The Menhir stone inscription represents different cultures
The Menhir stone inscription
represents different cultures
These stele known as "obelisks" or "menhir statues" are over three thousand years old and are clearly the product of diverse cultures The stele depicting figures likely served as memorials to honored deceased persons Found in burial and funeral settings from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages these stele are ancient gravestones often erected in rows on Kurgan burial mounds to commemorate and honor the deceased These stele are found in large numbers in southern Russia Ukraine Prussia southern Siberia Central Asia Turkey and Mongolia Balbals are funerary slabs found in Central Asia often in Kurgans depicting the deceased Although they primarily depict men women do exist particularly among Turks including Uighurs and nomadic cultures As important as men women also served as a community figure in honoring the deceased
Earlier stele can also be found in the Italian Alps southern France and Portugal. Examples have also been found in Bulgaria at Plachidol Ezerovo and Duran Kulak as well as at Hamangia-Baia Romania The Ukrainian obelisks number approximately three hundred Most are rough stone slabs with simple protruding heads and features such as eyes or breasts carved into the stone The twenty or so obelisks known as menhir statues are more elaborate featuring ornaments weapons and human or animal figures The Cimmerians of the early first millennium BC left a small number of distinctive inscribed stele approximately ten of them. Four or five "deer stones" dating back to the same period have also been found in the North Caucasus Mountains
Statue-menhir de Rosseironne / groupe du Languedoc
These tribes left intricately carved stele each with a deep relief In the seventh century BC the Scythians began to dominate the Pontic steppe They were later expelled by the Sarmatians in the second century BC. Others are embedded in the hillsides It is not always clear whether these obelisks were built at the same time as the kurgan on which they stand existed before or were carved later and placed on the kurgan The kurgan obelisks are made of Sandstone limestone granite they range in height from 3.5 to 0.7 meters but are most often 1.5–2 meters Some are simple pillars with roughly human faces while others have heads
Statue-menhir de Candelaïre
The anthropomorphic tablets found in Anatolia to date appear to be older than the Chemiba steppe tablets and are assumed to be derived from steppe tablets Fragments of these tablets were discovered in the oldest sedimentary rock layer at Troy known as Troy I These figures were also mentioned in large 17th-century sketchbooks as boundary markers and road markers or directional markers Some information about the Kurgan tablets also suggests that they represent slain enemies There are two distinct styles conical and flat with a shaved top. Evidence from Orkon inscriptions indicates that each kurgan represents a specific individual. This distinction is unlikely to be accidental
