Gosford Accommodation

Ancient stone circles ...., megaliths, dolmens, menhirs, standing stones .... Hmmm, these are ancient megaliths of any interest to tourists? What Neolithic burial mound? Is it different things ... or the same thing ... or ... what? What does this mean?

For those who pre-study history, they are all very specific types of buildings or structures. For tourists, if you're like us, sites that contain these products are great attractions if you want a little history mixed with your travel.

The monuments of prehistory are scattered throughout Western Europe. Travelers will see the big cities, art museums, and enjoy food and wine. History is everywhere, in cathedrals, castles and Roman ruins, even the confines of the Roman Empire. But there remains the fascinating history of Europe very soon spread all over if you're looking for it ... in the form of ancient megaliths.

But we must be interested in this kind of thing. I remember traveling with our nieces when they were young, and to pretend to be asleep in the backseat so as not to see another dolmen. The experience will be useful only when they had to learn at school dolmens.

So how do you know if you find them interesting? Read about them. See if they sound like something you'd like to see. OK so maybe some of them are not as interesting as others. Stonehenge is a tourist, everyone loves a visit to Stonehenge. There is also a stone circle at Avebury great, but it is many visitors, it does not receive as much press as Stonehenge, so in some ways it's better than Stonehenge. So maybe somewhere like that with fewer people would call you.

The alignments of Carnac, France are wonderful, but they do not receive much attention either Avebury or Stonehenge. If you like Stonehenge, you should plan a trip to Carnac ... then stop in some small town for pancakes and cider or seafood

Maybe other monuments are not so exciting .... A dolmen in the middle of a field can not fire your imagination, but the fact that the search for it you leave the beaten path of tourism can send you the search. We found that the search for some of these may lead to you cute little villages that will never be written in the guides ... and part of travel that we love is the "discovery" of places for ourselves.

If you want to look like what you say, what is the difference between a standing stone and nothing else? Do not be too scientific here. Megaliths in general are the big stones. Stone circles are composed of megaliths. Menhir standing stones are free ... megaliths. They can be a single stone or a group of stones, but they are all independent. Megalithic dolmens are stacked like a table to hold a funeral. They were generally covered by land which has since been eroded or removed.

Burial mounds are an entirely different category. They burial chambers inside, which can be dolmens, tumuli, but can also be just a mound of earth and stones on a grave. They can also be called mounds, as in the West Kennet Long Barrow, near Stonehenge.

Enough of these definitions. If you want to scholarly works, there is much to discover. If you want a bit of ancient history mixed with your trips to spice things up, you might find it amusing to compare ancient megaliths.