Dolmen in the context of "Sumba"

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⭐ Core Definition: Dolmen

A dolmen (/ˈdɒlmɛn/), or portal tomb, is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the Late Neolithic period (4000–3000 BCE) and were sometimes covered with earth or smaller stones to form a tumulus (burial mound). Small pad-stones may be wedged between the cap and supporting stones to achieve a level appearance. In many instances, the covering has eroded away, leaving only the stone "skeleton".

In Sumba (Indonesia), dolmens are still commonly built (about 100 dolmens each year) for collective graves according to lineage. The traditional village of Wainyapu has some 1,400 dolmens.

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Dolmen in the context of Megalith

A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. More than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging geographically from Sweden in the north to the Mediterranean Sea in the south.

The word was first used in 1849 by the British antiquarian Algernon Herbert in reference to Stonehenge and derives from Ancient Greek μέγας (mégas), meaning "great", and λίθος (líthos), meaning "stone". Most extant megaliths were erected between the Neolithic period (although earlier Mesolithic examples are known) through the Chalcolithic period and into the Bronze Age.

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Dolmen in the context of Pixie

A pixie (also called pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, piskie, or pigsie in parts of Cornwall and Devon) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are speculated to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas around Cornwall and Devon, suggesting some Celtic origin for the belief and name. However, the word 'pixie' (under various forms) also appears in Dorset, Somerset and to a lesser extent in Sussex, Wiltshire and Hampshire.

Similar to the Irish and Scottish Aos Sí (also spelled Aos Sidhe), pixies are believed to inhabit ancient underground sites such as stone circles, barrows, dolmens, ringforts, or menhirs. In traditional regional lore, pixies are generally benign, mischievous, short of stature, and childlike; they are fond of dancing and wrestling outdoors, which they perform through the night.

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Dolmen in the context of Irish National Heritage Park

The Irish National Heritage Park is an open-air museum near Wexford, Ireland, which tells the story of human settlement in Ireland from the Mesolithic period up to the Norman Invasion in 1169. It was opened to the public in 1987.

The park contains 16 reconstructed dwellings, including a Mesolithic camp, a Neolithic farmstead, a portal dolmen, a cyst grave, a stone circle, a medieval ringfort, a monastic site, crannóg, and a Viking harbour. It covers 13.7 hectares (34 acres) of parkland, estuary trails, and wetland forest. It is a nonprofit organisation and all of its receipts from admissions, restaurant, and shop sales go back into the maintenance of the park.

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Dolmen in the context of Harhoog

The Harhoog is a dolmen, a rectangular megalithic tomb from the Funnelbeaker culture, located near Keitum on the island of Sylt in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Discovered in 1925, it was moved to the present site in 1954 when a new airport was developed.

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Dolmen in the context of Poulnabrone dolmen

Poulnabrone dolmen (Irish: Poll na Brón, lit.'Hole of the Quernstone') is a large dolmen (or cromlech, a type of single-chamber portal tomb) located in the Burren, County Clare, Ireland. Situated on one of the region's most desolate and highest points, it comprises three standing portal stones supporting a heavy horizontal capstone and dates to the early Neolithic period, with estimates from 3800 and 3200 BC. Although not the largest, it is the best known of the approximately 172 dolmens in Ireland.

It was constructed on a unique karst landscape formed from limestone laid down around 350 million years ago. The dolmen was built by Neolithic farmers, who chose the location either for ritual, as a territorial marker, or as a collective burial site. What remains today is only the "stone skeleton" of the original monument; originally, it would have been covered with soil, and its flagstone capped by a cairn.

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Dolmen in the context of Wainyapu, Sumba

Waiyapu is a traditional village (desa) on Sumba island, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia.

It has some 1,400 dolmens - one of the highest concentrations of these megaliths on Sumba.

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Dolmen in the context of Carnac stones

The Carnac stones (Breton: Steudadoù Karnag) are an exceptionally dense collection of megalithic sites near the south coast of Brittany in northwestern France, consisting of stone alignments (rows), dolmens (stone tombs), tumuli (burial mounds) and single menhirs. More than 3,000 prehistoric standing stones were hewn from local granite and erected by the pre-Celtic people of Brittany and form the largest such collection in the world. Most of the stones are within the Breton municipality of Carnac, but some to the east are within neighboring La Trinité-sur-Mer. The stones were erected at some stage during the Neolithic period, probably around 3300 BC, but some may date to as early as 4500 BC.

Although the stones date from 4500–3300 BC, modern beliefs associated them with 1st century AD Roman and later Christian occupations. A Christian legend associated with the stones held that they were pagan soldiers in pursuit of Pope Cornelius when he turned them to stone. Brittany has its own local versions of the Arthurian cycle. Local tradition similarly claims that the reason they stand in such perfectly straight lines is that they are a Roman legion turned to stone by Merlin the Wizard.

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