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366 History

CHAMBER TOMBS

Megalithic tombs with several chambers

(rooms) were built using massive stone

slabs, then covered with an earth mound

called a barrow. Each one could be used

as a burial place for hundreds of years.

WHO WAS BURIED IN THE CHAMBER TOMBS?

Archaeologists are not certain for whom the chamber

tombs were made, because they were robbed long ago.

From their design, it seems likely that they were used

to bury rich, powerful leaders, who controlled vast

areas of farmland and the people living in the region.

1 CARNAC’S MEGALITHS

These rows of standing stones at

Carnac, France, are arranged in

parallel lines that run for about

one kilometre (two-thirds of a

mile) and link two stone circles.

Carnac also has many separate

standing stones, chamber tombs,

and barrows (earth mounds).

Megalithic Europe

Between c. 3200 BCE and 1500 BCE, people in northwest

Europe built monuments from massive stones known

as megaliths. Some were arranged in circles or lines,

pointing to the sky. Others, called. CHAMBER TOMBS,

were buried under the earth.

WHO BUILT MEGALITHIC MONUMENTS?

Megalithic monuments came in many different shapes

and sizes. Most were quite small, and could easily

have been assembled by a family over a few seasons.

Large monuments, like Stonehenge and Carnac,

were probably built by powerful chiefs who could

command their subjects to work on the monuments.

WHAT WERE STONE CIRCLES USED FOR?

Stone circles were probably used for religious

ceremonies or for astronomy. Most of them line up

with the Sun, Moon, and stars on special days. For

example, the rising Sun shines through the centre

of Stonehenge, England, at midsummer, and lights up

a chamber tomb in Newgrange, Ireland, at midwinter.

4 MAES HOWE TOMB

This tomb, on Mainland island in

the Orkney Islands, Scotland, was

built in around 2700 BCE. The main

chamber is reached through a

long passageway lined with stone.

Square holes in the chamber’s

walls lead to smaller side rooms,

which were also used for burials.

1 STONEHENGE, ENGLAND

In around 3000 BCE, workers at this site built a henge (circular ditch

and earth bank) and a ring of timber posts. In 2500 BCE, smaller

bluestones, from Wales were added to the monument, and 200 years

later huge 26-tonne sandstone sarsens were erected here.

Vaulted roof made

of strips of stone

Trilithon – a stone

arch made of two

upright stones and

a horizontal stone

on top. Five stood

at Stonehenge.

FIND OUT MORE. Rocks 46–47

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megaliths