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.

Looking at megaliths

Before I begin my megalith sketches I've decided to have a look at some existing megaliths to gain some inspiration and a visual reference of what they actually look like.

Cromlech of Okabe (Basque Country in Spain)



Megalithic tomb, Mane Braz, Brittany


Megalithic tomb in Khakasiya, Russian Federation


The stone circle at the centre of the Standing Stones of Callanish


Wales's finest hilltop megalith

I think tomorrow I shall do some research into the different types of megaliths.