A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a structure or monument, either alone or

together with other stones. The word "megalithic" describes structures made of such large stones,
utilizing an interlocking system without the use of mortar or concrete, as well as representing periods
of prehistory characterised by such constructions. For later periods the term monolith, with an
overlapping meaning, is more likely to be used.
The word "megalith" comes from the Ancient Greek "" (transl. megas meaning "great") and
"" (transl. lithos meaning "stone"). Megalith also denotes an item consisting of rock(s) hewn in
definite shapes for special purposes.[1][2][3] It has been used to describe buildings built by people from
many parts of the world living in many different periods. A variety of large stones are seen as
megaliths, with the most widely known megaliths not being sepulchral.[4] The construction of these
structures took place mainly in theNeolithic (though earlier Mesolithic examples are known) and
continued into the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age.[5]

A dolmen is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more

vertical megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone ("table"), although there are also more
complex variants. Most date from the early Neolithic (40003000 BC). Dolmens were typically
covered with earth or smaller stones to form a tumulus. 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 7,000 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 usingradiocarbon dating. However, it has
been impossible to prove that these remains date from the time when the stones were originally set
in place.[1]

The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other
two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognised by the
simple circular capitals at the top of columns. It was the earliest and in its essence the simplest of
the orders, though still with complex details in the entablature above.

The Greek Doric column was fluted, and had no base, dropping straight into the stylobate or platform
on which the temple or other building stood. The capital was a simple circular form, with some
mouldings, under a square cushion that is very wide in early versions, but later more restrained.
Above a plain architrave, the complexity comes in the frieze, where the two features originally unique
to the Doric, the triglyph and guttae, are skeuomorphic memories of the beams and retaining pegs of
the wooden constructions that preceded stone Doric temples.[1] In stone they are purely ornamental.
The relatively uncommon Roman and Renaissance Doric retained these, and often introduced thin
layers of moulding or further ornament, as well as often using plain columns. More often they used
versions of the Tuscan order, elaborated for nationalistic reasons by Italian Renaissance writers,
which is in effect a simplified Doric, with un-fluted columns and a simpler entablature with no
triglyphs or guttae. The Doric order was much used in Greek Revival architecture from the 18th
century onwards; often earlier Greek versions were used, with wider columns and no bases to them.
Since at least Vitruvius it has been customary for writers to associate the Doric with masculine
virtues (the Ionic representing the feminine). [2] It is also normally the cheapest of the orders to use.
When the three orders are used one above the other, it is usual for the Doric to be at the bottom,
with the Ionic and then the Corinthian above, and the Doric, as "strongest", is often used on the
ground floor below another order in the storey above.[3]

Example
The Temple
of
Hephaestus or Hephaisteion (also
"Hephesteum"; Ancient Greek: , Modern Greek: ) or earlier as
the Theseion (also "Theseum"; Ancient Greek: , Modern Greek: ), is a wellpreserved Greek temple; it remains standing largely as built. It is a Doric peripteral temple, and is
located at the north-west side of the Agora of Athens, on top of the Agoraios Kolonos hill. From the
7th century until 1834, it served as the Greek Orthodox church of Saint George Akamates. The
building's condition has been maintained due to its history of varied use.-