Megaliths were often referred to as the 'stones of the devil', or 'paganaltars'.  the Christian Church suppressed the cults of stone worship.  The councils of Arles (452 A.D.), Tours (567 A.D.) and Nantes (658 A.D.) are such examples of the Church, in conflict with these stone worshippers.  In Spain, the council of Toledo (681 - 682 A.D.) condemned the 'worshippers of stones'.  The church of Britain obliterated these stone monuments by building over them.  This is why, there are a lot less of these monuments than there were a long time ago, and this is also why, some of these monuments, although still existing, are in ruins.¹

    Other names for these Megaliths are known to be Druid Stones, Pagan's Altar, Sorcerers' Stones, Wizard Stones, Witches' Rocks, Fairy Stones, and Stones of the Barbarians.  In British folklore, megaliths also included King Arthur's Stone, Arthur's Table, and Merlin's Rocks.²  In France, some of these megaliths are believed to have healing powers.  For example, the Men-an-tol in Northern France will heal various ills if the person with the illness passes through the hole in the middle. This megalith is also believed to help young couples gain offspring.³
 
 

Stonehenge

    Stonehenge is located in the Salisbury Plain in Southern England.  A well known researcher, Sir Norman Lockyer published his 'Stonehenge', which included astronomical theories in relation to the plan of Stonehenge.  Unfortunately, after Sir Lockyer's death in 1920, his theories died with him and Stonehenge was once again entered into history as a neolithic sanctuary (circa 2000 b.c.).⁴

    Approximately forty-three years after Sir Lockyer's death, Gerald Hawkins published 'Stonehenge Decoded' in the Nature magazine.  At the time, Gerald Hawkins was working at the Smithsonian Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  In his article, he described Stonehenge to measure the seasonal shifts of the sun, moonrise, and moonset.⁵  Another researcher, Professor Scot
Alexander Thom - Emeritus Professor of Engineering Science in Oxford University - claimed to have rediscovered the 'megalithic yard'.⁶  Soon after, Fred Hoyle also provided much research in this area.⁷
 

Background of Megaliths

    These stone rings are also believed to be built by the Beaker people in the bronze age.  They concluded on this theory by relating it to the evidence found, which included scraps of potting but the evidence was incomplete.  The Pitnacree in Perthshire had deposits of burnt human bone.  Researchers dated these bones with carbon-14 (known as carbon-dating) and they found these bones to locate back to the years between 2790 b.c. to 2950 b.c..  In the Yorkshire woods, evidence proved that neolithic families placed a wooden mortuary house in a great ditched circle.⁸  Collections of bones on the sites (sometimes without skulls) were believed that the dead spirits from these bones could protect them and they refined this by placing the bones in 'magic' rings made of earth or stone.⁹  The more famous Stonehenge has the property that its heelstone in the North East entrance marks the sun rise of midsummer.  The side opposite to the heelstone marked the midwinter rising of the moon.¹⁰
 

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