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 monuments.

A menhir is a large upright standing stone. Menhirs may be found singly as monoliths, or as part of a group of similar stones. Their size can vary considerably; but their shape is generally uneven and squared, often tapering towards the top. Menhirs are widely distributed across Europe, Africa, and Asia, but are most numerous in Western Europe; in particular in Brittany and on the British Isles. They originate from many different periods across pre-history, and were erected as part of a larger Megalithic culture that flourished in Europe and beyond.

The function of Menhirs has provoked more debate than practically any other issue in European prehistory. Over the centuries they have variously been thought to have been used by Druids for human sacrifice, or were territorial markers, elements of a complex ideological system, or early calendars.^[1] Until the nineteenth century, antiquarians did not have substantial knowledge of prehistory; and their only reference points were provided by Classical literature. The developments of radiocarbon dating and tree-ring calibration have done much to further human knowledge in this area.

The word menhir was adopted from French by 19th century archaeologists. It is a combination of two words found in the Breton language; men (stone), and hir (long). In Modern Welsh they are described as maen hir, or "long stone." In modern Breton, the word peulvan is used.

Description & History

The shape of a menhir tends to be square, narrowing toward the top. Some have vertical grooves and certain of those at Carnac appear to have been partially smoothed.

Practically nothing is known of the social organization or religious beliefs of the people who erected the menhirs. We have no trace even of these peoples' language, however we do know that they buried their dead, and had the skills to grow cereal, farm, and make pottery, stone tools, and jewelry. Speculation as to their use remains speculation, however it is likely that many had a functionality involving fertility rites and seasonal cycles. Until recently, menhirs were associated with the Beaker people, who inhabited Europe during the later third millennium BC; the European late Neolithic and early Bronze Age. However, recent research into the age of megaliths in Brittany strongly suggests a far older origin, perhaps back to six to seven thousand years ago.^[2]

Many menhirs are carved with megalithic art. This often turned them into anthropomorphic stelae, although images of objects such as stone axes, ploughs, shepherd crooks and yokes were common. With the exception of the stone axe, none of these motifs are definite, and the name used to describe them is largely for convenience. Some menhirs were broken up and incorporated into later passage graves where they had new megalithic art carved with little regard for the previous pictures. It is not known if this re-use was deliberate, or if the passage grave builders just saw menhirs as a convenient source of stone (Le Roux 1992).

In Scandinavia, menhirs continued to be erected during the Pre-Roman Iron Age and later, see Menhir (Iron Age), usually over the ashes of the dead. They were raised both as solitary stones and in formations, such as stone ship and stone circle formations. During the 1st century, the tradition was brought to Northern Poland, probably by the Goths (see the Wielbark Culture).

In many areas, standing stones were systematically toppled by Christians; of the many former standing menhirs of northern Germany, scarcely one stands today. According to Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla (see e.g. Vanlade), the menhirs were raised in commemoration of great men. The tradition of raising stones evolved into the runestones,^[3] through intermediaries such as the Björketorp Runestone.

Prominent menhirs

Brittany stands out in the distribution of menhirs by virtue of both the density of monuments and the diversity of types. The largest surviving menhir is the world is located in Locmariaquer, Brittany, and is known as the Grand Menhir Brisé (Great Broken Menhir). Once nearly 20 meters high, today, it lies fractured into four pieces, but would have weighed near 330 tons when intact. It is placed second after the Western Stone in the Western Wall as the heaviest object moved by humans without powered machinery.

Alignments of menhirs are common, the most famous being the Carnac stones in Brittany, where more than 3000 individual menhirs are arranged in four groups, and arrayed in rows stretching across four kilometres. Each set is organised with the tallest stones at the western end, and shorter ones at the eastern end. Some end with a semicircular cromlech, but many have since fallen or been destroyed.^[2]

The second largest concentration of menhirs in France is at the Cham des Bondons, located on high open limestone plain in the granitic Cévennes. The site is today protected by the Parc National des Cévennes. From the time pastoralism was established, the site was kept open by controlled burning and grazing.^[4]

Partial list of menhirs

Main article: List of menhirs

United Kingdom

• Drizzlecombe, Dartmoor, England
• Goonhilly Downs, Cornwall, England
• Drybridge, North Ayrshire, Scotland
• Gigha Island, Kyle & Bute, Scotland
• Callanish, Isle of Lewis, Scotland
• Millport, Cumbrae, Firth of Clyde, Scotland

France

• Carnac stones, Brittany
• Filitosa, Corsica
• Saint-Sulpice-de-Faleyrens, Gironde^[5]

Italy

• Lugnacco North West Italy.

Portugal

• Sagres

Romania

• Histria Neolithic 2.5 m high

Scandinavia

• Björketorp Runestone, a menhir inscribed with runes.
• Jelling stones

Switzerland

• Grandson
• Yverdon

Sources

• Le Roux, C.T. 1992. “The Art of Gavrinis Presented in its Armorican Context and in Comparison with Ireland.” in Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland vol. 122, pp79-108
• Mohen, Jean-Pierre. 2000. Standing Stones. Stonehenge, Carnac and the World of Megaliths. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-30090-9

Menhirs in popular culture

Obelix, a prominent character in the Asterix comic books by René Goscinny (stories) and Albert Uderzo (illustrations), is a menhir delivery man.

Notes

See also

• Statue menhir
• Dolmens - megalithic tombs
• Standing stone
• Megalith
• Menhir (Iron Age)

External links

• Dolmenes y megalitos del mundo
• Menhires del mundo
• Some Sardinian's menhirs in panoramic QTVR
• Dolmens, Menhirs & Stones-Circles in the South of France
• The Menhirs of Dartmoor
• New Theory - Henges - Engineering in Prehistory
• Rows of Menhirs in Russia, South Ural
• List of Menhirs and their related stories in Czech Republic

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