Yesterday's day included a map on which were marked some sites of interest; some chambered cairns, a standing stone, and a burial chamber. Those sites were all within easy walking distance of one another, but there are many such points of interest here on Anglesey (north-west Wales, UK) where I live, and I've been intrigued by them ever since I've lived here. It also intrigues me when I spot the same sorts of things elsewhere, as I have done this week on DeviantArt.

Above image by FEB43 on DeviantArt: France dolmen in Vendee.

In the above image the 'pillar' to the left appears to be a tree, and one that had been struck by lightening, which intrigues me further [another angle]. Sometimes I have explored these kinds of constructions and found the resting stone to supported on the smallest of points (three) of the stones beneath; to think of all that weight and pressure bearing down, yet it rests there calmly. The piezoelectric effect comes to mind, and some (see The Giza Powerplant by Christopher Dunn) have postulated that the Great Pyramid at least, was possibly a great machine.

Piezoelectricity is the ability of certain materials to generate an electric charge in response to applied mechanical stress, such as pressure, bending, or vibration, and conversely, to deform when subjected to an electric field. This phenomenon, derived from the Greek word "piezein" meaning "to press" or "squeeze," was first discovered in 1880 by French physicists Jacques and Pierre Curie, who observed electric charges on crystals like quartz [present in some megalithic rocks], tourmaline, and Rochelle salt when mechanically stressed. The effect is reversible: the direct piezoelectric effect converts mechanical energy into electrical energy, while the converse effect converts electrical energy into mechanical strain, enabling applications in sensors, actuators, ultrasound generation, and energy harvesting. Materials exhibiting piezoelectricity must lack centrosymmetry and are typically insulators, including natural crystals like quartz. - AI generated description.

In the next photograph, taken by the same person, is another example to be found in Vendee, France, but this time partially submerged.

Were all of these submerged at some point and formed the other kind of site labelled as a burial mound; perhaps excavated by treasure hunters, or unearthed by natural erosion?

Here's a site I visited on my cycling trip to Scotland in 2016 (my trusty steed is there on the left).

Some sites have been pieced back together after suffering collapse; sometimes this is done in a not so agreeable manner; I would call out Newgrange in Ireland as an example here. Some people theorise that some mounds are in fact not mounds, but disguised pyramids, and therefore sharing a similar purpose to those grand structures found more obviously in Egypt, South America, and China.

Are some of the singular standing stones simply left as such by the flow of ice from an ice age? When visiting a great circle of stones (~64) up in Scotland some years ago I had a strong feeling that these represented a gathering of people, perhaps the last of a tribe; it was quite moving. Since then I get a similar suspicion when viewing other similar arrangements.

Beltany Stone Circle which I visited in 2019.