megalithic

American  

[meg-uh-lith-ik] / ˌmɛg əˈlɪθ ɪk /

adjective

1. relating to ancient construction works using stones of great size, such as dolmens or menhirs, or to the era in which these were constructed.

   Hundreds of megalithic structures throughout Europe are oriented to the solstices and the equinoxes.

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Other Word Forms

• premegalithic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of megalithic

First recorded in 1830–40; mega- ( def. ) + -lithic

Example Sentences

On Thursday, British authorities charged a pair of climate change activists for vandalizing Stonehenge, a prehistoric megalithic structure on a chalk plateau known as the Salisbury Plain.

From Salon • Nov. 16, 2024

Neolithic farmers started to use massive blocks of stone to build monuments, including Stonehenge and dozens of megalithic tombs still visible across France and the British Isles.

From Science Magazine • Apr. 9, 2024

Located at the Callacpuma archaeological site in the Cajamarca Basin of northern Peru, the plaza is built with large, vertically placed megalithic stones -- a construction method previously unseen in the Andes.

From Science Daily • Feb. 14, 2024

People watch the midsummer sun rise over the megalithic monument of Stonehenge on June 21, 2005, in Salisbury Plain, England.

From National Geographic • Dec. 19, 2023

Even today these megalithic monuments have an awe-inspiring, superhuman air about them, as if they were the work of a forgotten race of giants.

From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson