Giant ancient megaliths. Megalithic structures - erected before the Flood - Earth before the Flood: disappeared continents and civilizations Types of megalithic structures include

On the surface of the globe, with the exception of Australia, there are many mysterious and ancient buildings. Modern research showed that they were erected in the Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Eneolithic periods. Previously, it was believed that they all represented one common culture, but today more and more scientists are questioning this theory.

So, who and why were such megalithic structures created? Why do they have one shape or another and what do they mean? Where can you see these monuments of ancient culture?

Before considering and studying megalithic structures, you need to understand what elements they may consist of. Today it is generally accepted that the smallest unit of construction of this type is a megalith. This term was officially introduced into scientific terminology in 1867, at the suggestion of the English specialist A. Herbert. The word “megalith” is Greek and translated into Russian means “big stone”.

An accurate and comprehensive definition of what megaliths are does not yet exist. Today, this concept refers to ancient structures made of stone blocks, slabs or simple blocks of various sizes without the use of any cementing or binding compounds or solutions. The simplest type of megalithic structures, consisting of just one block, are menhirs.

Main features of megalithic structures

In different eras, different peoples erected huge structures from large stones, blocks and slabs. Temple in Baalbek and Egyptian pyramids They are also megaliths, it’s just not customary to call them that. Thus, megalithic structures are various structures created by different ancient civilizations and consisting of large stones or slabs.

However, all structures considered megaliths have a number of features that unite them:

1. They are all made of stones, blocks and slabs gigantic size, the weight of which can range from several tens of kilograms to hundreds of tons.

2. Ancient megalithic structures were built from strong and resistant to destruction rocks: limestone, andesite, basalt, diorite and others.

3. No cement was used during construction - neither in the mortar for fastening, nor for the manufacture of blocks.

4. In most buildings, the surface of the blocks from which they are made is carefully processed, and the blocks themselves are tightly fitted to each other. The accuracy is such that it is impossible to insert a knife blade between two megalithic blocks of volcanic rock.

5. Quite often, later civilizations used the preserved fragments of megalithic buildings as foundations for their own buildings, which is clearly visible in the buildings in Jerusalem.

When were they created?

Most megalithic sites located in Great Britain, Ireland and other countries Western Europe, date back to the V-IV millennia BC. e. The most ancient megalithic structures located on the territory of our country date back to the 4th -2nd millennia BC.

The entire variety of megalithic buildings can be conditionally divided into two large groups:

• funeral;
• non-funeral:
• profane;
• sacred.

If everything is more or less clear with funerary megaliths, then scientists are making hypotheses about the purpose of profane structures, such as various giant layouts of walls and roads, military and residential towers.

There is no accurate and reliable information about how ancient people used sacred megalithic structures: menhirs, cromlechs and others.

What are they?

The most common types of megaliths are:

• menhirs - single, vertically installed stelae stones up to 20 meters high;
• cromlech - a union of several menhirs around the largest, forming a semicircle or circle;
• dolmens - the most common type of megaliths in Europe, are one or more large stone slabs laid on other blocks or boulders;
• covered gallery - one of the types of dolmens connected to each other;
• trilith - a stone structure consisting of two or more vertical stones and one laid horizontally on top of them;
• taula - a stone structure in the shape of the Russian letter “T”;
• cairn, also known as “gury” or “tour” - an underground or above-ground structure, laid out in the form of a cone of many stones;
• stone rows are vertically and parallelly installed blocks of stone;
• seid - a stone boulder or block installed by one or another people in a special place, usually on a hill, for holding various mystical ceremonies.

Only the most famous types of megalithic structures are listed here. Let's take a closer look at some of them.

Translated from Breton into Russian it means “stone table”.

As a rule, it consists of three stones, one of which lies on two vertically installed ones in the shape of the letter “P”. When constructing such structures, ancient people did not adhere to any single scheme, so there are many options for dolmens with different functions. The most famous megalithic structures of this type are located in the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts Africa and Europe, India, Scandinavia, the Caucasus.

Trilith

Scientists consider trilith to be one of the subspecies of dolmen, consisting of three stones. As a rule, this term is applied not to separately located megaliths, but to monuments that are components of more complex structures. For example, in such a famous megalithic complex as Stonehenge, the central part consists of five trilithons.

Another type of megalithic building is the cairn, or tour. This is a cone-shaped mound of stones, although in Ireland this name refers to a structure of only five stones. They can be located both on the surface of the earth and under it. In scientific circles, a cairn most often means megalithic structures located underground: labyrinths, galleries and burial chambers.

The oldest and simplest type of megalithic structures are menhirs. These are single, vertically mounted massive boulders or stones. Menhirs differ from ordinary natural stone blocks in their surface with traces of processing and in the fact that their vertical size is always larger than the horizontal. They can be either free-standing or part of complex megalithic complexes.

In the Caucasus, menhirs were shaped like fish and called vishap. On the territory of modern France, in the Crimea and the Black Sea region, quite a lot of anthropomorphic magalites - stone women - have been preserved.

Rune stones and stone crosses created much later are also post-megalithic menhirs.

Cromlech

Several menhirs, installed in the form of a semicircle or circle and covered with stone slabs on top, are called cromlechs. The most famous example is Stonehenge.

However, in addition to round ones, there are also rectangular cromlechs, as, for example, in Morbihan or Khakassia. On the island of Malta, cromlech temple complexes are built in the shape of “petals”. To create such megalithic structures, not only stone, but also wood was used, which was confirmed by finds obtained during archaeological work in the English county of Norfolk.

"Flying Stones of Lapland"

The most common megalithic structures in Russia, strange as it may sound, are seids - huge boulders mounted on small stands. Sometimes the main block is decorated with one or more small stones arranged in a “pyramid”. This type of megalith is widespread from the shores of Lakes Onega and Lake Ladoga to the coast of the Barents Sea, that is, throughout all parts of Russia.

On and in Karelia there are seids ranging in size from several tens of centimeters to six meters and weighing from tens of kilograms to several tons, depending on the rock from which they were made. In addition to the Russian North, quite a lot of megaliths of this type are found in the taiga regions of Finland, northern and central Norway, and the mountains of Sweden.

Seids can be single, group or massive, including from ten to several hundred megaliths.

Megaliths, huge structures made of massive stone blocks, are also found in our country. There are quite a lot of similar structures in Russia, but they are not as well known as the famous Stonehenge in the UK or Ollantaytambo in Peru. We will get acquainted with the ancient megalithic structures found on the territory of Russia further.

The first place we start our journey is Mount Vottovaara - highest point West Karelian Upland - 417.3 m above sea level. The area of ​​the mountain is 6 square meters. km.
The place is simply full of strange artifacts after which you begin to think about ancient highly developed stone processing technologies, let's take a better look at the photo.

Mount Vottovaara.
Megalith blocks are scattered.

Was the near block cut at an angle of 90 degrees or a play of nature?

It’s like using a laser:) geologists believe that the cracks and faults were formed as a result of a strong earthquake about 9 thousand years ago. The even planes of the stones are the result of the properties of the local rock - quartzite, the structure of which determines such even planes when split.

So is it nature or man-made? Let's take a closer look.

More like perfectly cut blocks tightly fitted to each other. It’s hard to imagine an ancient ancestor with a copper chisel somewhere on a mountain turning out such even blocks.

Good angle, perfectly straight wall.

Who lost the ball?)

This obviously involved high technology in stone processing, or is it just a play of nature? :)

Mount Pidan.
At first glance, it looks like an unremarkable pile of cracked rock.

But getting closer it looks more like megalithic masonry.

Looking between the blocks, where the stones were less exposed to erosion from wind and rain, you can see the man-made nature and how smooth edges have been preserved.

In the place where the joint of the blocks split apart, an even cut can be seen and the technology for laying these blocks opens before us.

Stone City in the Perm region.
According to scientists, the Stone City is the mouth of a river that flowed into the Permian Sea millions of years ago; this is what explains the beautifully and evenly, at right angles, carved stones, their neat laying and the “channels” of the “mouth” perpendicular to each other.

Stone city.

Look how smooth the sides of the megaliths are, as if they were cut down.

Again the old method of looking between the blocks inside the masonry, look at the far block in the center, an even cut along the entire length of the block.

They say somewhere Kola Peninsula This pool is located right in the rock.

In the south of Western Siberia in the mountainous Shoria in the Mezhdurechensky region there is a small geological village called Kameshki.
Several educated, talented geologists live in this village. These are Alexander Bespalov, Vyacheslav Pochetkin and others. These people spent their entire lives researching the mountain systems of Western Siberia. One day they came across strange megalithic structures in the mountains, which they could not explain to themselves. These were walls made of giant stone blocks and strange buildings with vertically mounted stone obelisks. They contacted Georgy Sidorov via the Internet, and the first expedition was assembled.

Mountain Shoria.
Some granite blocks below were made of red granite, topped with blocks of gray granite, and above lay a polygonal masonry of various blocks, both red and gray granite.

The granite in some places melted from exposure to enormous temperatures and flowed under the weight of the upper rows. Kungurov would say about this that these are traces of melting from a thermonuclear explosion :)

The wall is made of polygonal masonry made of multi-colored blocks.

The size of the blocks is impressive; according to one version, the find is a man-made structure over 100 thousand years old.

In the photo, Georgy Sidorov, in his opinion, this entire megalithic structure may be the ruins of an ancient power plant or power plant, which transferred seismic energy to some others.

Looking inside the masonry again, where the blocks were less susceptible to erosion, smooth straight edges are visible, look at how the two blocks lie tightly, the handicraft is better visible here.

Polygonal masonry.

Mountain Shoria. Huge blocks.
at the Department of Radiophysics at Tomsk State University they showed photographs on the screen, talked about various types of masonry, about the stone locks that hold together giant granite blocks, and not a single physicist said that all this was of natural origin. What surprised them most was how the ancients could lift giant stone blocks to a height of more than 1000 meters and install them there on a special platform.

Then, in the Tomsk branch of the Russian Geographical Society, the photographs were studied by scientific geologists and geographers. Both of them came to the conclusion that the presented artifacts were man-made.

Sklyarov was asked to comment on the find. And what did he say? That all the artifacts found are nothing more than rocks cracked at right angles. That there is nothing man-made here. Just a game of nature, nothing more.
After these words, I am not surprised why LAI does not study Russian megaliths.

Between blocks.

For comparison, on the left is the megalith in Baalbek, on the right is the megalith in the mountainous Shoria, it looks like the author is the same :)

Mount Shaman near the village. Nizhnetambovskoe, Khabarovsk region.

Ancient megalithic masonry.

Again, the handiwork and straight lines are better visible between the blocks.

Large megalith block.

A large megalith block on small stones, this is done for better earthquake resistance.

The megalithic masonry resembles Mountain Shoria.

Kabardino-Balkaria, cave in the Baksan Gorge.
First you need to squeeze into a hole measuring 40 by 120 cm, then climb down a narrow vertical shaft on a rope. It is formed by two parallel stone slabs. After 9 meters there is the first “knee”: the hole goes to the side and immediately breaks down again. Already here you will be covered in absolute silence - not a sound penetrates from outside. Another 23 meters deep - and a new “knee”. To reach the bottom of the cave, you need to overcome more than 80 meters, and it will take a whole hour. But, having passed the “bottleneck”, you will find yourself in a huge room, which the researchers called the “flask”. Inside we will see processed walls made of tuff and granite, composed of polished megaliths of different sizes, tightly fitted to each other.

Descent into the cave.

The edges of the blocks and the seams between them are clearly visible.

The smooth masonry is amazing and the seams are clearly adjusted to each other.

The triangular blocks have moved slightly apart.

Barely noticeable seams of blocks on the left half-lunar wall and on the wall behind it.

How do you like the seams?

Rotate the cave at an angle of 90 degrees. Two large megalithic blocks stand on top of each other.

The technologies for processing stone are amazing, and even more amazing is the comment of the head of the Kabardino-Balkarian geological exploration expedition, Vera Davidenko, but she is a realist and believes that nature can do everything and concluded: “Tuff is an accumulation of products of volcanic ejection - ash, fragments of lava , volcanic glass and, to a small extent, rock fragments that make up the crater walls. The ejecta material was hot during accumulation and therefore, when it solidified, cracks formed separately - that is, the entire tuff massif appeared to be broken into blocks. The depression discovered in the area of ​​the village of Zayukovo is one of these gravitational separation cracks, which is characterized by smooth contact surfaces,” but this is the head of the geological exploration expedition, she probably knows better.

Scheme of the structure.

A little fantasy for the finale) Arakul Shikhan, a strange structure in the middle of the forest. I have everything, kick me :)

Megalithic structures appeared and spread widely during the Bronze Age. Megaliths include the following structures:

• menhirs;
• dolmens;
• alinemans;
• cromlechs;
• covered walkways;
• and other buildings made of large stone blocks and slabs.

Megalithic structures can be found in every corner of the globe: in the Caucasus, Crimea, Western and Northern Europe (England, France, Denmark, Holland), in India, Iran, Balkan Peninsula, V North Africa and other countries.

Figure 1. Megalithic structures. Author24 - online exchange of student work

History of the appearance of megalithic structures and types

The emergence of various species megalithic structures often associated with cults of veneration of ancestors, sun or fire, totem. Large-scale work on processing and moving stone blocks was carried out using huge amount people under a primitive community of labor organization. The most common monuments of this type are dolmens.

Definition 1

Dolmens are burial structures that consist of several slabs arranged vertically and covered with a horizontal slab.

The weight of the slabs reached several tens of tons. Initially, dolmens reached a length of two meters, their height did not exceed 150 centimeters. However, over time, their size became larger; the approach to them was arranged in the form of a stone gallery. The length of such galleries could reach 20 meters. Another type of megalithic structures are menhirs.

Definition 2

Menhirs are vertically installed stone pillars, which have a round cross-section, a height of up to 20 meters, and a weight of about 300 tons.

Menhirs are located near dolmens, so there is an assumption that funeral rites connect them. Menhirs can often be found in small groups that are arranged in parallel rows. It happens that the length of such rows reaches 30 kilometers.

An example is Carnac in Brittany, where the number of menhirs reaches 3000. It is believed that each menhir is a monument to a deceased person.

Note 1

Menhirs did not arise out of vital necessity, when a person needed to build a home or warehouses. The creation of menhirs was based on an idea that is not related to the struggle for existence. But, despite this, considerable efforts were made to extract, deliver and hoist these blocks, which reached impressive sizes and considerable weight.

The fact of such a rapid spread of this type of megalithic structure indicates that menhirs were a kind of expression of ideas that were the same for the people of that era, regardless of their actual location.

It is no coincidence that these stones were enormous in size and weight. If we take into account their historical relationship with subsequent structures that had architectural features, then a menhir is a funerary monument or monument that is similar in its memorial column, but a dolmen is a crypt, tomb or sarcophagus. The cromlech at Stonehenge is already a kind of temple, albeit a very primitive one.

Definition 3

Cromlechs are large groups of menhirs that are arranged in closed circles. Sometimes circles consist of several rows of vertically placed stones.

An example of a complex megalithic structure is Stonehenge. This is a circle with a diameter of 30 meters, which consists of vertically placed stones. From above they are covered with horizontal slabs. In the middle of the structure there are two rings of low stones, and between them there is a third ring of tall blocks arranged in pairs. In the center is a single stone, which is believed to be an altar. Stonehenge is a famous megalithic structure, which already has such architectural elements as center, rhythm, symmetry.

In this type one can see a structure in which a technical problem not only found a certain type of solution, but also received an aesthetic embodiment, which indicates the architect’s mastery of a sense of rhythm, space, form, scale and proportions. Other megaliths do not possess such qualities, since according to all the above characteristics, they are all closer to amorphous natural creatures than to the work of human hands.

Despite this, the cromlech located in Stonehenge also cannot be called an architectural structure. It is too massive in relation to the horizontals, its verticals are too heavy. The technicality of the appearance in this case prevails over its artistic composition. Exactly the same as in all other structures that preceded the formation of the cromlech:

• dugouts;
• semi-dugouts;
• huts;
• above-ground adobe structures that had a utilitarian purpose.

The artistic form arose only when the utilitarian form reached perfection. It was also at the final stage of the Bronze Age, when crafts and the artistic industry actively emerged.

A huge number of megalithic structures have been collected in the Caucasus. Stone alleys, which in Armenia were called the stone army, became widespread here. There are also stone images of fish, which were the personification of the deity of fertility.

Magical architecture of megalithic structures

The origins of architecture date back to the late Neolithic. At that time, stone was already used to create monumental structures. All megaliths of antiquity can be divided into two large groups:

• Ancient architectural structures of prehistoric societies: cromlechs, menhirs, dolmens, temples of Malta. Almost unprocessed stones were used to build such structures. Cultures that used such structures are called megalithic. This culture also includes labyrinths made of small stones, as well as individual stone blocks with petroglyphs. Also to megalithic architecture These include the dolmens of the Korean nobility and the tombs of Japanese emperors.
• Megalithic structures of more developed architecture. These are structures made of large stone blocks that have a regular geometric shape. Such megalithic architecture is characteristic of early powers, which were not built in later times. This includes monuments of the Mediterranean: megalithic structures of the Mycenaean civilization, pyramids in Egypt, the temple mount located in Jerusalem.

The most beautiful megalithic structures in the world

Gobekli Tepe, Türkiye. The complex is located on the Armenian Highlands. This megalithic structure is considered the oldest in the world. According to historical data, it was formed in the 10th–9th millennium BC. People at that time were engaged in gathering and hunting. The shape of this megalithic temple resembles circles, of which there are more than 20 pieces. According to experts, this architectural complex was deliberately covered with sand. Its height reached 15 meters, and its diameter was 300 meters.

Megaliths in Carnac (Brittany) France. Many megalithic structures were represented as ceremonial centers in which cults for the burial of the dead were carried out. This includes the megalith complex in Carnac (Brittany), which is located in France. It contains about 3000 stones. The megaliths reached a height of 4 meters, they were arranged in the form of an alley, the rows ran parallel to each other. This architectural complex can be dated back to the 5th–4th millennium BC. There were legends that Merlin ordered the ranks of Roman legionnaires to be turned to stone.

Figure 8. Megaliths at Carnac (Brittany), France. Author24 - online exchange of student work

Nabta Observatory, Nubia, which is located in the Sahara. Some megalithic structures were previously used to determine astronomical events (equinox and solstices). At that time, a megalithic structure was found in the Nubian desert in the Nabta Playa area, which was used for astronomical purposes. Thanks to the special arrangement of the megaliths, it was possible to determine the day of the summer solstice. Archaeologists believe that people then lived seasonally, only when there was water in the lake. That's why they needed a calendar.

Stonehenge, UK, Salisbury. Stonehenge is a megalithic structure, which is presented in the form of 82 columns, 30 stone blocks and five huge trilithons. The weight of the columns reaches 5 tons, stone blocks - 25 tons, and huge stones weigh 50 tons. The stacked blocks form arches that previously pointed to the cardinal directions. According to scientists, this structure was erected in 3100 BC. The ancient monolith not only contained a lunar and solar calendar, but was also an exact copy solar system in cross section.

Figure 9. Stonehenge, UK, Salisbury. Author24 - online exchange of student work

By comparing the mathematical parameters of the geometric figures of the cromlech, it was possible to establish that they all reflect the parameters of the various planets of the solar system, and also model the orbits of their rotation. What is surprising is that Stonehenge is a representation of the 12 planets of the solar system, although today it is believed that there are only 9 of them. Astronomers have long believed that there are two more planets beyond the outer orbit of Pluto, and the asteroid belt is the remains of a previously existing 12th planets. How could the ancient builders of the cromlech know about this?

There is another interesting version about the purpose of Stonehenge. During the excavation of the path along which ritual processions were carried out, the hypothesis that the cromlech was built along the relief of the Ice Age was once again confirmed. This place was special: the natural landscape was located along the solstice axis, connecting heaven and earth.

Cromlech Broughgar or Sun Temple, Orkney. Initially, this structure had 60 elements, but today only 27 rocks have been preserved. The place where the cromlech is located is ritual. It is “stuffed” with various mounds and burials. All the monuments here are united into a single architectural complex, which is preserved by UNESCO. Today, archaeological excavations are being carried out on the islands.

Temples of Ggantija in Šara. It is located in the central part of the island of Gozo and is one of the world's most important attractions. The megalithic structure is presented in the form of two separate temples, each of which has a concave façade. In front of the entrance there is a platform made of stone blocks. Most ancient temple The architectural complex consists of several semicircular rooms arranged in the shape of a trefoil.

Figure 10. Ggantija Temples in Šara. Author24 - online exchange of student work

Scientists believe that such a trinity is a symbol of the past, present and future. According to historians, temple complex- This is a sanctuary for worshipers of the goddess of fertility. However, there is a version that the Ggantija temple is a tomb, because the population of the megalithic era followed traditions. They revered their ancestors and erected tombs, and later these places became sanctuaries where they worshiped the gods.