megalithicadj.

1839 A. Herbert (title) Cyclops Christianus, or an Argument to disprove the supposed Antiquity of Stonehenge and other Megalithic Erections.

1867 J. Y. Simpson Arch. Sculpt. 144 A race of Megalithic Builders—if we may so call them.

1875 D. Wilson in Encycl. Brit. II. 338/1 The rudiments of architectural skill pertaining to the Megalithic Age.

1899 R. Munro Prehist. Scotl. iii. 246 The horned weapons are products of the proto-Celtic stratum which lies chronologically between the earlier megalithic chambers and the later Gaulish tumuli.

1901 G. Sergi Mediterranean Race xiv. 296 The alphabetiform signs in megalithic inscriptions.

1928 C. Dawson Age of Gods ix. 196 The megalithic culture was a religious movement, and it centred in the cult of the dead.

1947 V. G. Childe Dawn European Civilization (ed. 4) x. 179 One classical method of disposal of the dead..which gives its name to the whole period in Denmark, was ceremonial burial in a megalithic dolmen or dyss.

1981 G. Daniel Short Hist. Archaeol. i. 32 Erik Pontoppidan..excavated a megalithic passage-grave at Jaegerspris in 1744.

1961 A. Thom in Math. Gaz. 45 83 The unit of length used was the same from Land's End to John o' Groats... This unit was 5·44 ft... Half of this, 2·72 ft., might be called the Megalithic Yard, but whether this or the Megalithic Fathom (5·44 ft.) was the length of the standard rod carried about the country it is not possible to say.

1967 A. Thom Megalithic Sites in Brit. v. 36 We first demonstrate that there is a presumption amounting to a certainty that a definite unit was used in setting out these rings. It is proposed to call this the Megalithic yard (MY). Two of these might be called the Megalithic fathom.

1961 A. Thom in Math. Gaz. 45 83 This unit [sc. the Megalithic Fathom] was 5·44 ft... Half of this, 2·72 ft., might be called the Megalithic Yard.

1975 Country Life 16 Jan. 134/2 The megalithic yard of 2·72 ft that Professor Thom has recently so convincingly shown to have been used by the builders of Stonehenge, Avebury, Carnac.

1994 New Scientist 5 Feb. 50/2 The megalithic yard..is not merely a myth, nor is it only a statistic.., although it was used as an illustration for such in your article.