Megalithic Structures of Europe

The Megalithic Structures of Europe are the remains of a relatively advanced prehistoric, neolithic culture that built great stone structures across Europe.

Today, we know of a number of different cultures by name who were probably responsible for their design, construction, use, and maintenance over centuries — and sometimes millennia. Yet there is much about the megalithic structures of Europe (not to mention the cultures who built them) that remains a mystery.

• Use Of European Megalithic Sites
• The “Polish Pyramids”

The Use of European Megalithic Sites

There is no one specific use for megalithic sites. It depends on the sites, just as it depends on the specific culture — and tribes within that culture — who built it.

Some we know to have been built as tombs, such as the Polish Pyramids. Others, like Stonehenge or Avebury or Newgrange, remain mysterious in a number of ways.

The “Polish Pyramids”

There are a famous group of Stone Age tombs which came to be known as the “Polish Pyramids.” Megalithic structures built in elongated triangular shapes, and often covered with dirt.

The Polish Pyramids are located in the historic region of Kuyavia (between the towns of Izbica and Wietryzychowice). [1] Structures are attributed to the Neolithic culture called the Funnel Breaker culture — a culture of Neolithic Europe known for building earthen mounds. [1] Built probably around 4,000 BCE. [1] Contemporary with the beginning of the Uruk Period in the fertile crescent.

The Polish Pyramids (these structures also known as “giant beds” or “Kuyawy mounds” ) stretch around 360′ in length, and form a triangle. On the base is a door, held up by stones that weigh in excess of 3 tons. [1] There is a long hallway within.

These megalithic structures of europe functioned as tombs. Archetypally, the deceased individual would be seated cross-legged at one end of a long hall-way, surrounded by grave goods. [1] You can imagine how long the hallways could have been, with mound lengths of 360′ feet up to 656′ feet at some sites. [1] This indicates both wealth, and probably status, in addition to a sophisticated religious worldview (at least conscerning death, life-after-death, and the ancestors).

Recently (c.2025) tombs were discovered in Poland similar to the Polish Pyramids, dating to around 3500 BCE. Trapezoidal in shape up to 656′ in length, with no human remains found in either. [I]

Notes

• [I] Pair of ancient tombs discovered with remote sensing technology in Poland, point to the Funnel Breakers culture. Date to 3,500 BCE. Located in the Dezydery Chlapowski Landscape Park during routine fieldwork. [1] Funnel Breaker culture is a distinctive Stone Age/Neolithic culture famous for earthen mounds. Seem similar to famous Polish Pyramids. [1] Earthen trapezoidal shape mounds, some up to 656′ in length. [1] Archetypally, one individual would be buried inside, in a seated-posture, at the end of a long hallway surrounded by grave goods. [1] No human remains found in either.