Abstract: Giant stone structures all over the world, with their millennia-old age, size, durability, construction method that surpasses the technical capabilities of ancient cultures, but also with a mysterious purpose, have aroused the interest of experts and the general public for years. Megalithic architecture, which is part of the eponymous culture, the longest-lasting and most widespread building culture in human history, is characterized by the placement of monumental stone blocks of various shapes - megaliths, single or grouped into different structures/buildings. This overly broad definition includes Neolithic (and later) megalithic monuments (dolmens, menhirs, cromlechs and others), but also later structures of the so-called "more advanced architecture", which had architectural features, built from megaliths of regular geometric shape, weighing tens and hundreds of tons. These structures are often popularly called "cyclopean", which some authors contest by using that name only for the so-called "Mycenaean civilizations/ cultures". Therefore, the authors decided to use the universal name "giant stone buildings" and divide this broad topic into separate papers, trying to encourage readers to further study the extensive available literature in search of answers to the many doubts that we all still have...

Keywords: megalith, megalithic, architecture/building, monument, monolith, dolmen, menhir, cromlech, megalithic seafaring

 PDF Full paper (EN verzija)

 PDF Full paper (HR verzija)