menhir
Sign in to saveupright=1.5|thumb|Large menhir located between Millstreet and [[Ballinagree, County Cork, Ireland]] thumb|The Caramujeira Menhir, currently preserved at the Silves Municipal Archeology Museum, in [[Portugal]] thumb|Cwm Rhaeadr Fawr maen hir (menhir) near Aber Falls, [[Gwynedd, Wales]] thumb|Dry Tree menhir – a standing stone at [[Goonhilly Downs, Cornwall]]
AI overview
A menhir is a single large stone that was set upright in the ground in prehistoric times, examples of which can be found across Europe including Ireland, Portugal, Wales, and Cornwall. These standing stones matter to archaeologists and historians because they provide physical evidence of ancient human societies and their practices.
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Article
8 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- History
- Geographical distribution
- In popular culture
- See also
- Notes
- Further reading
- External links
upright=1.5|thumb|Large menhir located between Millstreet and [[Ballinagree, County Cork, Ireland]] thumb|The Caramujeira Menhir, currently preserved at the Silves Municipal Archeology Museum, in [[Portugal]] thumb|Cwm Rhaeadr Fawr maen hir (menhir) near Aber Falls, [[Gwynedd, Wales]] thumb|Dry Tree menhir – a standing stone at [[Goonhilly Downs, Cornwall]]
A menhir (; from Brittonic languages: maen or men, "stone" and hir or hîr, "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large upright stone, emplaced in the ground by humans, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be found individually as monoliths, or as part of a group of similar stones. Menhirs' sizes can vary considerably, but they often taper toward the top.