Dolmens, cromlechs, Hünengräber or Hunebeds are megalithic tombs consisting of large stones ("megaliths") set in formation and originally covered with earth or more, smaller stones. In many cases the covering has been weathered away leaving only the stone 'skeleton' of the monument. They are a single chamber type of megalithic tomb.

Dolmen is a Breton word meaning "stone table". The word was introduced into archaeological usage by Théophile Corret de la Tour d'Auvergne. Cromlech derives from Welsh. Hünenbetten or Hünengräber is the German term. Hunebed is the Dutch term. Both suggest the work of giants in building the structures.

These megalithic tombs are found on the North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts. Hunebeds are chamber tombs similar to dolmens and date to the middle Neolithic (Funnelbeaker culture). Hunebeds consist of a kerb surrounding an oval mound which covered a rectangular chamber of stones with the entrance on one of the long sides. Some have a more complex layout and include an entrance passage giving them a T-shape. It has been suggested that this means they are related to the Passage graves found in Denmark and elsewhere.

In Mecklenburg and Pomerania, large numbers of these graves were disturbed when towns and cities were built. The boulders came in handy for construction and road building. There are still many thousands left today in Europe: for example, more than a thousand on the island of Rügen alone.

Similar tombs can be found all over the world, and Korea is said to have half of the world's total on its grounds, constructed in the 1st millennium BC. The dolmen in Ganghwa is a northern-type, table-shaped dolmen where ancestral rites were held. It is the biggest stone of this kind in South Korea, measuring 2.6 × 7.1 × 5.5 meters.

Dolmens are also present in Israel in the Golan Heights.

See also

• Portal dolmen

External link

• Hunebeds in the Netherlands
• Poulnabrone Dolmen in the Burren Ireland