This symbol was named after the Mané Rutual (also known as Mané Rutuel or Mané Rethuel) chambered cairn where it was first found. It is also called ‘Mane Rutual axe’ or ‘plough axe’. Locations The symbol is found in a number of megalithic cairns. Although there is believe that some (if not all) carvings are …
This symbol was subject to a shift in meaning. In ancient Greece it was standing for a sphere or globe. The recent meaning in astronomy is the Earth. In the Bronze Age it was associated with the sun. Hence its alternative name: Sun wheel. Locations The symbol can be found in several rock art sites …
Described from finds in Breton megalithic art this symbol is named ‘crook’ in literature (e.g. [1] ). Locations This symbol can be found in a number of passage tombs in Brittany, including Mané Hroeck, Mané Rutual, Mané Lud, Gavrinis. The backstone of the passage tomb ‘Table des Marchands’ in Locmariaquer shows a number of this …
Locations Cup marks are found in many areas of Europe with main concentrations in north/west Europe and the Alps. In Germany and Scandinavia they are found on single rocks and sometimes on capstones of megalithic structures (e.g. Bunsoh). In the north of Britain cup marks are often found together with ring marks (ring and cup …
The circle is the simplest, but also most perfect geometrical shape. All points on the circle have the same distance to the centre. As symbols circles were used in many ways in Neolithic times and are still today, either solely or composed with other elements. Locations In nature circles appear for example in the …
Flat ceramic disks were found as votive deposits in TRB monuments and flat graves (Flat grave of Issendorf). Flat ceramic disks are also found in other cultures (Michelsberg, Globular Amphora culture). The disks are often interpreted as bread baking plate. In the passage grave Denghoog on Sylt, Germany a number of votive offerings were found. Amongst …
Archaeologists have named the spatially restricted cultures after the pottery which people of that culture created. The so called Funnel beaker culture, short TRB from (German) Trichterbecherkultur (ca 4000 BC – 2700 BC) covered big parts of the North of Europe. The TRB is further sub-divided into groups and stretches from parts of the Netherlands …
Avebury is a small village in Wiltshire in the south of England and home of the famous stone circle. Although this circle is the biggest in Britain and probably the best known there are many more very remarkable monuments and relicts from the early to the late Neolithic period in the area which is therefore …
Bull or ox heads were found associated to many megalithic buildings. Several bull or ox skulls were found in Wiltshire [1]: In the Sherrington earthen long barrow an ox skull together with a deer antler was deposited in a cist of chalk blocks underneath the barrow. In the front of Manton tomb a pit was …
The stone axe was an important tool in the Neolithic: It allowed to cut trees and to clear forests faster than before and enabled the Neolithic revolution. Equally it was used as a powerful weapon. Therefore it does not come to a surprise that the axe was of high importance to Neolithic people. From the …