The Megalithic Phenomenon

Some authors though that the megalithic phenomenon had started in Portugal before it went to the other mediterranean countries and to the north of Europe, however, recente studies have shown that this phenomenon arose spontaneously in various regions of the globe. These megalithic monuments go all the way from south Sweden, to Corsica and Sardinia, going to the Brithish islands and Irland, back again to Denmark, France, Spain and Portugal, but there are also monuments like these, found along the African coasts, Asia and America. In Europe there are more or less 50.000 dolmens and menhirs, that have escaped to the destruction by the hand of man, either to make walls for houses or walls to enclose the fields for agriculture of each farmer and ruined by pillaging and looting, but the biggest threa of all, was bu christian hands, trying to clean these ancient pagan sites which were still in use by many cultures of Europe, even after thousands of years. We know for a fact that the number of megaliths in the christianized countries was twice that which is today.

The megalithic extension goes from Dhaka in the Asian continent, where we can find a big concentration of these monuments, more or less 2.200 dolmens, also in Pendjab, oriental Pakistan and Ceylon, in Africa, na extension covering the Maghreb region and the northern parts of Algeria and Tunisia and to the south, Ethiopia, and of course coming to Europe.

These monuments are surprising by their greatness and the perfection of its execution, despite the great difficulties of building these megalithic complexes in an era so remote with few or almost nonexistent construction utensils.

It seems strange to declare that this megalithic phenomenon spread to other countries by sea, however, it is true that we can see those in America, or in islands of the Iberian Peninsula, and the most famous of all islands, Great Britain, so there is this speculation, of navigators going into the oceans, spreading these monuments, but who were they? where did they come from? and what kind of scientific and technical knowledge they had to do such a thing and to lift those gigantic monuments? There is still much speculation about these questions and most of it remains a mystery, however, there is a very good and plausible explanation for how they went to continentes and islands only reached by sea. For example, Great Britain was once part of the European land mass, attached to the Iberian Peninsula, people from Egypt could go on foot from their country passing through the Iberian Peninsula and into Great Britain, without using a single boat, also, when the Ice Age begain,all the North of Europe all the way to the very centre of Portugal and of Spain, was an imense tick icy Wall, a great natural bridge that linked the European continent to the American one, and many people from that era, migrated from one palce to another, going to and from between continentes, so it is also possible that Alaska for example, was still attached to Sibéria.

This will be one of the greatest mysteries of humankind, but we are always working to find the truth, or at least a good explanation for how was it possible for these people, so called primitive, to erect these monuments, that even today is hard to lift with machines, i mean... we have to take into account that, most of these monuments, especially menhirs, far exceed 7 meters in height, and its weight reaches up to or exceeds 100 tons, we must take into account that the transportation and erection of these monuments should not have been a simple job. Quite the contrary, it implied a sophisticated technique and also a considerably  well planed organization to take this outstanding work. The European humans at this time, still lived on a primary stage of social organization and had a technique not evolved enough to allow them to perform these megalithic constructions.
Also we need to think about the fact that most of the stones of these monuments aren't near the quarry where they were previously extracted, for example the dolmen of El soto in Huelva in Spain, one of it's slabs was trasnported from a distance superior to 38 klm (23 miles ), but the most spectacular case is that of the "blue stones" of Stonehenge, these 24 blocks of stone, weighing more than 350 tons, which constitute the second circle of the great monument, were extracted for the Prescelly hills in Wales, and placed on the plain of Salisbury, about 230 klm ( 141 miles ) of its original place. Another amazing fact his the case of the dolmen in Pépieux ( France ) with a slab with more than 30 tons, on top of an isolated Hill, with very inclined slopes. How was it possible to bring such heavy stones up there?

This remains a mystery to be solved. Suffice to say, that these people weren't that primitive as we may think.

Note: The artwork to illustrate this post is a drawing of a sacred mound made by me. If you have any questions for me or if you want to see my artistic works, check out my Facebook page and make a Like if you can by following this link --> http://www.facebook.com/ArithHarger

Portugal and the Neolithic past

Portugal is the European country which has more megalithic and prehistoric monuments and sites than anyother country, it is a drean land for archaeologists.
There are a lot of monuments from other eras and from many other European cultures such as Celtic monuments in a very high quantity and concentrated to the north of Portugal all the way to the its center, Roman monuments from the south to the very capital of the country ( Lisbon ) and to the east near the border with Spain, Germanic archeological sites in the north and their architectural style is still very much visible in early christian churches when the Germanic tribe of the Vandals settled in Portugal with their origins in Sweden, migrating to the east of Europe and then into Portugal running away from the Huns. The Visigoths have also left a lot of culture, architecture and decendents and even from the Viking period we can find a lot of things in Portugal, and most curious of all, pottery with runes drawn and painted, dated from a period way before Europe has ever heard about the Norse peoples. Well the list goes on and on, but this is just the introduction of this post so you might see the rich culture that Portugal has, a country where most Europeans setteled since the Dawn of times, and even a few Asian, Arabic and African. But to where do i want to go with all ths talk? Well.. to explain that Portugal has always been the country faved by many since the Neolithic times, for quite plausible reasons, the weather, near the ocean for fishing, rich with flora and fauna, filled with wild Boars and Deer, very much hunted by the European peoples, Wolves, Foxes and Bears for fur ( these last ones unfortunately extinct ), great soils for agriculture, rich in diferente types of ore, which was one of the main reasons for Portugal having the best Celtic Blacksmiths of all Europe during the Bronze age and  Iron Age, also the main reason that led the Romans to plan their invasion against the Celts and the Lusitanian people. and for some spiritual reason that is yet to be discovered. The spiritual reason is what i want to talk about today, but more in a Archaeologist point of view, and than again, more in a normal observer of the landscape and its places of this fine country.
We all know that in Neolithic times, people used to raise great megalithic structures, Dolmens to place their dead and for spiritual/ritual purposes, Menhirs to mark the land or the borders of a tribe's land, to mark places where underground water flows, to extract it, places of cult and we know now that each of these Menhirs aren't placed randomly, their are all perfecly placed where the ley lines pass, the very energy of the earth, so Menhirs are like making acupuncture to earth itself, concentrating the energy of the earth into those places, which makes the soils fertil and attracts a lot of rain to the place because the electricity accumulated in the zone, works just like a magnetic force affecting the water particles in the clouds, pulling them, which makes them fall. There are also a lot of stone circles, Cromlechs and all the other Neolithic monuments  we know of. At this point you might ask, why is this so relevant? There are thousands of this all over Europe, why is Portugal so special about this? Well, there sure are thousands of Neolithic monuments all over Europe, but not as concentrated in one place as in Portugal, in other countries there might exist places with many of these monuments, but all over those countries these are too scattered, while in Portugal it's all over the place, there are even tiny villages filled with these structures in the surroundings with more than 90, you may find these monuments almost in every village and town, along the road, in the middle of forests, mountains or disguised as chapels. If you are a lover of the Neolithic period than you will love the town of Évora, one of the places of Portugal where Neolothic monuments are too much concentrated, in its surroundings there are more than 300 of these, including the famous Almendres Cromlech, a megalithic complex, the largest existing group of structured Menhirs of all Iberian Peninsula, and one of the largests in Europe, a primitive astronomical observatory, oriented to different directions associated with the Equinoxes.
Clearly Portugal was the country most faved by many people to settle not only for it's natural resources and riches but also for some spiritual purpose, the country is filled with Neolithic funeral monuments and burial mounds, not only from the inhabitants but also from other foreign people, and Évora might have been a very special place for these people, it is clearly the place for spiritual gathering, for religious purposes, to trade, to live, a place of knowledge and understanding and people wanted to be placed in the land after their death, there are thousands of Dolmens there. Watching the landscape and all these monuments when you are alone, you actually have the feeling that you are surrounded but thousands of people, and in a fraction of a second time freezes and all birds seize to sing, the wind stops and the leafs go quiet, and you can hear the whispers of those who once walked those lands.

Note: The artwork to illustrate this post is a drawing of a Menhir made by me. If you have any questions for me or if you want to see my artistic works, check out my Facebook page and make a Like if you can by following this link --> http://www.facebook.com/ArithHarger