Structures made of huge stone blocks. Ancient megaliths: The mystery of the “Big Stones”. Megaliths - the legacy of ancient civilizations

Among the listed ruins, the ruins of the three walls (“fortress”) of Saxauman, about 600 m long, are of greatest interest. The first and second walls reach a height of 10 m, the third – 5 m. The lower (first) wall consists of andesite and diorite blocks weighing from 100 to 200 tons The largest of them measures 9 x 5 m x 4 m. The blocks of the second and third walls are slightly smaller than the blocks of the first tier.

But both of them are so precisely fitted to each other that it is impossible to insert even a knife blade between them. In addition, all blocks are polyhedra of rather complex shape. They were cut down in a quarry located 20 km from Sacsahuaman. Throughout these 20 km there areseveral gorges, steep ascents and descents!

Cusco
In Cusco there are remains of cyclopean walls made of huge stone blocks, also filigreely fitted to each other. One of these buildings is the Inca Palace.

Ollantaytambo
At Ollantaytambo, giant building blocks of andesite and pink porphyry are found in the base of the Temple of the Sun, the surviving fragments of the back wall and gate of the Temple of the 10 Niches, the "sacred area" (in scattered form) and the first row of terraces. They are also found in various hard-to-reach places in the river valley. Urubamba. Locals they call them “tired stones” (Spanish: piedras cansadas).

The website “Living Ethics in Germany” presents a truly fantastic hypothesis that the ancient builders of South American megalithic structures softened rocky matter to a jelly-like state with the help of their psychic energy. Then they cut it into huge blocks of arbitrary shape, transported them through the air to the building site using telekinesis, and there they laid them in the walls, fitting one to another through the same method of softening rock blocks into a plastic substance, giving them the desired shape on the spot. This is the only way to explain strange shape, which has the giant buildings of Ollantaytambo, the Inca Palace in Cusco, the walls of Sacsahuaman, the ruins of Tiahuanaco, the ahu pedestals on Easter Island and other similar buildings.

Read my work"Siddhi powers and reasons for the superhuman abilities of human predecessors"

Giant monolithic sculptures South America and Easter Island

In addition to the ruins, important integral part Megalithic culture of South America are giant monolithic sculptures in Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, on the island. Easter, as well as "Olmec heads" in Mexico. The height of such sculptures reaches 7-10 m, and their weight is 20 tons or more. The height of the heads ranges from 2 to 3 m and weighs up to 40 tons.

Moai and ahu - megalithic structures of Easter Island

A particularly large number of sculptures - moai - are located on the island. Easter. There are 887 of them. The largest of them are located on a slopeRano Raraku volcano. They are neck-deep in sediments that have accumulated on the island over its long history. Some moai used to stand on stone pedestals - ahu. The total number of ahu exceeds 300. Their size ranges from several tens of meters to 200 m.
The largest moai “El Gigante” has a height of 21.6 m. It is located in the Rano Raraku quarry and weighs about 150 tons (according to other sources, 270 tons). The largest moai, Paro, standing on a pedestal, is located on the ahu Te Pito Kura. Its height reaches 10 m, and its weight is about 80 tons. The height of the moai scattered along the slope of the Rano Raraku volcano is also about 10 m.

Sculptures of human and animal heads on the Marcaguasi plateau

On a par with ruins and giant sculptures you can put huge sculptures of human heads with features of Europeans and blacks, as well as images of monkeys, turtles, cows, horses, elephants, lions and camels on the Marcaguasi plateau in Peru, located at an altitude of about 4 km. At least two facts indicate the ancient age of these images. Firstly, the animals “engraved” on the plateau never lived at such a height. Secondly, most of them disappeared from the American continent long before Europeans appeared there - from 10-12 to 150-200 thousand years ago.

Stone balls made of granite and obsidian Central America and Mexico

Further evidence of the existence of highly developed civilizations in pre-Columbian America are stone balls made of granite and obsidian in Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the USA (New Mexico). Among them there are real giants with a diameter of up to 3 m.The determination of the absolute age of the Mexican obsidian balls showed that they were formedin the tertiary period "even before man appeared" (no later than 2 million years ago). Trying to find an explanation for this, the American scientist R. Smith hypothesized that they arose naturally from volcanic ash.

Megalithic structures Middle East

Baalbek in Lebanon
The ruins of megalithic structures and other ancient archaeological sites are known far beyond the borders of the American continent. The most magnificent of them are the ruins of Baalbek in Lebanon. The weight of each of the three stone blocks in Trilithon, located at the base of the Temple of Jupiter built by the ancient Romans, is 750 tons. The surfaces of the blocks are perfectly processed, and their dimensions are simply amazing: 19.1 x 4.3 x 5.6 m. Moreover, these monoliths are located... at an eight-meter height! They rest on slightly smaller blocks.

Half a kilometer south of the Temple of Jupiter from the earth at an angle of 30 hail sticks out the world's largest processed stone - Southern or Mother - weighing about 1200 tons and measuring 21.5 x 4.8 x 4.2 m
The author of the books “Gods of the New Millennium” and “The Way of the Phoenix,” Alan Alford, asked heavy-duty crane specialists whether it was possible to lift such a huge thing. They answered in the affirmative, but added that it would be possible to move with the block only if crane on caterpillar tracks and make good road. This means that the builders of the foundation of Baalbek had a similar technique?

Today, people look at giant skyscrapers and consider them the pinnacle of human engineering. At the same time, many are not even aware of the technological wonders of ancient history - buildings and temples that would seem impossible to build in that distant time. This review contains little-known examples of amazing ancient buildings.

1. Pueblo Bonito

USA

Located in northwestern New Mexico, Pueblo Bonito is the largest and most famous example of a "palace village" built by the Anasazi culture. The settlement began to be built in the first half of the 10th century AD, and was completed only 180 years later. At its peak, Pueblo Bonito had approximately 800 individual structures, some as many as five stories tall. The ancient settlement was first discovered in 1849 by US Army Lieutenant James H. Simpson. Since then, Pueblo Bonito has become one of the most excavated and explored archaeological sites in the southwestern United States. Unfortunately, a number of buildings were damaged when part of the cliff behind the settlement collapsed. What is especially interesting is that many mysterious petroglyphs were found in Pueblo Bonito, made somewhere at the end of the 10th - beginning of the 11th century.

2. Chatal

Türkiye

The ancient settlement of Catal, discovered in southern Turkey, is estimated by modern scientists to have existed since 7500 BC. until about 5700 BC It was built by an unknown Neolithic culture, which scientists believe was highly advanced at that time. Excavations have been ongoing since the discovery of Chatal in the late 1950s by British archaeologist James Mellaart. A number of interesting items were discovered, including (presumably) the earliest known map and some of the highest quality daggers of the period. The houses in Chatal have one intriguing feature: they do not have doors, and one had to enter the house through the roof, climbing up the stairs. In addition, the dead in this ancient settlement were buried under the floors of houses, in particular under fireplaces.

3. Lokmarak

France

The French region of Brittany is famous for its group of the largest prehistoric European megaliths. The largest megalith, created around 4500 BC, measures almost 21 meters in length and weighs between 200 and 280 tons. Today, no one will know why this megalith, known as the “Fairy Stone,” was broken thousands of years ago. This may have been caused by an earthquake, but most likely it was done by people. What is especially striking is that the “Fairy Stone” was delivered in one solid piece from a quarry located more than 10 kilometers away. How this was done is unknown.

4. Colossi of Memnon

Egypt

Built as a monument to Pharaoh Amenhotep III and placed near his now-destroyed temple, the Colossi of Memnon are a pair of 23-meter-tall statues. Also on these statues (to be more precise, at the foot of the thrones of the statues) you can find reliefs of Amenhotep’s wife, daughter and mother. The statues were named after Memnon, the hero of the Trojan War. There were legends that before the statues were damaged by an earthquake, the northern statue made a sound in the morning that resembled bell ringing(possibly due to increased temperature). The Egyptians believed that this sound expressed the approval of the gods.

5. Pillar of Pompey

Egypt

Pompey's Pillar was erected as a monument to the Roman Emperor Diocletian after he suppressed a rebellion in Alexandria. It is often mistakenly believed that it was built in honor of the Roman consul Gnaeus Pompey the Great, but the inscription on its base clearly indicates that the pillar was made in honor of Diocletian by the people of Alexandria. The story that when Pompey was defeated by Julius Caesar and fled Rome for Egypt, he was killed in Alexandria and his head placed in a funerary jar on top of a pillar (thus giving the pillar its name) is a myth. The 27-meter pillar was built during the fourth century AD and was once part of the temple of the Roman god Serapis, which was later destroyed.

6. Dolmen Menga

Spain

Dating back to around 2000 BC, the Menga Dolmen (also known as Cueva de Menga) is a large megalithic burial mound located in southern Spain. The rows of burial chambers (their walls, roof and pillars) were created from huge stone blocks weighing up to 180 tons. As for the name, legend says that a leper named Menga took up residence inside the dolmen after her husband died. Archaeologists believe that this dolmen is the largest such structure in Europe, and several hundred different skeletons inside it may have belonged to the rulers of the culture that built Menga. However, who these builders were remains a mystery to this day.

7. Quirigua

Guatemala

Built by the Mayans between 200 and 800 AD. The city of Quirigua contains remarkable examples of Mayan architecture, as well as some of the largest stelae (carved stone monuments) in existence. “Stele E” alone weighs an incredible 65 tons. Quirigua was abandoned around 900 AD, which was probably due to the decline of the jade trade.

8. Dur Sharrukin

Iraq

Dur Sharrukin, which translates from Akkadian as "Sargon's Fortress", was built by the Assyrians sometime between 717 and 707 BC. in the northern part of modern Iraq. The size of the city was almost 2.6 square kilometers, and especially notable in it were the temple of Nabu (the god of vegetation) and Royal Palace. However, the most interesting artifact recovered from the ruins is the Assyrian bull - a stone statue weighing about 40 tons. The city was abandoned soon after its construction was completed because King Sargon II of Assyria was killed in battle.

9. Hajar Kim

Malta

Located in Malta, megalithic temple complex Hajar Qim is believed to have been built by a culture unknown to modern scientists between 3200 and 2500 BC. It is believed that this culture was destroyed as a result of famine or natural disaster. One of the earliest examples can be found at Hajar Qim religious beliefs- A number of statues of the goddess of fertility have been preserved in the local temple. Interestingly, Hajar Qim was built hundreds of years earlier than Stonehenge.

10. Tiwanaku

Bolivia

The prehistoric capital of the Tiwanaku culture, the city of Tiwanaku is located on the shores of Lake Titicaca in Bolivia. It was originally a small village, but between 400 and 900 AD. the city literally blossomed and many of the largest stone structures in South America. However, the city suddenly became deserted around 1000 AD, most likely due to floods. Eventually the Tiahuanaco civilization was conquered by the Incas. The city, which was once home to more than a million people, was only rediscovered in 1876.

Studying megalithic structures will reveal the technologies of the past. How many civilizations existed in ancient times and can we find traces of them that will complement our understanding of the history of our world?

Who built the huge megalithic structures, the age of which scientists cannot always accurately determine? What technologies were used in their construction and what secrets of stone processing have we lost? What are modern scientists hiding when they deliberately destroy many ancient artifacts? Alexander Koltypin, Candidate of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, is confident that a new approach to the study of ancient monuments can provide answers to these questions.

Alexander Koltypin: Unified underground-ground megalithic complex, as a foundation, the foundation of some previous world destroyed by a catastrophe. I’m not even sure that this is one world, because if we compare geological and folklore legends of catastrophes that destroy previous worlds, then there were at least 4 of them, because, for example, according to Aztec legends, Mayan legends, Indian legends there were 5 or 6 worlds , and according to Jain almost 7 religious texts, and they were destroyed by global disasters.

Therefore, this complex, which consists of underground structures, underground cities, ruins and some kind of megalithic buildings, passing smoothly through underground structures, and sometimes between them you don’t even see any joints, fastenings, as if, here are megalithic the blocks, as it were, were cut out of the rocky base themselves and continued it further. Perhaps this is one last world destroyed, the previous one preceding ours, perhaps there are different worlds in different places, that is, not only the penultimate world, but also the worlds preceding this penultimate one. This is difficult to say, because these complexes are silent, they do not contain any minerals, and to determine its absolute age, I see only one possibility so far, this is to scrape off monomineral fractions from the crusts of secondary altered rocks of underground cities and isolate there, for example, potassium minerals, carry out analysis using the potassium-argon method, we will determine not the age of construction of these structures, but only the time when this crust of secondary altered rocks was formed.

At least, determine its age by the coals of rock found in them, as they do now, by scraps of clothing, there, the remains of some baskets, skeletal remains that could get there, say, after 50, after 10 million years, so , this is completely wrong. It turns out that these megalithic structures, although they form, in my opinion, one complex around the world, which is globally distributed throughout the world, covers the entire Earth, it is also developed at the bottom of the oceans. It is represented in the master plan by 3 different entities. These are underground structures, and some underground structures, they are simply amazing with the clarity of execution, clearly neither chisels nor some kind of handicraft tools were working here, absolutely perfectly carved dome-shaped caves, with completely smooth walls, that these are clearly some kind of machines, machine processing . In the Gavrin region of Israel bell caves, 30 meters high, and about a hundred meters in diameter, traces of drilling are visible, and some kind of drill was coming from above, with an expanding diameter, they are clearly visible. What civilization did all this? On many structures, for example, the same structures in Mareshi and in Israel, pyramidal or trapezoidal holes are cut out that run along the perimeter. For what purpose? For what? The acoustics in these rooms are usually stunning, and operas are held there. Or, for example, as we saw this year in Bulgaria, on the outside of such structures, on the contrary, trapezoidal holes are often visible, which are also located according to a certain system, but there are no acoustics at all, there is simply no echo, they are called “deaf stones” , due to this.

That is, this is also probably not some kind of coincidence, in one case there is such an echo that it is simply difficult to withstand it, in another there is no echo at all, that is, ancient civilizations built these structures, taking into account the obvious use of them for some reason. then acoustic properties. This second complex is simply megalithic, the ruins of some megalithic buildings, castles, buildings, most often they are often made of basalts, indesites, limestones, completely different stones, moreover, different blocks are also square in shape, some are also complexly carved, here as, for example, in Hattusash, and some kind of stairs, there, ledges were cut out. Sometimes there are rectangular blocks, there are 500, 600, 1000 even a ton, like in Levan there is such a colossus that was leaning against. And the third type is on the tops of the mountains that we saw, I call them Perpheus fortresses, on the periphery there are megalithic blocks, sometimes they are several tons, sometimes there are dozens of tons, and many tens of tons. As a rule, there are round wells on the site, some arches that go down, which, in our opinion, were completely deliberately filled up by someone so that they would not be studied.

As a rule, there are no excursions there; reference materials, for example, tourist guides, say nothing about them at all. For example, when I started talking about Hattusas, I forgot to say that when describing Hattusas, not a single word was said about the fact that there are megalithic structures there in any tourist guide, not in any description on the Internet, not in any archaeological material about this that I read, not a word was said either. We only went there, assuming that we could find such blocks, because there was Sklyarov’s expedition there before us, which described that there was megalithic masonry there, moreover, in a neighboring place in Alaki-Khayu, and we saw such an abundance. Either there is a silencing going on, or they don’t know, or the archaeologists who are working really understand that this complex does not fit into the dating they are doing, and they are just trying to keep quiet about its presence. This also applies to stone statues, for example, in the museums of Ankara, in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara there are stone sphinxes and stone lions, they are also in a place that also dates back to the Hittite era. When we compare these destroyed sphinxes, which have torn off ears, heads, eaten by erosion, a powerful crust of secondary changes, when we compare them with a perfectly preserved ceramic vase, well, that they are of the same age, a very big, to put it mildly, doubt arises. These structures were built by completely different people or creatures, that is, these are the structures that are folded in blocks that weigh about a hundred, tens and hundreds of tons, loaded onto a mountain, or somewhere we see in such, well, not quite on a mountain, in mountainous areas, but which previously occupied a large area. It seems that they were really built by some giants, and there are many legends about giants who, with the help of their psychic energy, with the help of levitation, moved these stones, without even expending effort on this themselves, but possessing some kind of superhuman abilities .

Secondly, this is, undoubtedly, in Turkey, in the Phrygian Valley, we saw this when we traveled to a number of objects, many structures were built by people or creatures of similar physique to humans, and underground structures. Because, for example, the rooms that have been preserved, the windows have been preserved, the doors to these rooms have been preserved, you walk through them completely normally, you feel completely comfortable in them, these are all carved in stone. So, that is, the creatures were building, but the fact that they pulled these blocks up the mountain, and these are not only blocks, these are the rooms in which we are sitting comfortably, about the same size, carved entirely out of stone. Here was a stone, there was such a block, and a hole was cut out, then windows were cut out, and so on, all this was dragged up the mountain. That is, these, again, are creatures who possessed some unimaginable superhuman ability. Also, many underground structures, for example, because, for example, in Taklarin I saw a preserved toilet underground, which was clearly for creatures of an ordinary, normal human physique, approximately, it was built according to a similar principle. And at the same time, some buildings, such as in Cappadocia, were apparently built by some kind of dwarfs. I can't bring best comparison, than this Chud, which is in the Urals, and, by the way, that there were Chud people there, we were told about this back in the first year of the institute so unofficially that all the copper deposits were found in the footsteps of this mysterious dwarf people, Chud. In fairy tales this is called gnomes, that is, some kind of dwarf shelter, because you literally have to crawl through many underground structures almost on all fours. This is especially evident in Cappadacia, Israel, in underground cities, that their construction often took place in several stages.

That is, at first some machines worked, mechanisms made halls, magnificent vaulted arches, columns carved in stone, sculptures, apparently, stood. I even found some kind of handwritten writing in one such room, and showed it to the specialists, the stamped writing was clearly from the time when it was built. Their interpretation was different, one specialist from Serbia said that this is approximately an ancient Slavic date, which approximately corresponds to the third millennium BC. Now, given that this building, since there are many bas-relief crosses carved into it, officially dates back to the Byzantine era. Well, you understand, this is our Christian era. Other experts generally said that this is not a date, but is written, like, I don’t remember verbatim now, “legacy from past to future civilizations.” Here, that is, as it were, this is what we will die, or we will perish, but this will survive centuries and remain forever, that is, this is the translation of this structure, but this is quite interesting. And, apparently, there were some kind of statues, and, for example, in the Valley of Love in Cappadocia I saw a place where the bas-reliefs of these statues were preserved. They are eaten away by severe erosion, smoothed out, in the Greater Yazilikaya plateau in Turkey in the Phrygian Valley, between Athinyonkarahisar city and Şehir, about 200 kilometers west of Ankara. On the Great Yazilikaya plateau, where erosion is also smoothed out, stone monuments of lions, elephants, some birds and other mythical animals have been preserved and are quite clearly visible in photographs; their contours are difficult to recognize, but they are recognizable from different angles, because, apparently , millions of years have passed since they were made. Stone thrones, wells, and so on have been preserved there, that is, all this is the heritage of ancient civilizations.

Civilizations, as I said, most likely were different, that is, giants, civilization, some of these were built, some were built by creatures close to us in physique, at least those cities that I call elven. Perhaps these are mythical elves who had superpowers. Dwarfs, they just came further ordinary people, which... Every civilization that has occurred has made changes to underground cities, completed building them. For example, if at first the machines worked, then they began to work with the help of ordinary stone chisels, and this is often misleading. In addition, for example, in Turkey, again in the Çavuşin region, we observed how some modern forces were driving around and using chisels, spoiling these perfectly carved stone structures. Apparently, in order to also create the illusion among tourists, perhaps among specialists, that this is not an ancient building of some primitive savages, but of some kind of high civilization.

* Additional Information:
On the website "" you will find a detailed story about artifacts and evidence ancient history humanity. -

The term “megaliths” comes from the Greek words μέγας - large, λίθος - stone. Megaliths are structures made of stone blocks or blocks, from different rocks, various modifications, sizes and shapes, combined and installed in such an order that these blocks/blocks constitute a single monumental structure.

Stone blocks in megalithic structures weigh from several kilograms to hundreds and even thousands of tons. Individual structures are so huge and unique that it is not at all clear how they were built. Also in the scientific world there is no consensus regarding the technologies of ancient builders.

Some megaliths seem to have been carved (processed) with some kind of tools, some objects seem to have been cast from liquid materials, and some objects have traces of clearly artificial processing by unknown technologies.

Megalithic culture is represented in absolutely all countries of the world, on land and under water (and...probably not only on our planet..). The age of the megaliths is different, the main period of megalith construction is determined from the 8th to the 1st millennium BC, although some objects have much more ancient origin, which is often denied official science. Megalithic monuments from a later period - 1-2 millennia AD - are also widely represented.

Classification and types of megaliths

According to their classification, megaliths are divided into separate categories:

megalithic complexes (ancient cities, settlements, temples, fortresses, ancient
observatories, palaces, towers, walls, etc.);
pyramids and pyramidal mountain complexes;
mounds, ziggurats, kofuns, cairns, tumuli, tombs, galleries, chambers, etc.;
dolmens, trilithons, etc.;
menhirs (standing stones, stone alleys, statues, etc.);
seids, Sin-stones, trail-stones, cup-stones, altar-stones, etc.;
stones/rock with ancient images - petroglyphs;
rock, cave and underground structures;
stone labyrinths (surads);
geoglyphs;
and etc.

There are many hypotheses about the purpose of megaliths, but there are some features that are characteristic of many megaliths of the world, regardless of their classification, modification, size, etc. - these are their external similarity, locations (geolocation), geophysical characteristics and belonging to certain highly developed civilizations. The study of megaliths using geophysics and dowsing began in the 20th century. During the study, it was absolutely established that the places for the construction of megaliths were not chosen by chance; very often megaliths are located in places (near) dowsing anomalies (in different-frequency geopathogenic zones - near or on a tectonic fault in the earth’s crust).

Thus, it can be assumed that the generator of these waves of different frequencies are tectonic faults, and stone structures in this case act as multifunctional acoustic devices that resonate with this frequency.

It turns out that megaliths can influence human bioenergy! This allows you to effectively correct a person’s biofield by influencing both his energy points of the body and individual systems.

In ancient times, dedicated priests engaged in similar practices, and this was practiced through various rites and rituals.

With the help of stones, ancient priests, shamans, healers communicated with the spirits of departed ancestors, with the gods, received the answers they were interested in, treated diseases, etc., and also made offerings and demands (not sacrifices, which appeared later and most likely not by the creators of megaliths). Knowledge about this was first distorted, then completely erased.

Almost everywhere near the megaliths there was or is water (some kind of reservoir, stream, spring, etc.)! Often the orientation of megaliths is directed towards the water, this is especially clearly seen in the example of most dolmens Krasnodar region, which in turn, not without reason, are the standard in dolmen construction.

It is also worth mentioning the orientation of many megaliths to the cardinal points, taking into account some astronomical features.

Often, when studying megaliths, one gets the impression that over time the builders seemed to have lost the ability to erect stone structures and over time the megaliths became like only distant copies of the original structures.

Perhaps, for some reason, the ancients lost that knowledge and technology, and most importantly, over time, the need for megalith construction was lost.

However, despite the time, megalith building continues to exist in the world. Even today in Sumatra (Indonesia), people continue to create funerary stone monuments that are similar in appearance to ancient megaliths, thus preserving the memory and customs of their ancestors.

In many places around the world, traditions, legends and stories have been preserved that many megaliths are associated with the reincarnation of dead people.

Many megaliths are closely related to astrology, in connection with this, a new direction in antiquity researchers has emerged - archaeoastronomy. It is archaeoastronomers who study the astronomical aspect in megalith construction. It was archaeoastronomers who proved many hypotheses regarding the purpose of many ancient stone structures.

Some megalithic structures were created to determine the main solar and lunar cycles of the year. These objects served as calendars and observatories for observing celestial bodies.

Megaliths - the legacy of ancient civilizations

Unfortunately, in our time, in all corners of the world, for various reasons, the tendency to destroy ancient monuments continues, but new finds of ancient structures also continue to be discovered all over the world.

Many studies and the objects themselves are stubbornly hushed up by official departments, or dates are deliberately incorrectly determined and reports and conclusions of scientists are falsified, because many objects simply do not fit into the generally accepted chronology of our civilization.

Megaliths are the very objects that connect us with the distant past, with the deep past, and it can definitely be said that they have not yet revealed all their secrets to people...

In the stone circle of an ancient cemetery, in a place of worship of old, forgotten and eternal gods, pulsating with ancient magic and power, the Wall Crawler raised his hands and a bloody knife. And he screamed. Jubilantly. Wild. Inhuman.
Everything around froze in horror.
Andrzej Sapkowski "God's Warriors"

Among the windy heaths, above the heather, under the low, restless sky - hieroglyphs on gray stone. Worn out by time, lost, alien to our world, thrown into it from another, unknown reality, separated by the abyss of centuries. Carrying the stamp of eternity, the wreckage of forgotten eras has survived more than one generation of legends, in which there is no longer a drop of truth. But still filled with strange strength and invincible greatness. Awe-inspiring even now. Megaliths.

Megaliths (“big stones”) are usually called prehistoric structures made of huge stone blocks connected without the use of mortar. But this definition is very imprecise. A significant part of archaeological sites classified as megaliths are not, in the strict sense, structures at all, since they consist of a single monolith or several slabs not connected to each other.

In addition, the stones of megalithic buildings are not always large. Finally, some buildings that were built already in historical times are often classified as megaliths, but either using cyclopean blocks (the Temple of Jupiter in Baalbek) or without the use of mortar (Machu Picchu in Peru, 16th century).

What then unites the megaliths? Perhaps monumentality and an aura of mystery. Megalith is the creation of a departed, often nameless people. This is a message from the unimaginably distant “pre-legendary” past. Monument to an unknown builder.

ETERNAL STONES

Alien, surreal, and contrary to all known principles of architecture, the appearance of megaliths feeds the vast “modern mythology” full of Atlanteans, Hyperboreans and other representatives of highly developed civilizations that have sunk into oblivion. But there are at least two reasons not to take such speculation seriously. Firstly, they still do not provide a clear explanation for the appearance of megaliths. Secondly, the real secrets of history are more interesting than the imaginary ones.

The simplest megaliths, those that cannot yet be considered structures, include the sacred stones of seida and menhirs - oblong, roughly processed blocks vertically stuck into the ground, broken off from the rock. A little later they are replaced by orthostats, distinguished by their flat shape and the presence of at least one carefully smoothed edge on which magical signs were drawn or carved.

Single menhirs and seids, as a rule, served as objects of worship. Sacrifices were made near England's largest Rudston monolith, 7.6 meters high, decorated with fossilized dinosaur footprints. On the plains, glacial blocks always attracted attention and, quite possibly, could be considered the house of the spirit or the weapon of the ancestor. Smaller menhirs usually served as tombstones for leaders. In any case, it was for this purpose that the last of them under the camera was installed at the beginning of the last century in Indonesia. The largest cluster of 3,000 orthostats is the Carnac Stones in Brittany, a prehistoric cemetery.

In some cases, menigirs were placed in a group, forming a circle of cromlechs marking the boundaries of the cult place. Often, in the center of the decorative fence, a platform lined with stone was found, on which the bodies of the dead were burned or animals and captives were sacrificed. Ceremonies, meetings, celebrations and other public events could also be held here. Cults changed. Cromlechs are more durable than religions.

The use of megalithic structures as observatories is also possible. To accurately determine the position of the Moon and the Sun (from the shadow), unshakable landmarks were required. Menhirs placed in a circle fulfilled this role. It should be noted that in the Middle Ages, observatories had a similar structure.

Already in ancient times, people sought diversity and were not afraid of experiments. An epochal step forward, a real breakthrough in stone architecture, were thauls - structures made of a large stone mounted on a small one. Then trilithons appeared - arches of three stones - the beauty and pride of Stonehenge. The stability and durability of these structures led primitive builders to the idea of building dolmens - the first stone buildings in human history.

There are a lot of mysteries associated with dolmens, as well as with other simple megaliths. For example, they can never be associated with any specific archaeological culture - that is, with an ancient people whose migrations are tracked by scientists using characteristic ceramics, arrowheads and other finds. The stone does not reveal the age of the building and does not say anything about the creators. Determining the date of the appearance of a dolmen, as a rule, is possible only with an accuracy of several centuries. And during such a period of time, the population of the country changed more than once. The artifacts discovered in and around the structure do not say anything, since it is known that megaliths, passing from hand to hand, remained “in use” for thousands of years.

What can also be quite puzzling is the fact that similar, almost identical megaliths are scattered over a huge area - from the Caucasus to Portugal and from the Orkney Islands to Senegal. In this regard, even a version was put forward about a certain “dolmen culture”, whose representatives once inhabited all these territories. But the hypothesis was not confirmed. No traces of such people were found. Moreover, it was discovered that the age of two identical dolmens located next to each other can differ by a couple of thousand years.

In fact, the similarities of dolmens different countries is explained by the fact that the idea lying on the surface naturally occurred to many people. Any child could make a “house” by placing four flat stones on an edge and placing a fifth one on top of them. Or cover the hole in the stone with a flat block (trough-shaped dolmen). Admiring his creation, the young architect grew up, became a leader and encouraged his fellow tribesmen to build a life-size structure.

One thing can be said with certainty: the appearance of the first megaliths is associated with the transition of the population to a sedentary lifestyle. Wandering hunters had no desire to move the boulders they encountered during migrations. And the groups of people were too small to carry out large-scale work. The first farmers had the opportunity to engage in capital construction. The only thing missing was experience. And for a long time they couldn’t think of anything better than digging two stones into the ground and placing a third on them.

Apparently, the dolmens were crypts. In some of them the remains of hundreds of people were found. The decayed bones formed layer after layer, and new graves were dug right in the resulting mass. Other dolmens are completely empty. Probably, over the past millennia, someone took the trouble to clean them out.

Path in the labyrinth

Special category megaliths are made up of flat cairns - lines or drawings laid out from small stones. This includes numerous “stone boats” - Viking burials made in the shape of a ship outlined by boulders, and a unique “stone eagle” - an image of a bird with outstretched wings, created by an unknown tribe of North American Indians.

But the most famous flat cairns are “labyrinths”, found in Scandinavia, Finland, England, northern Russia and even on Novaya Zemlya. Rows of stones form an intricate, spiraling path. These are the least noticeable and, at the same time, extremely spectacular megaliths. For the labyrinth is a powerful symbol that weaves together reality. The path to the land of spirits is winding.

Who left these stone seals, unsolved signs on the northern, meager land? Like most megaliths, labyrinths are anonymous. Sometimes they are associated with the proto-Sami tribes, but the Sami themselves know nothing about spirals. In addition, labyrinths are widespread far beyond the boundaries of the settlement of the ancestors of this people. The Nenets have a separate opinion on this issue, who consider the flat cairns to be the work of the Sirtya - a short, stocky people of blacksmiths who have long gone underground.

But sooner or later, building simple stone boxes ceased to bring satisfaction. The dolmen is impressive enough to glorify an individual clan, but not enough to become the pride and cult center of an entire tribal union. People already wanted more. At least just in size.

Individual dolmens began to line up in a long corridor, often with side branches. Sometimes two corridors connected by passages were built. Natural slabs were difficult to match in shape, and for the construction of “walls” masonry began to be used, as in composite dolmens, or solid polished blocks, as in tiled ones.

But even in this case, the structure did not seem majestic enough. Therefore, a colossal cairn was poured on top of the “multi-series” dolmens - artificial structure in the form of a pile of stones. In order to prevent the pyramid from settling, it was “propped up” with a ring of orthostats along its perimeter. If there was more than one belt, the result was something similar to a ziggurat. The scale of Neolithic gigantomania can be judged by the fact that such structures, which had long ago taken the form of sloping hills, were in modern times operated as quarries for decades before workers discovered the internal chambers.

The most impressive of the Neolithic monuments are now called “corridor tombs” or “megalithic temples.” But the same structure could combine functions or change them over time. In any case, the mounds were poorly suited for rituals. It was too cramped inside. Therefore, cairns continued to coexist with cromlechs until people learned to build real temples, under the arches of which not only priests, but also believers could fit.

The era of megaliths, which began in prehistoric times, has no clear boundaries. It did not end, but only gradually faded away as construction technologies improved. Even in relatively later eras, when the methods of constructing an arch became known, and buildings were built from cut stone and brick, the demand for giant blocks did not disappear. They continued to be used, but rather as a decorative element. And even knowing how to fasten stones with mortar, architects did not always find it necessary to do this. After all, polished stones, fitted to each other, equipped with protrusions and grooves, looked better. Finally, even an unprocessed block sometimes turned out to be in place. The boulder that serves as the base for the equestrian statue of Peter I in St. Petersburg is a typical megalith.

Titan Towers

Scottish Borchs and Mediterranean Nuraghes are relatively late megaliths, dating back to the Bronze Age. They are towers made of small unprocessed stones without the use of mortar. And the fact that many of these structures, held together only by the weight of the material, still stand today evokes great respect for the builders.

The creation of the Borkhs is attributed to the Picts, and the Nuraghes to the Chardins. But both versions are not indisputable. In addition, all that remains of these peoples themselves are the names given to them by foreign chroniclers. The origins and customs of the Picts and Chardins are unknown. And this makes it even more difficult to unravel the purpose of numerous (more than 30,000 nuraghes were built in Sardinia alone) but non-functional structures.

Brochs resemble fortifications, but were hardly used for defense because they did not have loopholes and could not accommodate a sufficient number of defenders. They did not light a fire, did not live in them, did not bury the dead and did not store supplies. The objects found in the towers belong almost exclusively to the Celts, who settled Scotland centuries later and tried to come up with some use for the towers. However, they were no more successful than archaeologists.

SECRETS OF THE BIG STONE

The question remains “how”. How did people deliver huge stones without heavy equipment, how did they lift them, how did they cut them? It is these mysteries that inspire the authors of alternative hypotheses. Which, however, is based on a banal lack of imagination. It is difficult for an unprepared person to imagine how barbarians use stone tools to hew a giant block and manually set it in place. Anyone can imagine how the Atlanteans who have disappeared to who knows where are doing all this for unknown reasons and in an unknown way is within the power of anyone.

But the alternative reasoning contains a fundamental flaw. With cranes and diamond saws, we do not use huge stone monoliths. This is irrational. More convenient materials are now available. Megaliths were built by people who were simply not yet capable of building otherwise.

The stone is really difficult to work with other stone or copper. Therefore, only in the Iron Age did they begin to build from relatively compact hewn “bricks”. After all, the smaller the block, the larger its relative surface. So the Egyptians did not at all seek to complicate their work by using one-and-a-half and two-ton blocks to build the pyramids, which, of course, were not easy to transport and lift. On the contrary, they made it as easy as possible. After all, with the reduction of blocks, the costs of their production would increase sharply, but transportation costs would decrease slightly.

The same weight would have to be transferred. The creators of megaliths thought the same way.

Assessing the complexity of a task “by eye” often leads to mistakes. It seems that the work of the builders of Stonehenge was enormous, but, obviously, the costs of constructing the smallest of the Egyptian and Mesoamerican pyramids were incomparably higher. In turn, all the pyramids of Egypt taken together took four times less labor than the canal alone - a 700-kilometer “understudy” of the Nile bed. This was truly a large-scale project! The Egyptians built the pyramids in free time. For the soul.

Was it difficult to trim and sand a 20-ton slab? Yes. But every peasant or hunter in the Stone Age, during his life, in between, in the evenings making the necessary tools, brought about 40 square meters of stone to almost a mirror shine, choosing, if possible, the hardest of the stones. rocks: Only diamond cannot be processed by chipping and grinding on wet sand.

It seems difficult to deliver huge stones not only without equipment, but also without horses, even without a wheel. Meanwhile, under Peter I, frigates were transported along the route of the future White Sea Canal in this way. Peasants and soldiers pulled the ships along wooden rails, placing wooden rollers on them. Moreover, the cargo had to be dragged onto multi-meter cliffs more than once. In such cases, it was necessary to build a mantel, and sometimes use counterweights in the form of cages with stones. But when giving the order, the king probably did not think long, since we were talking about a completely ordinary operation. The Spaniards also thought it was faster and safer to drag galleons from Caribbean Sea V Pacific Ocean across the Isthmus of Panama rather than driving them around Cape Horn.

Valuable information was provided by a study of Maltese megalithic temples, one of which was suddenly abandoned during construction. Everything that workers usually took with them - stone rollers and sleds - remained in place. Even drawings have been preserved that looked like a miniature model of the structure (this is how they built it - from a model, not from paper - until the 18th century). In addition, in Malta, and later in other megalith-rich regions, “stone rails” were discovered - parallel grooves left by repeated rolling of round stones under heavy sleds.

Hobby holes

The megalithic structures of Skara Brae are unique primarily because they are residential. Typically, Neolithic people built houses from eternal stone only for the dead. But Scotland at that time was the northern outpost of agriculture. So it’s surprisingly short, less than pygmies, people who decided to settle on this harsh land, I had to dig in conscientiously. The lack of wood also had its effect. The “hobbits” could only rely on logs carried by the sea waves.

Other interesting feature these megaliths - in their masonry there is little that would deserve the epithet “mega”. The stones are mostly small. The houses were clearly built by one family, who were unable to deliver a monolithic dolmen slab to the site and install it on the structure. The “hobbit” roofs were made of wood and turf. But in each room there were several miniature megaliths - stone stools and whatnots.

But still, wasn’t the work too much? Was it really necessary for unknown barbarians to complicate their already difficult life by delivering and lifting 50-ton blocks of Stonehenge? And not for profit, but for beauty, for glory. Realizing that the arches of the cult center can be made of wood.

The inhabitants of Neolithic England thought not too much. The Romans believed exactly the same, using record, unimaginable 800-ton blocks in Baalbek, although they could have easily gotten by with ordinary ones. The Incas agreed with them, cutting intricate puzzles out of stone to assemble the walls of Machu Picchu. Megalithic buildings amaze the imagination even now. They struck him then too. They hit much harder. With their work, the builders glorified the deity, and a little - themselves. And considering that they achieved their goals - although their names are forgotten, their glory, having survived the birth and end of many civilizations, thunders through millennia - can we say that the work was too great?

On the contrary, it was a very economical solution.

What to play?

Rise of Nations (2003)
Age of Empires 3 (2005)
Civilization 4 (2005)

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