baal Tinne", which means "Baal's fire". During this festival, bonfires were lit on the top of the mountain to "restore the power of the Sun". Other theories claim that the Beltany Circle is similar to the circles at Carrowmore Cemetery, hinting that the site was used during burial procedures.

2. Megaliths of the Bada Valley

In the Bada Valley in Indonesia, one can find well-preserved sculptural monuments carved from solid stone blocks. Due to their unusual remarkable appearance and the craftsmanship of unknown creators, one would think it would be fairly easy to determine when and why these megaliths were created. However, historians even find it difficult to answer how old they are, not to mention what they were made for. When trying to question the locals about their purpose, the invariable answer is always that the stones "have always been there." \

Although no archaeological evidence has yet been found as to the purpose of these megaliths, the locals have their own legends. Some believe the megaliths date back to the time of human sacrifice, others say they exist to ward off evil spirits.

The most interesting theories say that these are criminals who have turned to stone or that the stones are able to move on their own. Of particular intrigue is the fact that the megaliths are made of stone, which is not found anywhere in the area.

3. Spirit wheel

Also known as the "Wheel of Giants", the Wheel of Spirits is a large circular megalithic structure near the Sea of ​​Galilee. It looks like a giant stone wheel with inner rings and "spokes" that connect them. Right in the middle of the inner ring is a burial place. Not only are archaeologists unsure that this burial site was made at the same time as the wheel, further study of the Spirit Wheel has shown that there were in fact no burials at the site.

It is believed that once valuable artifacts were located in this place, since there is evidence that the excavation site was looted. As for the proposed features, archaeologists do not believe that the site was built for habitation or defense. Some believe it was a calendar, given how the sunrise at the solstices aligns with the "spokes" of the wheel.

4. Rudston Monolith

The Rudston Monolith is the tallest menhir in the whole of Great Britain, which is located in the village of Radston in the church cemetery. This impressive stone, 7.6 meters high, was probably erected around 1600 BC. Given the age and fame of the menhir in the village, it is not surprising that there are a lot of legends among the locals about its origin.

One legend claims that the monolith was a spear created by the devil to attack the church. Fortunately for him, he allegedly missed and the spear hit the cemetery instead of the church. As for the archaeological evidence of its origin, Sir William Strickland excavated and found that the monolith is half underground, i.e. it is at least 2 times higher than it is visible from the outside. He also discovered great amount skulls, potentially hinting at the sacrificial or religious purpose of the monolith.

5. Pipers and the Merry Maidens

Located in Cornwall, The Pipers and The Merry Maidens are separate megalithic monuments. The Pipers are made up of two standing stones, while the "Jolly Maidens" located a short distance from them form a stone circle. The circle is completely complete, and on its eastern side is the entrance to the entire structure, which may hint at the astronomical purpose of the megaliths.

The area around these stone formations is replete with burial sites, which may be due to the fact that the stones had something to do with spiritual or burial procedures. Local legend claims that two pipers once played for the dancing maidens on a Sunday, which was forbidden. As a result, they petrified on the spot.

6. Turua stone

A beautiful sculptured stone in the early Celtic style can be found in County Galway, Ireland. Turua Stone was once located within an Iron Age ring fort called the Rath of Feerwore. The upper half of the stone is covered with traditional Celtic abstract patterns made using the La Tène technique.

However, given that the stone has a slightly phallic shape, some sources claim that it may have been used in fertility rites. However, the name "Turoe" comes from "Cloch an Tuair Rua" ("Red Pasture Stone"), leading some to believe that the red symbolism is indicative of sacrifices performed in front of the Turua Stone. Others believe that the stone originally comes from France and only then was transported to Ireland.

7. Bulls of Guisando

Found in the Spanish province of Ávila, Spain, the "Bulls of Guisando" are a strange group of four bull statues carved in stone. They are part of a group of 400 similarly carved animals called verraco that date back to around the fourth century BC.

Despite the fact that "verraco" means "boars", the statues are different types like these bulls. Four bulls are made in different poses, so they look like a group of bulls grazing in a field. It is believed that they were once horned, but under the influence of atmospheric phenomena, the horns disappeared over the centuries.

Archaeologists do not know why verracos were made, but speculate (since such sculptures are usually found in places where they can be easily discovered) that they had a religious element and may have served to protect towns and farms from evil spirits.

8. Gray sheep

The "Grey Sheep" on Dartmoor, England is a rare occurrence among megaliths, as it is not one, but two stone rings right next to each other. Both circles are made of 30 stones, and their diameter is approximately 33 meters. During the excavation of the circles, a thin layer of charcoal was discovered, from which it follows that a fire once burned often in this place. Why they did it in stone circles is a mystery.

Some argue that the circles were used to communicate with the world of spirits - in one of them there were living people, in the other it was intended for spirits. Others pay less attention to the spiritual element, stating that these two circles served for a ritual in which men were in one circle and women in the other. Still others believe that the circles could be used as a meeting place for two neighboring tribes.

As with many others mysterious structures, with the "Grey Sheep" associated with their own myths. One of them says that once a farmer who moved to Dartmoor criticized the choice of sheep at the local market. After drinking ale in a tavern, the locals convinced him that they had fine sheep to sell. They led him to a misty hollow where the farmer allegedly saw the silhouettes of a herd. He bought sheep, and the next morning, when he woke up, he found that he had actually bought the Gray Sheep.

9. Dromberg

Also known as the "Altar of the Druids" among the locals, Dromberg is a stone circle of 17 menhirs. While its exact origin is relatively unknown, there is some evidence as to why it was built. One of the stones is oriented in such a way that it coincides with sunset during the winter solstice.

During excavations in the Dromberg area, something even more interesting was discovered: the remains of a cremated person in a broken pot. The age of this burial was determined from 1100 BC. before 800 BC No one knows why a person was buried in such a peculiar way, but it hints at ritual purposes. In addition, there is evidence that people lived near Dromberg.

10. Deer stones

Deer stones, which are found throughout Northern Mongolia, are amazing carved megaliths, which are often always found around mounds. The height of these megaliths (which are this moment about 1200 were found) is usually between 1 meter and 5 meters. They are believed to have been made around 1000 BC.

What makes these stones particularly interesting is that they depict deer. On the most ancient stones deer are depicted in "usual poses". But as the years passed, deer soaring in the sky began to be depicted on the stones. Further, deer began to be depicted interacting with the Sun, for example, holding it on their horns. Interestingly, the remains of warriors with deer tattoos were also found in Northern Mongolia.

Among the listed ruins, the ruins of three walls (“fortress”) of Saksauman, about 600 m long, are of the greatest interest. The first and second walls reach a height of 10 m, the third - 5 m. The lower (first) wall consists of andesite and diorite blocks weighing from 100 to tons. The largest of them measures 9 x 5 m x 4 m. The blocks of the second and third walls are slightly smaller than the blocks of the first tier.

But both of them are so precisely fitted to each other that even the blade of a knife cannot be inserted between them. In addition, all blocks are polyhedra of a rather complex shape. They were cut down in a quarry, lying 20 km from Saxahuaman. Within these 20 km areseveral gorges, steep ascents and descents!

Cusco
In Cusco there are remains of cyclopean walls, built of huge stone blocks, also delicately fitted to each other. One of these buildings is the Inca Palace.

Ollantaytambo
At Ollantaytambo, giant building blocks of andesite and pink porphyry are found at the base of the Temple of the Sun, preserved fragments of the back wall and gate of the 10 Nis temple, the "sacred zone" (in scattered form) and the first row of terraces. They are also found in various hard-to-reach places in the river valley. Urubamba. locals they are called "burnt stones" (Spanish: piedras cansadas).

The Living Ethics in Germany website provides a truly fantastic hypothesis that the ancient builders of South American megalithic structures softened rocky matter to a jelly-like state with the help of their psychic energy. Then they cut it into huge blocks of arbitrary shape, transported them through the air to the construction site using telekinesis, and there they laid them in the walls, fitting one to the other using the same method of softening rock blocks to a plastic substance, giving them the desired shape on the spot. Only in this way can one explain the strange form that the giant buildings of Ollantaytambo, the Inca palace in Cuzco, the walls of Saxhuaman, the ruins of Tiahuanaco, the ahu pedestals on Easter Island and other similar buildings have.

Read my work"Siddhi-powers and the causes of superhuman abilities of the predecessors of people"

Giant monolithic sculptures South America and Father Easter

In addition to the ruins, an important part of the megalithic culture of South America are giant monolithic sculptures in Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, on about. Easter, as well as "Olmec heads" in Mexico. The height of such sculptures reaches 7-10 m, and the weight is 20 or more tons. The height of the heads ranges from 2 to 3 m with a weight of up to 40 tons.

Moai and ahu - megalithic structures of Easter Island

A particularly large number of sculptures - moai - are located on about. Easter. There are 887 of them. The largest of them stand on a slopevolcano Rano Raraku. They are up to their necks immersed in sediments that have accumulated on the island over its long history. Some moai used to stand on stone plinths - ahu. The total number of ahu exceeds 300. Their size ranges from several tens of meters to 200 m.
The largest moai "El Giante» (El Gigante) has a height of 21.6 m. It is located in the Rano Raraku quarry and weighs about 150 tons (according to other sources, 270 tons). The largest moai "Paro" (Paro), standing on a pedestal, is located on the ahu "Te Pito Kura" (Ahu Te Pito Kura). Its height reaches 10 m, and its weight is about 80 tons. The height of the moai scattered along the slope of the Rano Raraku volcano is also about 10 m.

Statues of human and animal heads on the Marcaguasi plateau

On a par with the ruins and giant sculptures, you can put huge statues of human heads with features of Europeans and blacks, as well as images of monkeys, turtles, cows, horses, elephants, lions and camels on the Marcaguasi plateau in Peru, located at an altitude of about 4 km. At least two facts testify to the ancient age of these images. Firstly, the animals "engraved" on the plateau never lived at such a height. Secondly, most of them disappeared from the American continent long before the appearance of Europeans there - from 10-12 to 150-200 thousand years ago.

Granite and obsidian stone balls Central America and Mexico

The next evidence of the existence of highly developed civilizations in pre-Columbian America are stone balls made of granite and obsidian in Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the USA (state of New Mexico). Among them there are real giants with a diameter of up to 3 m.The determination of the absolute age of the Mexican obsidian balls showed that they were formedin the tertiary period "Even before the advent of man" (no later than 2 million years ago). Trying to find an explanation for this, the American scientist R. Smith hypothesized that they arose naturally from volcanic ash.

Megalithic structures of the Middle East

Baalbek in Lebanon
The ruins of megalithic structures and other ancient archaeological sites are known far beyond the American continent. The most majestic of them are the ruins of Baalbek in Lebanon. The weight of each of the three stone blocks in Trilithon, located at the base of the temple of Jupiter built by the ancient Romans, is 750 tons. The surfaces of the blocks are perfectly processed, and their dimensions are simply amazing: 19.1 x 4.3 x 5.6 m. Moreover, these monoliths are ... at an eight-meter height! They rest on slightly smaller blocks.

Half a kilometer south of the temple of Jupiter from the ground at an angle of 30 deg. sticks out the world's largest processed stone - South or Mother - weighing about 1200 tons and measuring 21.5 x 4.8 x 4.2 m
The author of the books "Gods of the New Millennium" and "The Way of the Phoenix" Alan Alford asked specialists in heavy cranes whether it was possible to lift such a hulk. They answered in the affirmative, but at the same time they added that it would be possible to move with the block only if the crane was put on a caterpillar track and a good road was made. So, the builders of the foundation of Baalbek had a similar technique?