Discuss the types of megaliths and their significance
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The three types of megaliths are menhirs (single, vertically positioned megaliths), trilithons, and cromlachs (circularly arranged megaliths). These structures are found widely across Europe, particularly in England and France, and are believed to serve a religious or a ritual purpose. They are significant in that they are the earliest examples of architecture and demonstrate the basic principle of post-and-lintel construction, a technique not surpassed until the invention of the arch. They also evidence a remarkable degree of cooperation in these early Neolithic civilizations in that their stones were quarried far away and transported long distances. Structures like Stonehenge in England are orientated towards the rising sun and the summer Solstice and so demonstrate an awareness of calendars and their relation to astronomy.