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A dolmen, () or portal tomb, is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the Late Neolithic period (40003000 BCE) and were sometimes covered with earth or smaller stones to form a tumulus (burial mound). Small pad-stones may be wedged between the cap and supporting stones to achieve a level appearance. In many instances, the covering has eroded away, leaving only the stone "skeleton".
In Sumba (Indonesia), dolmens are still commonly built (about 100 dolmens each year) for collective graves according to lineage. The traditional village of Wainyapu has some 1,400 dolmens.
Whatever the origin, dolmen has replaced cromlech as the usual English term in archaeology, when the more technical and descriptive alternatives are not used. The later Cornish term was – an English-language word for an object with a hole through the middle preserving the original Cornish language term of tolmen – the name of another dolmen-like monument is Mên-an-Tol 'stone with hole' (Standard Written Form: Men An Toll.)
In Irish language, dolmens are called dolmain.
Danish language and , , , and . Granja is used in Portugal and Galicia. The forms anta and ganda also appear. In Catalan language, they are known simply as dolmen, but also by a variety of folk names, including cova ('cave'), caixa ('crate' or 'coffin'),Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. "caixa" (in Catalan). In: Diccionari català-valencià-balear. Palma: Moll, 1930–1962. . taula ('table'),Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. "taula" (in Catalan). In: Diccionari català-valencià-balear. Palma: Moll, 1930–1962. . arca ('chest'), cabana ('hut'), barraca ('hut'), llosa ('slab'), llosa de jaça ('pallet slab'),Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. "llosa de jaça" (in Catalan). In: Diccionari català-valencià-balear. Palma: Moll, 1930–1962. . roca ('rock') or pedra ('stone'), usually combined with a second part such as de l'alarb ('of the Arab'), del/de moro/s ('of the Moor/s'),Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. "cova" (in Catalan). In: Diccionari català-valencià-balear. Palma: Moll, 1930–1962. . del lladre ('of the thief'), del dimoni ('of the devil'), d'en Rotllà/Rotllan/Rotlan/Roldan ('of Roland'). In the Basque Country, they are attributed to the , a race of giants.
The etymology of the and – with Hüne /hune meaning 'giant' – all evoke the image of giants buried (bett/bed/grab = 'bed/grave') there. Of other Celtic languages, Welsh language cromlech was borrowed into English and quoit is commonly used in English in Cornwall.
Early in the 20th century, before the advent of scientific dating, Harold Peake proposed that the dolmens of western Europe were evidence of cultural diffusion from the eastern Mediterranean. This "prospector theory" surmised that Aegean-origin prospectors had moved westward in search of metal ores, starting before 2200 BCE, and had carried with them the concept of megalithic architecture.
Dolmens in the Levant belong to a different, unrelated tradition to that of Europe, although they are often treated "as part of a trans-regional phenomenon that spanned the Taurus Mountains to the Arabian Peninsula." In the Levant, they are of Early Bronze rather than Late Neolithic age. They are mostly found along the Jordan Rift Valley's eastern escarpment, and in the hills of the Galilee, in clusters near Early Bronze I Proto-city (3700–3000 BCE), additionally restricted by geology to areas allowing the quarrying of slabs of megalithic size. In the Levant, geological constraints led to a local burial tradition with a variety of tomb forms, dolmens being one of them.
/ref> (See Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa Dolmen Sites.)
The dozens of thousands of dolmens on the Korean Peninsula account for approximately 40% of the world's total; the Gochang, Hwasun, and Ganghwa dolmen sites possess over 1,000 dolmens and feature the highest concentrations of dolmens anywhere in the world.
These are mainly distributed along the West Sea coastal area and on large rivers from the Liaoning region of China (the Liaodong Peninsula) to Jeollanam-do. In North Korea, they are concentrated around the Taedong River and Chaeryong River. In South Korea, they are found in dense concentrations in river basins, such as the Han and , and in the west coast area (Boryeong in South Chungcheong Province, Buan County in North Jeolla Province, and Jeollanam-do. They are mainly found on sedimentary plains, where they are grouped in rows parallel to the direction of the river or stream. Those found in hilly areas are grouped in the direction of the hill.
Apart from the dolmens from the Stone Age, several dolmens from the Iron Age exist in this region, particularly on the left side of the Pambar River, as evidenced by the use of neatly dressed granite slabs for the dolmens. At least one of these dolmens features a perfectly circular hole with a diameter of 28 cm inside the underground chamber. This region contains various types of dolmens. A large number of them are above ground, with heights ranging from 70 to 90 cm. Another type has a height of 140 to 170 cm. There is also an above-ground dolmen with a double length of up to 350 cm. Fragments of burial urns can be found in the area near the dolmens, indicating that the dolmens with heights of 70 to 90 cm were used for the burial of individuals of high social status, while burial urns were used for the remains of commoners. The dolmens with raised roofs may have served as habitation for people. However, the reasons why some individuals lived in cemeteries have not been satisfactorily explained.
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