The flavours of megalith

Yesterday during my research of megaliths I discovered they had been categorised depending on their structure, so today I thought I'd examine the different types.

Dolmen

A free standing chamber, consisting of standing stones covered by a capstone as a lid. Dolmens were used for burial and were covered by mounds.

Menhir

A large, single upright standing stone.

Orthostat

An upright slab forming part of a larger structure.

Cromlech

A stone circle

Stone row

A linear arrangement of upright, parallel standing stones.

Stone ship

Built from tighly or loosely fit slabs or stones. Sometimes they are of monumental proportions.

Taula

A straight standing stone, topped with another forming a 'T' shape

Trilithon

Two parallel upright stones with a horizontal stone (called a lintel) placed on top, e.g. Stonehenge.