Editing Stone circle (section)

==Distribution==
{{further information|List of stone circles}}
Megalithic monuments are found in especially great number on the European [[Atlantic Europe|Atlantic fringe]] and in the British Isles.<ref>{{cite web |author=Aubrey Burl |title=The Megalith Map |url=http://www.megalith.ukf.net/bigmap.htm |access-date=2006-09-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060928065024/http://www.megalith.ukf.net/bigmap.htm |archive-date=2006-09-28 }}</ref>

===Great Britain and Ireland===
[[File:Cornish stone circle.jpg|thumb|Cornish stone circle]]
[[File:County Cork - Drombeg stone circle - 20150328102444.jpg|thumb|[[Drombeg stone circle]], County Cork, Ireland]]
[[File:Carrigagulla 03.jpg|right|thumb|Stone circle at the [[Carrigagulla]] complex, County Cork, Ireland]]

There are approximately 1300&nbsp;stone circles in Britain and Ireland.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany |last=Burl |first=Aubrey |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2000 |location=New Haven |page=[https://archive.org/details/stonecirclesofbr0000burl/page/5 5] |isbn=9780300083477 |url=https://archive.org/details/stonecirclesofbr0000burl |url-access=registration |quote=The Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany. }}</ref> Experts disagree on whether the construction of megaliths in Britain developed independently or was imported from mainland Europe.

A 2019 comprehensive radiocarbon dating study of megalithic structures across Europe and the British Isles concluded that construction techniques were spread to other communities via sea routes, starting from north-western France.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="Paulsson.2019"/> In contrast, the French archaeologist Jean-Pierre Mohen in his book ''{{lang|fr|Le Monde des Megalithes}}'' wrote that the British Isles are <blockquote>"outstanding in the abundance of standing stones, and the variety of circular architectural complexes of which they formed a part ... strikingly original, they have no equivalent elsewhere in Europe – strongly supporting the argument that the builders were independent."</blockquote>Some theories suggest that invaders from Brittany may have been responsible for constructing Stonehenge.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/frances-new-stonehenge-secrets-of-a-neolithic-time-machine-5329987.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/frances-new-stonehenge-secrets-of-a-neolithic-time-machine-5329987.html |archive-date=2022-05-25 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=France's new Stonehenge: Secrets of a neolithic time machine|date=July 31, 2006|website=The Independent}}</ref>

Although stone circles are widely distributed across the island, Ireland has two main concentrations: in the [[County Cork|Cork]]/[[County Kerry|Kerry]] area and in mid-[[Ulster]]. The latter typically consist of a greater number of small stones, usually {{nowrap|1' (0.3 metres)}} high, and are often found in upland areas and on sites that also contain a [[stone row|stone alignment]]. The [[Cork–Kerry stone circle]]s tend to be more irregular in shape with larger but fewer and more widely-spaced [[orthostat]]s around the axial stone.<ref>Murphy (1997), p.27</ref>

===Continental Europe===
Examples can be found throughout Continental Europe, from the [[Black Sea]] to [[Brittany]]. Locations in France include several in Brittany (two on the island of [[Er Lannic]] and two more suggested at [[Carnac]]), several in the south of France on the [[Causse de Blandas]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.alzon.fr/le-circuit-des-megalithes/|title=Le circuit des Mégalithes}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=6334839|title=Lacam de Peyrarines|website=The Megalithic Portal}}</ref> in the [[Cevennes]], in the [[Pyrenees]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=20022|title=Senescau Cromlech|website=The Megalithic Portal}}</ref> and in the Alps (e.g. the [[Petit Saint Bernard]]). One notable stone circle is in the Italian Alps.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.regione.vda.it/cultura/patrimonio/siti_archeologici/col_psb/cromlech_i.aspx|title=Cromlech - Regione Autonoma Valle d'Aosta|website=www.regione.vda.it}}</ref> As early as 1579, scholars in Germany described large erect stone circles near [[Ballenstedt]].<ref name="Bakker2010">{{cite book|author=Jan Albert Bakker|title=Megalithic Research in the Netherlands, 1547-1911: From "giant's Beds" and "pillars of Hercules" to Accurate Investigations|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_MQiK5ATCL1wC|year=2010|publisher=Sidestone Press|isbn=978-90-8890-034-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_MQiK5ATCL1wC/page/n56 47]}}</ref> In 2001, a stone circle ([[Beglik Tash]]) was discovered in Bulgaria near the Black Sea.

There are several examples in the [[Alentejo]] region of Portugal, the oldest and most complete being the [[Almendres Cromlech]] near the regional capital of [[Évora]] and within its municipality. Remains of many others consist only of the central [[Dolmen|anta]] (as they are known in Portugal). This sometimes appears to have been used as an altar but more often as a central burial structure, originally surrounded by megaliths that show only sparsely survived erosion and human activities.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archaeologyinbulgaria.com/background-infonotes/shrines/thracian-cromlech-stone-circle-staro-zhelezare-bulgaria/|title=Thracian Cromlech (Stone Circle) - Staro Zhelezare, Bulgaria|work=Archaeology in Bulgaria. and Beyond - Archaeology, History & Nature: the Human - Earth Connection |date=30 June 2015 }}</ref>

These circles are also known as ''[[harrespil]]'' in the [[Basque Country (autonomous community)|Basque country]], where villagers call them ''[[mairu]]-baratz'' or ''[[jentil]]-baratz,'' meaning "pagan garden (cemetery)". They refer to [[Giant (mythology)|mythological giants]] of the pre-Christian era. No example has survived in a good state of preservation, but, like the Alentejo, the Basque Country is dotted with eroded and vandalized examples of many such structures.

===Africa===
Ancient stone circles are found throughout the [[Horn of Africa]]. [[Booco]] in northeastern [[Somalia]] contains a number of such old structures. Small stone circles here surround two enclosed platform monuments, which are set together. The circles of stone are believed to mark associated graves.<ref name="Tpficss">{{cite book |author=Hussein Mohamed Adam |editor=Charles Lee Geshekter |title=The Proceedings of the First International Congress of Somali Studies – Somali Studies International Association |date=1992 |publisher=Scholars Press |isbn=0891306587 |pages=37, 40 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mM8tAQAAIAAJ|access-date=9 November 2014}}</ref>

At [[Emba Derho]] in the [[Ethiopian highlands|Ethiopian]] and [[Eritrean highlands]], two kinds of megalithic circles are found. The first type consists of single stone circles, whereas the second type comprises an inner circle enclosed within a larger circle (i.e. double stone circles).<ref name="Verlag">{{cite book |last1=Institut für Afrikanistik und Aẗhiopistik – Universität Hamburg |title=Aethiopica: International Journal of Ethiopian Studies |volume=7-8 |date=2004 |publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag |page=27 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0_svAQAAIAAJ |access-date=1 January 2015}}</ref>

[[File:Senegambian Megaliths.jpg|thumb|Stone circles and other megalithic monuments in [[Senegambia]].<ref name="Curdy">{{Cite journal |last=Curdy |first=Philippe |date=1982-01-01 |title=Mbolop Tobé (Santhiou Kohel, Sénégal). Contribution à la connaissance du mégalithisme sénégambien |url=https://www.academia.edu/64976455}}</ref>]]
The [[Senegambian stone circles]] are found on the western side of the continent. The individual groups are dated from 700 A.D. to 1350 A.D, and 1145 sites were mapped in a 1982 study.<ref name="Curdy"/>

=== Asia ===
{{unreferenced section|date=August 2024}}
In the Near East, possibly the oldest stone circles in the world were found at [[Atlit Yam]] (about 8000 BC). The locality is now submerged near the Levantine Mediterranean coast.

Other locations include India or Japan. See more in the relevant [[:Category:Stone circles in Asia|Wikipedia category]].