Stone Technology | The Silent Speech of Meghalitic Monuments

Stonehedge is perhaps the most famous megalithic structure. But, is it the only one? 

First, what are megaliths? What about their origin? How were these mega stone structures have been built and what about lifting and transporting those huge blocks, at a time when technology was basic? 

This article aims to explore a world that has remained mysterious and cryptic for even the most intelligent people.   

What are the Megaliths? 

Megaliths are large stone columns, used for religious monuments in prehistoric architecture.

From single stones called menhirs, to a group of stones built without mortar by the dry-stone walling, megaliths are prehistoric rock art with religious purposes mostly, erected by cultures with yet unknown technologies. The most popular structure is the dolmen, a single-chamber megalithic tomb consisting of 2 or more upright megaliths, supporting a large flat horizontal capstone (table). A variation is the menhir (men = stone; hir = long, in Breton), which consisted of a single, upright large stone. A couple of menhirs have semi-circular and ellipsoidal layouts (Stonehenge, Avenbury, and Ring of Brodgar, all in Britain) or on parallel lines (Carnac Stones in France). 

The significance of these shapes is yet to be revealed, especially considering their overlap with other forms of megalithic art, such as the over 200 decorated stones from the Knowth monumental complex (Bruna Boinne - Ireland). There is a striking similarity of features in the architecture, stone carvings, and motifs used in the execution of some of the widely separated tombs, which adds to the mystery of the constructions.

How did the megaliths appear?

The first reference took place around 9 000 B.C., at Gobekli Tepe, in Turkey. The monument consists of 20 circles made of stone pillars, some more than 5 m high and 15 tons in weight, shaped as a "T". The technology of building and assembling these Mesolithic colossuses, with the only known tool – flint – remains buried deep in the dust of millennia past. Another outstanding Mesolithic achievement took place around a thousand years after Gobleki Tepe and is the famous Stonehedge monument (the postholes). 

Another 4 000 years later (around 5 000 BC, already in the Neolithic) we have the monuments at Evora (Portugal), an ancient Celtic settlement, then the mound at Barnenez (France), and the temples at Skorba (Malta).

These true marvels of the early millennia, erected with religious rather than economic purposes still challenge the minds of scholars today to provide rational answers to the many unanswered questions. 

Geopolymers unveil a stunning technology 

What is surprising about the construction of a megalith is not only the precision of the execution, impossible to reproduce even today, about the conditions existing at the time but also the transport of the huge blocks, their erection, and location remain unexplained. 

One theory that tries to avoid answering the questions about the transport of the huge blocks and explain the precision of their shapes is the on-site manufacture of "geopolymers". With superior hardness, these blocks would have been made by pouring a suspension of ground limestone and water into moulds. The production of these geopolymers, obtained by hardening the slurry in the bricks, is linked to limestone and sandstone.  It is said that limestone was "softened" using plants, as was andesite, another material preferred by builders of the time. For the South American megaliths, it is believed that the 'softening' acids were obtained from corn, and guano was used as a hardening agent. Unavoidable references were made to the Egyptian pyramids, but without a final and unanimously agreed judgment. However, the France experiments subjected to local climate managed to produce geopolymers within 3 months. Amid doubts regarding the plant’s ability to soften limestone/andesite, local legends were to describe the plants as capable of decomposing stone.

Already proven, a such theory might explain one of the great mysteries of early technology.

Learn about the Baalbeck giant  

In 2014, the world's largest monolith was exhumed at Baalbeck. With an approximate weight of 1 650 tons and measuring 19.6 m long, 6 m wide, and 5.5 m thick, it outweighs two other monoliths of over 1 000 tons. Could this colossus have been made with geopolymer technology? Were the Romanians skilled enough for managing the execution and transport of the huge blocks? If so, then how can we explain the fact that the largest stone known to have been transported by the Romans, in decades of toil, weighs 5 times less, i.e., "only" 323 tons (the Lateran obelisk)? Or maybe they have found the technology to allow such a leap, with repercussions on the strength of transporting a block 5 times heavier than the heaviest block they had moved before. Among the unexplained expert theories, everybody’s looking for an accurate explanation, and there is one that stands out. This is based on local legends and refers to the monuments being built by the ancient inhabitants, who were giants.

PIATRAONLINE invites you   

In an attempt to study the mysteries of natural stone throughout history, PIATRAONLINE – always generating inspiration, challenges you to train your imagination.

Write your opinion in the comments. Do you go for the construction of geopolymers? Or, should we imagine many generations of tens of thousands of people transporting stone colossuses to destinations selected based on criteria only known by them? Or perhaps the legendary giants were in fact aliens, worshipped by our ancestors with temples? How do you feel about it?