Words are only words. They have the meaning people give them. However mega
and lithic are old Greek and mean big and stone, and this somewhat restricts
how the word "megalith" can be used.
The word "megalith" or "megalithic burial chamber" was first invented as a
name for the big stone burial chambers of Neolithic Western Europe, and
these are pretty crudely put together. Other ancient large stone structures
like Stonehenge are megalithic (using the word adjectivally), but are not
"megaliths".
The word was never applied to proper architecture, although even bigger
stones could be used in Greek and Roman architecture. The word was never
applied to statues either, however large they were.
In due course a word was needed for old (often undated) crude structures of
large stones in other parts of the world. They had a degree of resemblance
to the W European megaliths, but the function the played in the life of the
community may have been quite different. Presumably most were for burial,
but some may have had other purposes like altars.
Sometimes the word is used in a way which seems to me unacceptable.
Sometimes the stones are not big enough - in which case you can only talk of
"stone monuments". They have to be pretty big before you should call them
megaliths. In India even burials in pots or clay sarcofagi are called
"megaliths", which is a completely wrong use of the word.
Nobody has authority to set a size of stone entitling classification as a
megalith, but I would place it at about half a ton. The sort of slab a
couple of men can manhandle around is not really megalithic. It would also
be wrong to call your Easter Island statues "megalithic monuments" because
the word is only applied to structures, and I would urge you not to call
them megalithic statues either.
If you are trying to compare old structures of large stones in different
parts of the world, you should make your own decision which ones are
relevant to your investigation. The way words are used and the meanings they
are given have grown up pretty much at random over the years. Don't let it
dictate to you!
David Liversage
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