On the Atlantic shores. The origin of megaliths in Europe?
Sur les rives atlantiques. De l'origine des mégalithes en Europe ?
Résumé
The megalithic monuments of Europe are some of the oldest in the world. Despite the wide diversity of forms throughout the conti-nent as a whole, it is the Atlantic façade that contains almost all of those megalithic monuments that are thought to be the oldest. Defining precisely the geographical contours of what is meant by the Atlantic façade, however, requires the inclusion of some more continental areas, both in France and in the Iberian Peninsula, since the bipartition of Neolithic Europe between Bandkeramik and Mediterranean groups is now perceived as more permeable than once thought. There is also the potential contribution from Meso-lithic traditions. The origin of these Atlantic megalithic monuments has been debated for many years; the question takes a different form, however, depending on whether the problem is approached from the point of view of the very first stone monuments, or from the idea of mobilizing very large stones to create architecture, or whether it is the symbolic and social changes associated with new funerary practices that are considered. The question also arises in very different terms depending on whether the focus is on Great Britain and Ireland, on western France or on the Iberian Peninsula. Although it is generally accepted that the first British and Irish megalithic monuments were derived from the monuments of northern France, the relationship between the first French and Iberian megaliths is less easy to define. The question of chronologies is here of paramount importance, although the problem of recycling with megaliths erected more than once on the same site must not be ignored. For this communication we propose to bring together three researchers who are very active in the study of megaliths for each of these regions of Europe.