     a dolmen, also known as a portal tomb, portal grave or quoit, is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright stones supporting a large flat horizontal capstone (table), although there are also more complex variants. most date from the early neolithic period (4000 to 3000 bc). dolmens were typically covered with earth or smaller stones to form a barrow. in many instances, that covering has weathered away, leaving only the stone "skeleton" of the burial mound intact. it remains unclear when, why, and by whom the earliest dolmens were made. the oldest known dolmens are in western europe, where they were set in place around 7000 years ago. archaeologists still do not know who erected these dolmens, which makes it difficult to know why they did it. they are generally all regarded as tombs or burial chambers, despite the absence of clear evidence for this. human remains, sometimes accompanied by artifacts, have been found in or close to the dolmens which could be scientifically dated. however, it has been impossible to prove that these archaeological remains date from the time when the stones were originally set in place.lewis, s. (2009) guide to the menhirs and other megaliths of central brittany, nezert books, isbn 978â952â270â595â2 == etymology == the word dolmen has a confused history. the word entered archaeology when thÃ©ophile corret de la tour d'auvergne used it to describe megalithic tombs in his origines gauloises using the spelling dolmin (the current spelling was introduced about a decade later and had become standard in french by about 1885).corret de la tour d'auvergne, {{google books|vmpaaaaacaaj|origines gauloises. celles des plus anciens peuples de l'europe puisÃ©es dans leur vraie source ou recherche sur la langue, l'origine et les antiquitÃ©s des celto-bretons de l'armorique, pour servir Ã  l'histoire ancienne et moderne d
Death_customs Dolmens Megalithic_monuments Megalithic_monuments_in_the_Middle_East Monument_types Stone_Age_Europe Stones