Menhir
A menhir at Carnac, Brittany
A
menhir is a large, upright
standing stone (monolith or
megalith), of prehistoric European origin. The word "menhir" originated in the
Breton language and was adopted by 19th century archaeologists. Though the standing stones of
Stonehenge are the most famous menhirs, there are standing stones across Europe (see for examples, at
Carnac, Brittany (
illustration), at
Gwyr, south Wales, in
Malta, in the desert of
Cyrenaica, at Callanais on the island of
Lewis in the Hebrides,
more menhirs are needed)
The shape of a menhir tends to be square, tapering toward the top. They are generally roughly hewn to shape.
Menhirs are familiarly enough associated with Celtic culture to be featured prominently in the "Asterix" comic series, there with a teardrop shape.
See also: standing stone
This article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.