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Prominent menhirs
Description & History The shape of a menhir tends to be square, tapering toward the top. They are generally roughly hewn to shape. Some have vertical grooves and certain of those at Carnac appear to have been partially smoothed. Practically nothing is known of the cultural context in which the menhirs were erected. We have no trace even of their language. Until recently, they were associated with the Beaker people, who inhabited Europe during the later third millennium BC during the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age. However, more recent research into the age of megaliths in Brittany tentatively suggests a far older origin, six to seven thousand years ago. In Scandinavia, menhirs continued to be raised during the Pre-Roman Iron Age and later, see Menhir (Iron Age), usually over the ashes of the dead. They were raised both as solitary stones and in formations, such as the stone ships and the stone circles. In the 1st century, the tradition was brought to Northern Poland, probably by the Goths (see the Wielbark Culture). In some areas, standing stones were systematically toppled by Christians: of the many former standing menhirs of northern Germany, scarcely one stands today. According to Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla (see e.g. Vanlade), the menhirs were raised in commemoration of great men. The tradition of raising stones evolved into the runestones *, through intermediaries such as the Björketorp Runestone. Menhirs in modern thought Menhirs are so familiar from associations with prehistoric culture that they are featured prominently in the "Asterix" comics. Also see Paul Celan's German poem Le Menhir. For an English translation, see Jonathan Skolnik, "Kaddish for Spinoza: Memory and Modernity in Heine and Celan" NEW GERMAN CRITIQUE 77 (1999) Menhirs are favorite objects for speculations of pseudoarchaeology. Menhirs are mentioned in the national anthem of Denmark due to their historical importance in the viking age. Partial list of menhirs England Scotland
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