The Maltese dolmens

Abstract

A dolmen can be defined as a massive worked block of stone which has been made to lie suspended in space in the horizontal position. It constitutes an integral component of the megalithic buildings which had their hey-day in the New Stone Age, or Neolithic period (Mega =large, Neo =new, lithic= stone). The term is a traditional French term formerly used to denote a megalithic chamber tomb, and consists of vertically inclined stones, called orthostats, supporting a capstone. It is probably derived from the Cornish term tolmen (tol = table, men = stone), which is a chamber formed by a capstone supported on stones. In the Far East, a dolmen is a megalithic stone burial feature dating to the first millennium BC, and usually contained polished stone implements (Brown 1977: 6; Bahn 1992: 137). The term is no longer used in association with a megalithic chamber tomb, and is usually reserved for tombs of undetermined plan or of a simple unspecialized form (Bray & Trump 1982: 78).