Report on one of the earliest known circular plazas in #Andean#SouthAmerica & one of the earliest examples of #megalithic ceremonial #architecture in the Americas. This is constructed of large free-standing & vertically placed megalithic stones - located in #Cajamarca basin of northern #Peruvian#Andes. This construction method has never before been reported in the Andes & is #distinct from other monumental circular plazas in the region.
Most remarkable about the #Killadangan#Megalithic Complex is the Stone Row, which consists of five standing stones (one has fallen) which increases in height from north to south, drawing the eye up to a niche in the eastern shoulder in #CruachánAigle/#CroaghPatrick. At about 1.50 pm on the winter #solstice the sun dips into this little niche in the mountain. At this point, the sun is directly in line with the row of stones, before disappearing shortly afterwards behind the mountain. #Celtic
The Menga dolmen is an ancient burial mound located near #Antequera, #Málaga, Spain. It has been dated to approximately 5,700 years ago and is one of the largest known #megalithic structures to be built in #Europe.
Little explorers, entering the darkness of the Dolmen de Menga, Antequera, 3750–3650 BC.
On the way out, they face towards Lovers' Rock, and the small cave now known as Goat Butcher's Shelter, with its cave paintings from an earlier period of around 3900 BC.
Yet the supposed "#megalithic structures" are mostly associated with #BasaltColumns - which, however, are a not unusual also naturally occurring phenomenon:
If basaltic #lava cools and solidifies with a certain delay, contraction results in polygonal #basalt columns.
Stonehenge under gales & a lowering sky today, sheep grazing on it. Prehistory is more important than ever at times when the roar & clamour of now seems to drown us. To stand with the megaliths and barrows, their cultural urgency in Neolithic Britain dissolved into monumental uncertainty, relic & grazing status, is to understand the absurd futility of lines on maps.
An impressive, recently built stone circle complex in the Usk Vale, a few miles north of the M4 in South #wales. The circle itself consists of twelve stones, with outliers. Well kept and on private land, but a public footpath runs past it. Many thanks to Who587illustrator for the photos and site information: https://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=58447#StoneCircle#megalithic#megalith
“As above so below:” a cup crafted from a human skull raises question about is ritual purpose ~ In a cave in southern Spain, Researchers find human bones that had been converted into tools.
One of three graves discovered in 2013 in the village of Colombier during the demolition of a restaurant to build a service station in Neuenburg, #Switzerland. The largest of the three contained the remains of a man over 30 and a bronze pin dating to around 1600 BC. Photo by our member Megalithic89 More: https://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=51636#bronzeage#megalithic#archaeology