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Megalithic Art
Megalithic art refers to art either painted or carved onto megaliths in prehistoric Europe and found on the structural elements, like the kerbstones, orthostats, or capstones of megalithic tombs, but recent investigations have included decorations on stelae and menhirs. Megalithic art is found in many places in Western Europe although the main concentrations are in England, Malta, Ireland, Brittany and Iberia. Megalithic art started in the Neolithic and continued into the Bronze Age. Although many monument types received this form of art the majority is carved on Neolithic passage graves. Megalithic art tends to be highly abstract and contains relatively few representations of recognizable real objects. Megalithic art is often similar to prehistoric rock art and contains many similar motifs such as the ' cup and ring mark', although the two forms of rock carving also have large stylistic differences. The meaning of megalithic art is the subject of much debate. Weathering an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Megalith
A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. More than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging geographically from Sweden in the north to the Mediterranean Sea in the south. The word was first used in 1849 by the British antiquarian Algernon Herbert in reference to Stonehenge and derives from the Ancient Greek words " mega" for great and " lithos" for stone. Most extant megaliths were erected between the Neolithic period (although earlier Mesolithic examples are known) through the Chalcolithic period and into the Bronze Age. Types and definitions While "megalith" is often used to describe a single piece of stone, it also can be used to denote one or more rocks hewn in definite shapes for special purposes. It has been used to describe structures built by people from many parts of the world living in many different periods. The most widely known ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boyne Valley
The River Boyne ( or ''Abhainn na Bóinne'') is a river in Leinster, Ireland, the course of which is about long. It rises at Trinity Well, Newberry Hall, near Carbury, County Kildare, and flows north-east through County Meath to reach the Irish Sea between Mornington, County Meath, and Baltray, County Louth. Names and etymology This river has been known since ancient times. The Greek geographer Ptolemy drew a map of Ireland in the 2nd century that included the Boyne, which he called (''Bouwinda'') or (''Boubinda''), which in Celtic means "white cow" (). During the High Middle Ages, Giraldus Cambrensis called it the ''Boandus''. In Irish mythology it is said that the river was created by the goddess Boann and Boyne is an anglicised form of the name. In other legends, it was in this river where Fionn mac Cumhail captured Fiontán, the Salmon of Knowledge. The Meath section of the Boyne was also known as ''Smior Fionn Feidhlimthe'' (the 'marrow of Fionn Feilim'). The ti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Züschen (megalithic Tomb)
The Züschen tomb (, sometimes also ''Lohne-Züschen'') is a prehistoric burial monument, located between Lohne and Züschen, near Fritzlar, Hesse, Germany. Classified as a gallery grave or a Hessian-Westphalian stone cist (''hessisch-westfälische Steinkiste''), it is one of the most important megalithic monuments in Central Europe. Dating to the late 4th millennium BC (and possibly remaining in use until the early 3rd), it belongs to the Late Neolithic Wartberg culture. The presence of incised carvings, comparable to prehistoric rock art elsewhere in Europe, is a striking feature of Wartberg culture tombs, known so far only from Züschen and from tomb I at Warburg. Discovery and excavation The tomb was accidentally discovered in 1894. For a number of years, a row of sandstone blocks had impeded the local miller from ploughing one of his fields. When he decided to remove them, Rudolf Gelpke, an inspector from nearby Garvensburg castle, noted the unusual presence of sandsto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gallery Grave
A gallery grave is a form of megalithic tomb built primarily during the Neolithic Age in Europe in which the main gallery of the tomb is entered without first passing through an antechamber or hallway. There are at least four major types of gallery grave (complex, transepted, segmented, and wedge-shaped), and they may be covered with an earthen mound (or "tumulus") or rock mound (or "cairn"). Background Archeologist T. Douglas Price argues that the gallery grave was a form of community burial site. Those placed in a gallery grave were most likely members of the same family or hamlet, and probably were intended to reinforce the sense of community. Gallery graves may be straight, or they may form an ell. In some cases, a burial chamber exists at the end of the gallery. The walls of gallery graves were built of orthostats, slab-like stones set upright in the earth. They were roofed with multiple flat stones, although the burial chamber (if one existed) was usually roofed with a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Central Europe
Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in this region also share some historical and cultural similarities. The region is variously defined, but it’s minimum definition could be considered of consisting of Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, eastern France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland. But also the Baltic States, the Alsace in north-east France, and South Tyrol, northern Belluno , and Friuli-Venezia Giulia in north-east Italy are culturally usually considered to be part of Central Europe. From the early 16th century until the early 18th century, parts of Croatia and Hungary were ruled by the Ottoman Empire. During the 17th century, the empire also occupied southern parts of present-day Slovakia. During ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barnenez
The Cairn of Barnenez (also: Barnenez Tumulus, Barnenez Mound; in Breton ''Karn Barnenez''; in French: ''Cairn de Barnenez'' or ''Tumulus de Barnenez'') is a Neolithic monument located near Plouezoc'h, on the Kernéléhen peninsula in northern Finistère, Brittany, France. It dates to the early Neolithic, around 4000 BC. Along with the Tumulus of Bougon and Locmariaquer megaliths, also located in Great West France, it is one of the earliest megalithic monuments in Europe and one of the oldest man-made structures in the world. It is also remarkable for the presence of megalithic art. History Dates Radiocarbon dates indicate that the first phase of the monument was erected between 4850 and 4250 BC, and the second phase between 4450 and 4000 BC. Secondary use Pottery found in and around the monument indicates that it underwent a period of reuse in the Bronze Age, in the 3rd millennium BC. Recognition as an ancient monument The cairn was first mapped in 1807, in the context ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gavrinis
Gavrinis () is a small island in the Gulf of Morbihan in Brittany, France. It contains the Gavrinis tomb, a Neolithic passage tomb built around 4200–4000 BC, making it one of the world's oldest surviving buildings. Stones inside the passage and chamber are covered in megalithic art. It is likened to other Neolithic passage tombs such as Barnenez in Brittany and Newgrange in Ireland. Geography Reachable by boat from the town of Larmor-Baden near the opening of Morbihan Gulf to the Atlantic Ocean, Gavrinis is an uninhabited granite rock outcrop of 750 × 400m. Its highest point dominates much of the surrounding area. Name The name ''Gavrinis'' is popularly believed to be derived from the Breton words ''gavr'' (goat) and ''enez'' (island), suggesting a meaning of "goat island". This is probably a false etymology. In documents dating from 1184 and 1202, the island is named ''Guirv Enes'' and ''Guerg Enes'', respectively. The old Breton word ''Guerg'' is not related to ''gavr' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Passage Grave
A passage grave or passage tomb consists of one or more burial chambers covered in earth or stone and having a narrow access passage made of large stones. These structures usually date from the Neolithic Age and are found largely in Western Europe. When covered in earth, a passage grave is a type of tumulus, burial mound which is found in various forms all over the world. When a passage grave is covered in stone, it is a type of cairn. Construction and design The building of passage graves was normally carried out with megaliths along with smaller stones. The earliest passage tombs seem to take the form of small dolmens, although not all dolmens are passage graves. The passage itself in a number of notable instances is aligned in such a way that the sun shines through the passage and into the chamber at a significant point in the year, often at sunrise on the solstice, winter solstice or at sunset on the equinox. Many later passage tombs were constructed at the tops of hills or mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Menhirs
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' size can vary considerably, but they often taper toward the top. Menhirs are found across Europe, Africa, and Asia, with a concentration in Western Europe, notably in Ireland, Great Britain, and Brittany. Theories concerning their purpose remain speculative, with hypotheses ranging from druidic rituals to territorial markers or elements of an ideological system. Some menhirs feature engravings, including anthropomorphic figures and symbols, and are often associated with ancient religious ceremonies and burial chambers. Etymology The word ''menhir'' was adopted from French by 19th-century archaeologists. The introduction of the w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to abstract concepts such as nations, emotions, and natural forces, such as seasons and weather. Both have ancient roots as storytelling and artistic devices, and most cultures have traditional fables with anthropomorphized animals as characters. People have also routinely attributed human emotions and behavioral traits to wild as well as domesticated animals. Etymology Anthropomorphism and anthropomorphization derive from the verb form ''anthropomorphize'', itself derived from the Greek ''ánthrōpos'' (, "human") and ''morphē'' (, "form"). It is first attested in 1753, originally in reference to the heresy of applying a human form to the Christian God.''Oxford English Dictionary'', 1st ed. "anthropomorphism, ''n.''" Oxford University Pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjacent Islands of Scotland, islands, principally in the archipelagos of the Hebrides and the Northern Isles. To the south-east, Scotland has its Anglo-Scottish border, only land border, which is long and shared with England; the country is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, the North Sea to the north-east and east, and the Irish Sea to the south. The population in 2022 was 5,439,842. Edinburgh is the capital and Glasgow is the most populous of the cities of Scotland. The Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the 9th century. In 1603, James VI succeeded to the thrones of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, forming a personal union of the Union of the Crowns, three kingdo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
