Megaliths of the World

Edited by Luc Laporte Edited by Jean-Marc Large Edited by Laurent Nespoulous Edited by Chris Scarre Edited by Tara Steimer-Herbet

Book cover: Megaliths of the World

Extent: 832 pages

Number of parts: 2

Publisher: Archaeopress Publishing

Subjects: European Prehistory

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(August 2022)

ISBN: 9781803273204

8.27 x 11.69 inches

Price: $240.00

In stock

Bringing together the latest research on megalithic monuments throughout the world, 150 researchers offer 72 articles, providing a region-by region account in their specialist areas, and a summary of the current state of knowledge. Highlighting salient themes, the book is vital to anyone interested in the phenomenon of megalithic mon


Megaliths of the World brings together the latest research on megalithic monuments throughout the world. Many of these sites are well known, others less familiar, yet equally deserving of close attention. Megalithic monuments in different regions of the world are far from being a single unified phenomenon, having varied chronologies, and diverse origins, but they all share a certain family resemblance through their common characteristic: the deployment of large stones. No fewer than 150 researchers have contributed 72 articles and inserts, providing a vital region-by region account of the megalithic monuments in their specialist areas, and the current state of knowledge. The insights offered in these volumes emphasize the particular character and significance of these apparently inanimate stones. The use of such large blocks must surely have been an expression of power or prestige, yet the size and materiality of the stones themselves opens up new perspectives into the meaning and symbolism of these monuments, the places from which the blocks were derived, and the way they were manipulated and shaped. Megaliths of the World takes the reader on a fascinating journey, offering new insights through encounters with megaliths and megalithic traditions that will often be new and unfamiliar. Highlighting salient themes, it provides a compendium of detailed information that will be vital to anyone interested in the phenomenon of megalithic monumentality.

Preface - Roger Joussaume Introduction - Jean-Paul Cros, Sophie Corson, Jean-Marc Large, Luc Laporte PART I: MEGALITHS Chapter 1: From the architectural project to megalithic ruins: a dynamic vision of 'petrified' remains - Luc Laporte Chapter 2: Megalithism and monumentalism: a plea for broadening the debate - Alain Gallay Chapter 3: From the rock throne to the burial chamber. History, myths and megaliths in Japan - Francois Mace, Laurent Nespoulous Chapter 4: Megalithic genesis: construction of a cultural identity for better goods circulation - Tara Steimer-Herbet Chapter 5: Stones in the landscape: Megalithic monuments in their wider setting - Chris Scarre PART II: MEGALITHS IN AMERICA Introduction - Jose R. Oliver, Luc Laporte Chapter 6: Pre-Colombian megaliths of the Caribbean: bateyes and plazas of the Greater Antilles - Jose R. Oliver Chapter 7: Megaliths of the Colombian Andes: Boyaca, Sierra Nevada del Cocuy and San Agustin - Jose R. Oliver Chapter 8: The late Holocene megalithic structures at easternmost Amazonia - Joao Darcy De Moura Saldanha From stone to dust: ceramics and megalithism in Amapa (Brazil) - Marina Da Silva Costa Chapter 9: Non-funerary megalithism among mobile hunter-gatherers and shepherds: Tulan-52 and Tulan-54 (Atacama Desert, Chile) - Catherine Perles, Lautaro Nunez PART III: MEGALITHS FROM EASTER ISLAND TO INDONESIA Introduction - Nicolas Cauwe, Tara Steimer-Herbet Chapter 10: Aboriginal monumental stone-working in Northern Australia during the Pleistocene - Chris Urwin, Bruno David, Jean-Jacques Delannoy, Joshua A. Bell, Jean-Michel Geneste Chapter 11: Megalithism in eastern Polynesia - Nicolas Cauwe Chapter 12: Megalithic architectures in a world of oceanic 'little islands (Micro-nesia)' - Christophe Sand Chapter 13: Mechanisms of appearance and disappearance of Indonesian megaliths - Tara Steimer-Herbet Chapter 14: Menhirs of Tana Toraja (Indonesia): a preliminary ethnoarchaeological assessment - Ron Adams, Guillaume Robin Chapter 15: Megaliths on Sumatra and Nias (Indonesia): concepts of 'value' behind the making of stone monuments - Dominik Bonatz Chapter 16: The social context of megalithic practice: An ethnoarchaeological approach. What the case of the Indonesian island of Sumba teaches us - Christian Jeunesse Megalithic techniques at Sumba Island (Indonesia): from quarries to abandonment - Noisette Bec Drelon, Christian Jeunesse Chapter 17: Setting the wider frame. A comparison of recent megalith building traditions in Sumba (Indonesia) and Nagaland (India) - Maria WunderlichPART IV: MEGALITHS FROM INDIA AND SOUTHEASTERN ASIA Introduction - Rabindra Kumar Mohanty, Johannes Muller Chapter 18: Megalithic cultures in Southern Asia - Rabindra Kumar Mohanty Chapter 19: Megalithic architectures in India - Rabindra Kumar Mohanty Chapter 20: Northeast Indian megaliths: monuments and social structures - Tiatoshi Jamir, Johannes Muller Chapter 21: Megalithic monuments of Jharkhand: archaeology and ethnography - Himanshu Shekhar, Rabindra Kumar Mohanty Chapter 22: The stone jars of Southeast Asia and Northeast India: problems and prospects - Tilok Thakuria Chapter 23: The dolmens of Karachi, Sindh (Pakistan) - Zulfiqar Ali Kalhoro Chapter 24: Megaliths in Vidarbha region (India) - Rabindra Kumar Mohanty Mahurjhari Megalithic Site (India) - Rabindra Kumar Mohanty Bhagimohari Megalithic Site (India) - Rabindra Kumar Mohanty Chapter 25: Distributions and disparities in the megalithic burials of Vidarbha (India): a scrutiny - Virag Sontakke Chapter 26: Social organisation of the megalithic people in Vidarbha, Maharashtra (India) - Shantanu Vaidya, Rabindra Kumar Mohanty Chapter 27: Situating megalithic monuments in Tamil Nadu: content and context - K. RaJan PART V: MEGALITHS FROM CENTRAL AND EAST ASIA Introduction - Laurent Nespoulous, Anke Hein Chapter 28: Monuments in the mountains: the megalithic graves of western China - Anke Hein Chapter 29: Prehistoric cairns and dolmens in Manchuria (China) - Kazuo Miyamoto Chapter 30: Dolmens and societies in the Korean Peninsula - Daisuke Nakamura Chapter 31: Dolmens of the Korean Peninsula: Conservation and utilization in Hoseo (South Korea) - Joon-ho Son Chapter 32: The development of stone art culture in ancient Korea - Takafumi Yamamoto Chapter 33: From megalithic contexts in the Japanese archipelago, to megalithism as a context: Reflections for consideration, from the first sedentary societies to the first State societies - Laurent Nespoulous Chapter 34: Prehistoric and protohistoric megaliths of the Japanese archipelago - Yoshio Kikuchi Chapter 35: Bronze Age and Iron Age decorated megaliths and funerary complexes in Mongolia and Southern Siberia - Jerome Magail, Yuri Esin, Jamiyan-Ombo Gantulga, Fabrice Monna, Tanguy Rolland, Anne-Caroline Allard Digital 3D documentation of the Tamchinsky deer stone - Vladislav Kazakov, Vasily Kovalev, Kair Zhumadilov, Lyudmila Lbova, Aleksandr Simukhin Chapter 36: Megalithic traditions in the Early Bronze Age of the Mongolian Altai: the Chemurchek (Qie'muerqieke) cultural phenomenon - Alexey Kovalev PART VI: MEGALITHS FROM CAUCASUS TO THE ARABIC PENINSULA Introduction - Tara Steimer-Herbet, Viktor Trifonov Chapter 37: In the shadow of monoliths. Gobekli Tepe and the monumental tradition of the Pre-Pottery Levant - Remi Hadad Chapter 38: The Bronze Age megaliths in the Caucasus: development trajectory of the architecture and the funeral practice - Viktor Trifonov Chapter 39: The dolmens of the Balkans - Georgi Nekhrizov, Stanislav Iliev Chapter 40: At the intersection of continents: Megalithism in Turkey - Bakiye Yukmen Edens Chapter 41: Untangling megalith typologies and chronologies in the Levant - James Fraser Chapter 42: Protohistoric cairns and tower tombs in South-Eastern Arabia (end of the 4th - beginning of the 3rd millennium BCE) - Olivia Munoz Chapter 43: Megalithism in the Middle East - Tara Steimer-Herbet PART VII: AFRICAN MEGALITHS Introduction - Jean-Paul Cros, Luc Laporte Chapter 44: Megaliths of Africa: an overview - Alain Gallay Chapter 45: The Horn of Africa: five millennia of megalithism - Jean-Paul Cros Chapter 46: Pastoral Neolithic 'pillar sites' of northwestern Kenya - Elisabeth Hildebrand, Katherine M. Grillo Chapter 47: Megaliths in Madagascar - Mike Parker Pearson Chapter 48: Megaliths of Nigeria: the footprints of ancient civilization - Abu Solomon Edet, Abubakar Sule Sani Chapter 49: Megaliths from Senegal and The Gambia in their regional context - Luc Laporte, Hamady Bocoum, Adrien Delvoye, Jean-Paul Cros, Selim Djouad, Matar Ndiaye, Aziz Ballouche, Pierre Lamotte, Mathilde Stern, Abdoulaye Ndiaye, Laurent Quesnel Earthern architectures and megalithism: the Soto monument (Senegal) - Adrien Delvoye, Khady Thiaw, Marylise Onfray, Matar Ndiaye, Philippe Gouezin, Abdoulaye Ndiaye, Vivien Mathe, Tioro Ba, Christian Camerlynck, Sire Ndiaye, Adrien Camus, Philippe Boulinguiez, Leonor Rocha, Pierre Lamotte, Aziz Ballouche, Hamady Bocoum, Luc Laporte Chapter 50: Types of monumentalism and burial rites of the central and eastern Sahara - Alain Gallay Chapter 51: Neolithic monuments with standing stones in the northwestern Sahara - Robert Vernet Chapter 52: The megalithic necropolises of the eastern Maghreb - Joan Sanmarti PART VIII: EUROPEAN MEGALITHS Introduction - Chris Scarre Chapter 53: Larger than life: monumentality of the landscape and non-human imagery at Lepenski (Serbia) - Dusan Boric Chapter 54: On the Atlantic shores. The origin of megaliths in Europe? - Luc Laporte, Primitiva Bueno Ramirez Standing stones and sepulchral stone assemblies. Towards a convergence in thinking. The example of the megaliths in the Morbihan department, France - Philippe Gouezin Chapter 55: First monumentalities in Western Europe: the necropolis of Fleury-sur-Orne, 'Les Hauts de l'Orne' (Normandy, France) - Emmanuel Ghesquiere, Philippe Chambon, David Giazzon, Corinne Thevenet, Aline Thomas Chapter 56: Early monumentality in northern Europe - Johannes Muller, Karl-Goran Sjogren Old bones or early graves? A brief summary of megalithic burial sequences in southern Sweden based on radiocarbon dating - Malou Blank Chapter 57: Beyond comparison: the diversity of megalith building - Richard Bradley Chapter 58: Megaliths from north and northwest France, Britain and Ireland - Chris Scarre, Luc Laporte The clay binder: a link between megalithic funerary architecture and monumental non-megalithic architecture based on examples from Champagne (France) - Vincent Desbrosse, Julia Wattez aDNA and kinship in French Atlantic facade megalithic monuments - Olivia Cheronet, Daniel Fernandes, Inigo Olalde, Nadin Rohland, Ludovic Soler, Jean-Paul Cros, Jean-Marc Large, Chris Scarre, Roger Joussaume, David Reich, Luc Laporte, Ron Pinhasi Secrets in the stones: examining the presence of stones with inclusions in the passage tombs of Atlantic Europe - Patricia Kenny A study of 26 Irish prehistoric stone circles and their inbuilt sunrise calendars - Terence Meaden Chapter 59: Mediterranean megalithism: a long-term history - Jean Guilaine The megalithic monument of Uzes (Gard, south of France) - Marie Bouchet, Philippe Cayn, Christian Servelle Chapter 60: Megalithism versus cyclopeism: the case of prehistoric Menorca (Balearic Islands, Spain) - Cristina Bravo Asensio, Irene Riudavets Gonzalez Chapter 61: Small is Beautiful: Early megalithism and the first funerary architectures in south-central Portugal (southwestern Iberia) - Marco Antonio Andrade, Rui Mataloto, Andre Pereira- Primitiva Bueno Ramirez, Rosa Barroso Bermejo, Rodrigo De Balbin Behrmann Don Bosco: a new Final Neolithic megalithic cemetery at Sion (Valais-Switzerland) - Manuel Mottet Conclusion - Luc Laporte, Preface – Roger JoussaumeJean-Paul Cros, Sophie Corson, Jean-Marc Large, Luc Laporte PART I: MEGALITHS Chapter 1 :

From the architectural project to megalithic ruins: a dynamic vision of ‘petrified’ remains – Luc Laporte Chapter 2 :

Megalithism and monumentalism: a plea for broadening the debate – Alain Gallay (†) ;

Chapter 3 :

From the rock throne to the burial chamber. History, myths and megaliths in Japan – François Macé, Laurent Nespoulous Chapter 4 :

Megalithic genesis: construction of a cultural identity for better goods circulation – Tara Steimer-Herbet Chapter 5 :

Stones in the landscape: Megalithic monuments in their wider setting – Chris Scarre PART II: MEGALITHS IN AMERICA Introduction – José R. Oliver, Luc Laporte Chapter 6 :

Pre-Colombian megaliths of the Caribbean: bateyes and plazas of the Greater Antilles – José R. Oliver Chapter 7 :

Megaliths of the Colombian Andes: Boyacá, Sierra Nevada del Cocuy and San Agustín – José R. Oliver Chapter 8 :

The late Holocene megalithic structures at easternmost Amazonia – João Darcy De Moura SaldanhaMarina Da Silva Costa Chapter 9 :

Non-funerary megalithism among mobile hunter-gatherers and shepherds: Tulán-52 and Tulán-54 (Atacama Desert, Chile) – Catherine Perlès, Lautaro Núñez PART III: MEGALITHS FROM EASTER ISLAND TO INDONESIA Introduction – Nicolas Cauwe, Tara Steimer-Herbet Chapter 10 :

Aboriginal monumental stone-working in Northern Australia during the Pleistocene – Chris Urwin, Bruno David, Jean-Jacques Delannoy, Joshua A. Bell, Jean-Michel Geneste Chapter 11 :

Megalithism in eastern Polynesia – Nicolas Cauwe Chapter 12 :

Megalithic architectures in a world of oceanic ‘little islands (Micro-nesia)’ – Christophe Sand Chapter 13 :

Mechanisms of appearance and disappearance of Indonesian megaliths – Tara Steimer-Herbet Chapter 14 :

Menhirs of Tana Toraja (Indonesia): a preliminary ethnoarchaeological assessment – Ron Adams, Guillaume Robin Chapter 15 :

Megaliths on Sumatra and Nias (Indonesia): concepts of ‘value’ behind the making of stone monuments – Dominik Bonatz Chapter 16 :

The social context of megalithic practice: An ethnoarchaeological approach. What the case of the Indonesian island of Sumba teaches us – Christian JeunesseNoisette Bec Drelon, Christian Jeunesse Chapter 17 :

Setting the wider frame. A comparison of recent megalith building traditions in Sumba (Indonesia) and Nagaland (India) – Maria Wunderlich PART IV: MEGALITHS FROM INDIA AND SOUTHEASTERN ASIA Introduction – Rabindra Kumar Mohanty, Johannes Müller Chapter 18 :

Megalithic cultures in Southern Asia – Rabindra Kumar Mohanty Chapter 19 :

Megalithic architectures in India – Rabindra Kumar Mohanty Chapter 20 :

Northeast Indian megaliths: monuments and social structures – Tiatoshi Jamir, Johannes Müller Chapter 21 :

Megalithic monuments of Jharkhand: archaeology and ethnography – Himanshu Shekhar, Rabindra Kumar Mohanty Chapter 22 :

The stone jars of Southeast Asia and Northeast India: problems and prospects – Tilok Thakuria Chapter 23 :

The dolmens of Karachi, Sindh (Pakistan) – Zulfiqar Ali Kalhoro Chapter 24 :

Megaliths in Vidarbha region (India) – Rabindra Kumar MohantyRabindra Kumar MohantyRabindra Kumar Mohanty Chapter 25 :

Distributions and disparities in the megalithic burials of Vidarbha (India): a scrutiny – Virag Sontakke Chapter 26 :

Social organisation of the megalithic people in Vidarbha, Maharashtra (India) – Shantanu Vaidya, Rabindra Kumar Mohanty Chapter 27 :

Situating megalithic monuments in Tamil Nadu: content and context – K. RaJan PART V: MEGALITHS FROM CENTRAL AND EAST ASIA Introduction – Laurent Nespoulous, Anke Hein Chapter 28 :

Monuments in the mountains: the megalithic graves of western China – Anke Hein Chapter 29 :

Prehistoric cairns and dolmens in Manchuria (China) – Kazuo Miyamoto Chapter 30 :

Dolmens and societies in the Korean Peninsula – Daisuke Nakamura Chapter 31 :

Dolmens of the Korean Peninsula: Conservation and utilization in Hoseo (South Korea) – Joon-ho Son Chapter 32 :

The development of stone art culture in ancient Korea – Takafumi Yamamoto Chapter 33 :

From megalithic contexts in the Japanese archipelago, to megalithism as a context: Reflections for consideration, from the first sedentary societies to the first State societies – Laurent Nespoulous Chapter 34 :

Prehistoric and protohistoric megaliths of the Japanese archipelago – Yoshio Kikuchi Chapter 35 :

Bronze Age and Iron Age decorated megaliths and funerary complexes in Mongolia and Southern Siberia – Jérôme Magail, Yuri Esin, Jamiyan-Ombo Gantulga, Fabrice Monna, Tanguy Rolland, Anne-Caroline AllardVladislav Kazakov, Vasily Kovalev, Kair Zhumadilov, Lyudmila Lbova, Aleksandr Simukhin Chapter 36 :

Megalithic traditions in the Early Bronze Age of the Mongolian Altaï: the Chemurchek (Qie’muerqieke) cultural phenomenon – Alexey Kovalev PART VI: MEGALITHS FROM CAUCASUS TO THE ARABIC PENINSULA Introduction – Tara Steimer-Herbet, Viktor Trifonov Chapter 37 :

In the shadow of monoliths. Göbekli Tepe and the monumental tradition of the Pre-Pottery Levant – Rémi Hadad Chapter 38 :

The Bronze Age megaliths in the Caucasus: development trajectory of the architecture and the funeral practice – Viktor Trifonov Chapter 39 :

The dolmens of the Balkans – Georgi Nekhrizov, Stanislav Iliev Chapter 40 :

At the intersection of continents: Megalithism in Turkey – Bakiye Yükmen Edens Chapter 41 :

Untangling megalith typologies and chronologies in the Levant – James Fraser Chapter 42 :

Protohistoric cairns and tower tombs in South-Eastern Arabia (end of the 4th - beginning of the 3rd millennium BCE) – Olivia Munoz Chapter 43 :

Megalithism in the Middle East – Tara Steimer-Herbet PART VII: AFRICAN MEGALITHS Introduction – Jean-Paul Cros, Luc Laporte Chapter 44 :

Megaliths of Africa: an overview – Alain Gallay (†) ;

Chapter 45 :

The Horn of Africa: five millennia of megalithism – Jean-Paul Cros Chapter 46 :

Pastoral Neolithic ‘pillar sites’ of northwestern Kenya – Elisabeth Hildebrand, Katherine M. Grillo Chapter 47 :

Megaliths in Madagascar – Mike Parker Pearson Chapter 48 :

Megaliths of Nigeria: the footprints of ancient civilization – Abu Solomon Edet, Abubakar Sule Sani Chapter 49 :

Megaliths from Senegal and The Gambia in their regional context – Luc Laporte, Hamady Bocoum, Adrien Delvoye, Jean-Paul Cros, Selim Djouad, Matar Ndiaye, Aziz Ballouche, Pierre Lamotte, Mathilde Stern, Abdoulaye Ndiaye, Laurent Quesnel Adrien Delvoye, Khady Thiaw, Marylise Onfray, Matar Ndiaye, Philippe Gouézin, Abdoulaye Ndiaye, Vivien Mathé, Tioro Ba, Christian Camerlynck, Sire Ndiaye, Adrien Camus, Philippe Boulinguiez, Leonor Rocha, Pierre Lamotte, Aziz Ballouche, Hamady Bocoum, Luc Laporte Chapter 50 :

Types of monumentalism and burial rites of the central and eastern Sahara – Alain Gallay (†) ;

Chapter 51 :

Neolithic monuments with standing stones in the northwestern Sahara – Robert Vernet Chapter 52 :

The megalithic necropolises of the eastern Maghreb – Joan Sanmartí PART VIII: EUROPEAN MEGALITHS Introduction – Chris Scarre Chapter 53 :

Larger than life: monumentality of the landscape and non-human imagery at Lepenski (Serbia) – Dušan Borić Chapter 54 :

On the Atlantic shores. The origin of megaliths in Europe? – Luc Laporte, Primitiva Bueno RamírezPhilippe Gouézin Chapter 55 :

First monumentalities in Western Europe: the necropolis of Fleury-sur-Orne, ‘Les Hauts de l’Orne’ (Normandy, France) – Emmanuel Ghesquière, Philippe Chambon, David Giazzon, Corinne Thévenet, Aline Thomas Chapter 56 :

Early monumentality in northern Europe – Johannes Müller, Karl-Göran SjögrenMalou Blank Chapter 57 :

Beyond comparison: the diversity of megalith building – Richard Bradley Chapter 58 :

Megaliths from north and northwest France, Britain and Ireland – Chris Scarre, Luc LaporteVincent Desbrosse, Julia WattezOlivia Cheronet, Daniel Fernandes, Iñigo Olalde, Nadin Rohland, Ludovic Soler, Jean-Paul Cros, Jean-Marc Large, Chris Scarre, Roger Joussaume, David Reich, Luc Laporte, Ron Pinhasi Patricia KennyTerence Meaden Chapter 59 :

Mediterranean megalithism: a long-term history – Jean GuilaineMarie Bouchet, Philippe Cayn, Christian Servelle Chapter 60 :

Megalithism versus cyclopeism: the case of prehistoric Menorca (Balearic Islands, Spain) – Cristina Bravo Asensio, Irene Riudavets González Chapter 61 :

Small is Beautiful: Early megalithism and the first funerary architectures in south-central Portugal (southwestern Iberia) – Marco António Andrade, Rui Mataloto, André Pereira Chapter 62 :

Megalithic art: Funeral scenarios in western Neolithic Europe – Primitiva Bueno Ramírez, Rosa Barroso Bermejo, Rodrigo De Balbín BehrmannManuel Mottet Conclusion – Luc Laporte

  • Edited by Luc Laporte
  • Edited by Jean-Marc Large
  • Edited by Laurent Nespoulous
  • Edited by Chris Scarre
  • Edited by Tara Steimer-Herbet

It becomes evident by this very brief review that these 1400-page volumes offer, quite literally, a tour through the world of megaliths, demonstrating the sheer diversity of the phenomenon, in stylistic/architectural, socioeconomic, and ontological terms, as well as disseminating some exciting new data and extremely useful overviews. I will definitely use these volumes for my teaching and research, as they offer excellent entry points to further explore megalithic phenomena from across the world, and help put regional phenomena in broader perspective.’ – Marta Díaz-Guardamino (2023): European Journal of Archaeology 26

'This publication, presented in full colour, will appeal to anyone interested in understanding the grammar of architectural design and the role monuments played in the ritual activity of people who are, really, not so different from us.' – George Nash (2024): Current World Archaeology 122