(Redirected from Orthostat)
Forecourt
In
archaeology, a 'forecourt' is the name given to the area in front of certain types of
chamber tomb. They were likely the venue of
ritual practices connected with the burial and commemoration of the dead in the past societies that built these types of
tombs.
In European
megalithic architecture, forecourts are curved in plan with the entrance to the tomb at the apex of the open semi-circle enclosure that the forecourt creates. The sides were built up by either large upright stones or walls of smaller stones laid atop one another.
Some also had paved floors and some had blocking stones erected in front of them to seal the tomb such as at
West Kennet Long Barrow. Their shape, which suggests an attempt to focus attention on the tomb itself may mean that they were used ceremonially as a kind of open air auditorium during ceremonies. Excavation within some forecourts has recovered animal
bone,
pottery and evidence of burning suggesting that they served as locations for
votive offerings or feasting dedicated to the
dead.
Kerb or Peristalith
:''See
curb (road) for the
roadside edge.''
In
archaeology, a 'kerb' or 'peristalith' is the name for a stone ring built to enclose and sometimes
revet the
cairn or
barrow built over a
chamber tomb.
Explanation
European
dolmens especially
hunebed and
dyss burials often provide examples of the use of kerbs in
megalithic architecture but they were also added to other kinds of
chamber tomb. Kerbs may be built in a
dry stone wall method employing small blocks or more commonly using larger stones set in the ground. When larger stones are employed, peristalith is the term more properly used. Often, when the earth barrow has been weathered away, the surviving kerb can give the impression of being a
stone circle although these monuments date from considerably later. Excavation of barrows without stone rings such as Fussell's Lodge in
Wiltshire suggests that, in these examples, timber or turf was used to define a kerb instead.
Analogies
In the
British Isles, the enclosing nature of kerbs has been suggested to be analogous to later
Neolithic and
Bronze Age stone and
timber circles and
henges which also demonstrate an attempt to demarcate a distinct,
round area for
ritual or
funerary purposes.
Famous sites
Famous sites with kerbs include
Newgrange where many of the stones are etched with
megalithic art. An example of the dry stone wall type of kerb can be seen at
Parc le Breos in
Wales.
Orthostat
An 'orthostat' is a large stone set upright.
Menhirs and other
standing stones are technically orthostats although the term is only used by
archaeologists to describe individual prehistoric stones that constitute part of larger structures. Common examples include the walls of
chamber tombs and other
megalithic monuments and the vertical elements of the trilithons at
Stonehenge.
Many orthostats were a focus for
megalithic art.
See also
★
European Megalithic Culture
Port-hole slab
In
megalithic
archaeology a 'port-hole slab' is the name of an
orthostat with a hole in it sometimes found forming the entrance to a
chamber tomb. The hole is usually circular but square examples or those made from two adjoining slabs each with a notch cut in it are known.
They are common in the
gallery graves of the
Seine-Oise-Marne culture
portal stones
'Portal stones' are a pair of
Megalithic orthostats, usually flanking the entrance to a
chamber tomb. They are commonly found in
dolmens.
Examples
★
Bohonagh
★
Knocknakilla
Trilithon
A trilithon at Stonehenge
A 'trilithon' (or ''trilith'') is a structure consisting of two large vertical stones supporting a third stone set horizontally across the top. Commonly used in the context of
megalithic monuments the most famous trilithons are those at
Stonehenge and those found in the
prehistoric temples in
Malta, which are a
UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The word ''trilithon'' is derived from the
Greek 'having three stones' ('Tri' - ''three'', 'lithos' - ''stone'') and was first used by
William Stukeley.
The term also describes the groups of three stones in the
Hunebed tombs of the
Netherlands and the three massive stones forming part of the wall of the Roman Temple of Jupiter at
Baalbek, Lebanon.
Reading List
★ The Megalithic Architecture in Europe series by James Phillips.
External links
★
BBC Highlands and Northern Isles - In Your Backyard
★
The Comparative Archaeology Web - A Spatial Analysis of megalithic Tombs
★
The Council for British Archaeology
★
The Megalith Map
★
The Megalithic Portal
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