Archaeological culture · c. 4800–2500 BCE
Atlantic megalith builders
Along Europe's Atlantic coasts, farming communities built monuments of huge stones: passage graves, dolmens, standing stones and stone rows. Some of the oldest, such as Barnenez and Bougon in western France, date to around 4800 BCE.
The tradition spread to Iberia, Ireland and Britain, producing Carnac, Newgrange and the Antequera dolmens. Sea routes probably helped carry the idea, though how it spread is debated.
See Atlantic megalith builders on the map in 4000 BCE
- On the map
- 4800–2500 BCE
How we know
No writing existed; this is a shared building tradition, not a single people, dated by radiocarbon from tombs and stone settings.
Sites
- Cairn of Barnenez built c. 4850–4000 BCE; reused in the 3rd millennium BCE
- Carnac stones c. 4500–3300 BCE
- Dolmen of Menga built c. 3750–3650 BCE
- Newgrange built c. 3100 BCE; out of use by the Bronze Age