This analysis is concerned with the dating of megaliths in Europe and is based on 2410 available radiocarbon results from pre-megalithic and megalithic sites, and to the megaliths contemporaneous contexts and the application of a Bayesian statistical framework. It is, so far, the largest existing attempt to establish a supra-regional synthesis on the emergence and development of megaliths in Europe. Its aim is to assist in the clarification of an over 200-year-old, ongoing research debate.

The Neolithic and Copper age monuments in Europe, consisting of stone temples and circles, standing stones, henge monuments, long barrows, megalithic graves, buildings and pyramids, are the most impressive remains of past societies and present striking features of the prehistoric landscape. This volume is concerned with these monuments and offers a broad and up-to-date discussion on their emergence and function, their situation in the landscapes and the reconstruction of the prehistoric societies in diverse archaeological contexts and regions in Europe and in one area of the Near East. It brings together new data and methodological approaches, as well as current discussions and interpretations.