Glossary - The Stones and the Stars: Building Scotland's Newest Megalith - page 305

Histogram A graphic representation of a frequency distribution, with
vertical bars of widths corresponding to the class widths of the variable,
and heights corresponding to the class frequencies. In other words, the
more instances are found at particular values, the higher the peak on the
graph.
Imbolc Celtic festival, now St. Brighid's Day, midway between winter
solstice and spring equinox, marking the beginning of spring on February
1/2 (see Candlemas).
Kintraw A Neolithic site at Loch Craignish in Argyllshire, with a large
cairn and a tall standing stone, aligned with midwinter sunset between
the peaks of Jura as viewed from a platform of stones on a hillside over-
looking the site.
Kist See Cist.
Lammas The Celtic festival of the wheat harvest on August 1.
Le Grand Menhir Brisé The Great Broken Stone at Carnac in Brittany,
claimed to be the central foresight for surrounding lunar observatories.
Lintel A horizontal stone or wooden beam bridging two uprights.
Machrie Moor An area of the island of Arran in the Firth of Clyde, in-
tensively settled in Neolithic times and having small astronomically
aligned stone rings, including the first elliptical ones found in the British
Isles, as well as the remains of very large ones.
Maes Howe A large stone-built passage tomb in a 24-foot high mound
near the Stenness ring in Orkney.
Martinmas The Christian feast of St. Martin, November 11. Also a key
date in the megalithic calendar as reconstructed by Alexander and Archie
Thom.
Megalith A great stone, or a structure composed of great stones.
Megalithic Yard A standard unit of length in the layout of megalithic
sites, postulated by Alexander Thom.
Menhir A single standing stone.
Meridian Pillars Outlying columns erected at a distance from an obser-
vatory, in a north-south line with the piers of the telescopes, to assist in
aligning equatorial or altazimuth mounts.
Mesolithic An intermediate period between the Paleolithic Old Stone
Age and the Neolithic New Stone Age. The development of boats and