“Megalith” means “big stone.” Across Europe, there are 35,000 ancient megalithic structures. The most famous is likely Stonehenge—the massive concentric circles of standing stones in the British countryside. Its origin is still a mystery.
Across the European continent, megaliths constitute grave markers, standing monuments, stone circles, and holy sites. But while theories abound, more questions than answers stand as solidly as the big rocks.
How did they get there? Where did they come from? Why were so many erected in what seems to be a movement during the Neolithic and Copper Ages (about 4,500 to 2,500 B.C.)?
Scientists keep studying. They keep taking measurements for dating the sites. And they keep proposing theories. Debates and disagreements have raged for more than a century.
Now a new study suggests that the practice of building huge stone monuments originated in northwestern France and then spread throughout ancient Europe. Using thousands of radiocarbon measurements, Bettina Schulz Paulsson of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden performed a statistical analysis of European monuments. Paulsson concluded that the earliest sites were built in the Brittany region of northwest France between 4,500 and 4,100 BC.
In an email Tuesday, Paulsson said the findings challenge previous theories that claimed megaliths originated in the Middle East or developed independently in different parts of Europe. Paulsson’s study was reported in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States of America. It states that “We argue for the transfer of the megalithic concept over sea routes emanating from northwest France, and for advanced maritime technology and seafaring in the megalithic age.” In other words, the idea of building gigantic stone structures was communicated by sailors who observed the practice in Brittany.
Mike Parker Pearson is an archaeologist at University College London. He called the study a “great exercise in big data analysis.” But he urged further research to determine how the practice spread. And so, the mystery and debate continues.
Setting up stones for the purpose of commemoration has gone on much longer than just the megalith movement in Europe. God instructed Samuel to set up a stone of remembrance of God’s goodness when Israel defeated the Philistines. (See 1 Samuel 7.) Joshua also set up stones after Israel first entered the Promised Land. (See Joshua 3 and 4.)
And Jesus is referred to as the stone the builders of the religious community rejected—but He has become the cornerstone of all eternal salvation. (See Acts 4:11.)
(The sun rises at the ancient stone circle of Stonehenge near Salisbury, England. AP Photo)
