In April 1997, the airline deregulation in Europe and the removal of cabotage gave low-cost carriers, including Ryanair, the opportunity to expand.

Ryanair


The airline became a public company via an initial public offering in May 1997, raising funds on the Dublin and the NASDAQ stock exchanges to expand the company across Europe.

Ryanair


In 1998, Ryanair launched services to Stockholm, Sandefjord Airport, Torp 110 kilometres (68 mi) south of Oslo, Beauvais–Tillé northwest of Paris, and Charleroi.

Ryanair


In 1999, flush with new capital, Ryanair placed a US$2 billion order for 45 new Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

Ryanair


The airline launched its website in 2000 built by a 17-year old entrepreneur for IR£20,000. Management thought that the online booking engine would only be a small part of its business.

Ryanair


Ryanair launched a new base of operation in Charleroi Airport in 2001. Later that year, the airline ordered 155 new 737-800 aircraft from Boeing at what was believed to be a substantial discount, to be delivered over eight years from 2002 to 2010. Approximately 100 of these aircraft had been delivered by the end of 2005, although there were slight delays in late 2005 caused by production disruptions arising from a Boeing machinists' strike.

Ryanair


In April 2003, Ryanair acquired its ailing competitor Buzz from KLM.

Ryanair


In 2004, Michael O'Leary warned of a "bloodbath" during the winter from which only two or three low-cost airlines would emerge. A loss of €3.3 million in the second quarter of 2004 was the airline's first recorded loss for 15 years but the airline soon became profitable again. The enlargement of the European Union in May 2004 opened the way to more new routes for Ryanair.

Ryanair


In February 2006, Britain's Channel 4 broadcast a documentary as part of its Dispatches series, "Ryanair caught napping". The documentary criticised Ryanair's training policies, security procedures and aircraft hygiene, and highlighted poor staff morale. Ryanair denied the allegations and claimed that promotional materials, in particular a photograph of a stewardess sleeping, had been faked by Dispatches.

Ryanair


In October 2006, Ryanair launched a €1.48 billion bid to buy fellow Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus; Ryanair already owned 19% of Aer Lingus. Aer Lingus immediately rejected Ryanair's takeover bid, saying it undervalued the airline.

Ryanair


In April 2007, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary stated that it had the goal of launching a transatlantic low-cost airline; the launch was delayed and never came to fruition. In 2023, Ryanair said that it had no plans for transatlantic routes.

Ryanair


In August 2007, the company started charging passengers to check in at the airport to encourage people to check-in online, thereby reducing costs.

Ryanair


In August 2007, an article in The Economist claimed that Ryanair's "cavalier treatment of passengers" had given Ryanair "a deserved reputation for nastiness" and that the airline "has become a byword for appalling customer service ... and jeering rudeness towards anyone or anything that gets in its way."

Ryanair


In October 2008, Ryanair withdrew operations from a base in Europe for the first time when it closed its base in Valencia, Spain. Ryanair estimated the closure cost 750 jobs.

Ryanair


In December 2008, Ryanair launched a second takeover bid of Aer Lingus, offering an all-cash offer of €748 million. The offer was a 28% premium on the value of Aer Lingus stock, during the preceding 30 days. Ryanair said, "Aer Lingus, as a small, stand-alone, regional airline, has been marginalised and bypassed, as most other EU flag carriers consolidate." The two airlines would operate separately. Ryanair stated it would double the Aer Lingus short-haul fleet from 33 to 66 and create 1,000 new jobs. The Aer Lingus board rejected the offer and advised its shareholders to take no action. On 22 January 2009, Ryanair dropped its Aer Lingus takeover bid after it was rejected by the Irish government on the grounds it undervalued the airline and would harm competition. However, Ryanair retained a stake in Aer Lingus; in October 2010, competition regulators in the UK opened an inquiry, due to concerns that Ryanair's stake may lead to a reduction in competition.

Ryanair


In 2008, Ryanair was described by the consumer magazine Holiday Which? as having the most optional extras.

Ryanair


In 2009, Ryanair announced that it was in talks with Boeing and Airbus about an order that could include up to 200 aircraft. Even though Ryanair had dealt with Boeing aircraft up to that point, Michael O'Leary said he would buy Airbus aircraft if it offered a better deal. Airbus Chief Commercial Officer John Leahy denied in February 2009 that any negotiations were taking place.

Ryanair


In February 2009, Ryanair announced that later that year it would close all airport check-in desks and that passengers would be able to leave their luggage at a bag drop, but everything else would be done online.

Ryanair


In May 2009, Ryanair abolished airport check-in and replaced it with a fast bag drop for those passengers checking in bags, adding fees for passengers that do not check-in online.

Ryanair


In June 2009, due to the Great Recession, Ryanair reported an annual loss of €169 million, its first annual loss.

Ryanair


Ryanair's fleet reached 200 aircraft for the first time in September 2009.

Ryanair


In November 2009, Ryanair announced that negotiations with Boeing had proceeded poorly and that Ryanair was thinking of stopping the negotiations, then putting at 200 aircraft for delivery between 2013 and 2016, and simply returning cash to shareholders. Boeing's competitor Airbus was mentioned again as an alternative vendor for Ryanair, but both Michael O'Leary and Airbus CCO John Leahy dismissed this. In December 2009, Ryanair confirmed that negotiations with Boeing had failed. The plans were to take all 112 aircraft already on order at that point, with the last deliveries occurring in 2012, for a total fleet of over 300. Ryanair confirmed that an agreement had been met on price, but it had failed to agree on conditions, as Ryanair had wanted to carry forward certain conditions from its previous contract.

Ryanair


In April 2010, due to air travel disruption after the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption, Ryanair ended refusals to comply with EU regulations which stated it was obliged to reimburse stranded passengers. In April 2010, Ryanair described the regulations as 'unfair' and that month, Ryanair cancelled all of its routes from Budapest Liszt Ferenc Airport after talks with the airport's management on reducing fees failed.

Ryanair


In June 2010, Ryanair called for the Irish government to scrap its tourist tax, implying it was destroying tourism in Ireland.

Ryanair


In February 2011, Ryanair opened a new maintenance hangar at Glasgow Prestwick International Airport, making it Ryanair's biggest fleet maintenance base.

Ryanair


In June 2011, Ryanair and COMAC signed an agreement to cooperate on the development of the C919, a Boeing 737 competitor.

Ryanair


In April 2011, Ryanair began adding a surcharge of €2 to its flights to cover the costs arising from compliance with EC Regulation 261/2004, which requires it to pay for meals and accommodation for passengers on delayed and cancelled flights.

Ryanair


Ryanair cut capacity by grounding 80 aircraft between November 2011 and April 2012 due to the high cost of fuel and weak economic conditions during the Euro area crisis.

Ryanair


In June 2012, Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary announced his intention to make an all-cash offer for Aer Lingus. The bid was blocked by the European Commission in 2017, which had also blocked an earlier bid.

Ryanair


As of October 2013, Ryanair was rated the cheapest low-cost airline in Europe in basic price (excluding fees) but was the fourth cheapest when fees were included.

Ryanair


In October 2013, Ryanair announced what it described as a series of "customer service improvements", to take place over the next six months. These included lower fees for reprinting boarding passes, free changes of minor errors on bookings within 24 hours, and a free second small carry-on bag. Ryanair said it was making the changes as a result of customer feedback.

Ryanair


In 2013, Ryanair sued Channel 4 and The Independent for defamation after allegations were made about Ryanair's safety standards. The case with The Independent was settled in November 2013. The case with Channel 4 was settled in 2025 on undisclosed terms.

Ryanair


In March 2013, Ryanair signed an order for 175 new Boeing 737-800 aircraft for $15.6 billion, increasing its fleet by one-third, to 400 planes. In the press conference announcing the order, Michael O'Leary said Ryanair was still evaluating the possibility of the Boeing 737 MAX and stated its huge order in March was for the Boeing 737 Next Generation rather than the 737 MAX as it needed aircraft before the 737 MAX would enter service. Ryanair also showed interest in other aircraft, including the Comac C919, when it signed a design agreement with Comac in 2011 to help produce a rival jet to Boeing's offerings. At the Paris Airshow in 2013, Michael O'Leary stated that Comac could build a larger version of the C919 aircraft that would hold up to 200 passengers.

Ryanair


In January 2014, Ryanair moved into a new €20 million, 100,000 sq ft (9,300 m2) Dublin head office in Airside Business Park, having outgrown its previous office within Dublin Airport.

Ryanair


In April 2014, Ryanair confirmed that it had ordered five more aircraft to add to its fleet, four of them to be delivered in 2015 and the last one to be delivered in February 2016, to bring the number of aircraft on order to 180.

Ryanair


In June 2014, Ryanair announced a new campaign to re-invent itself as a more family-friendly airline. At the company's 2014 annual general meeting, chief executive Michael O'Leary said that the airline needed to "stop unnecessarily pissing people off". Ryanair said up to 20% of its 81 million customers were travelling as families, and it wanted to raise that figure. Kenny Jacobs, Ryanair's chief marketing officer, said: "Families are a big deal for us. It's a group of customers that we want to get closer to". The company launched LiveChat on its website. This change in approach had an almost immediate positive effect on the company's finances.

Ryanair


In the summer of 2014, Ryanair contracted AirExplore to operate some summer flights between London Stansted and Dublin airports.

Ryanair


In September 2014, Ryanair agreed to purchase up to 200 Boeing 737 MAX 200 aircraft (100 confirmed and 100 options) for over $22 billion.

Ryanair


In December 2014, the airline finalised its order for up to 200 Boeing 737 MAX 200 aircraft, a version of the 737 MAX 8 for low-cost airlines, named after the fact that they can carry 200 passengers. The order included 100 firm orders and 100 purchase rights, making Ryanair the launch customer of the Boeing 737 MAX 200.

Ryanair


In March 2016, Ryanair launched a corporate jet charter service, offering a Boeing 737-700 for corporate or group hire.

Ryanair


In November 2016, Ryanair launched a new package holiday service named Ryanair Holidays. The new service offers flights, accommodation, and transfer packages. The service was launched in Ireland, the United Kingdom and Germany, with other markets to follow. Ryanair partnered with Spain-based tour operator, Logitravel, and accommodation provider, World2Meet, to create Ryanair Holidays.

Ryanair


In April 2017, Ryanair started issuing tickets for connecting flights, meaning if a connection is missed, the customer will be rebooked at no extra cost and compensated according to the EU Flight Compensation Regulation. To begin with, such tickets were only sold for flights with connections at Rome-Fiumicino airport.

Ryanair


In September and October 2017, Ryanair cancelled between 40 and 50 flights per day, about 2% of total daily flights. Flights were cancelled with very little notice, sometimes only hours before departure. Ryanair said that the cancellations aimed "to improve its system-wide punctuality" which had dropped significantly in the first two weeks of September which the airline attributed to "ATC capacity delays and strikes, weather disruptions and the impact of increased holiday allocations to pilots and cabin crew." In subsequent statements, Ryanair acknowledged that it had "messed up" holiday schedules for pilots, including a change to the calendar year for how vacations were calculated.

Ryanair


In late December 2017, shortly after the cancellations, a survey rated Ryanair and Vueling equally the worst in the world for customer service among short-haul carriers in the annual Which? survey.

Ryanair


Abandonment of the single-airline strategy

Ryanair


For over a decade, Ryanair had only operated with its Irish Air Operator's Certificate and solely under the Ryanair brand. However, starting in 2018, Ryanair began introducing additional brands and operating on multiple certificates in different countries.

Ryanair


In April 2017, Ryanair announced that it would launch an independent Polish subsidiary in 2018, operating charter flights from Poland to Mediterranean destinations. Aside from turning away from the company's policy of only operating on a single Air Operator's Certificate, the step also meant that Ryanair would be launching charter flights after having focused only on scheduled operations before. The subsidiary was branded Ryanair Sun and received its Polish Air Operator's Certificate in April 2018 and subsequently launched Initially, it had only one former Ryanair Boeing 737-800 and complemented its operation with wet-leased aircraft from its mother company. In late 2018, all Polish-based Ryanair aircraft were transferred to Ryanair Sun. As a consequence, Ryanair Sun mainly operated scheduled flights on behalf of its mother company using Ryanair's FR flight numbers. Ryanair Sun was rebranded Buzz in 2019.

Ryanair


In March 2018, Ryanair expanded its portfolio by acquiring 25% (later increased to 75% and then 100% in December 2018) of Austrian-based Laudamotion, founded by Niki Lauda, and later renamed "Lauda". Laudamotion was the successor of Niki, which had folded as a consequence of the Air Berlin demise.

Ryanair


Ryanair UK was established in December 2017 "to protect itself from a hard Brexit". Its first aircraft, re-registered as G-RUKA, was transferred from Ryanair DAC in 2018, with a second aircraft following in 2019. As of April 2023, Ryanair UK had 13 aircraft.

Ryanair


In August 2018, to reduce plane turnaround time, Ryanair announced a new baggage policy under which Priority Boarding allows for a larger and a smaller bag, capped by the capacity on the aircraft. The move was mirrored by Wizz Air.

Ryanair


In September 2018, pilots, cabin crew and other staff called for a strike due to the transition from workers being employed on Irish contracts and subject to Irish legislation to their own countries' labour laws, along with an issue in their pay. Due to the lobbying of the crew and walk-outs of pilots, the airline had to cancel 250 flights, which affected around 40,000 passengers.

Ryanair


In January 2019, a survey conducted by Which? found that the airline was the UK's least-liked short-haul airline, for the sixth year running. Ryanair responded by saying that passenger numbers had risen 80% in the previous six years and this was a more accurate reflection of the airline's popularity than an "unrepresentative survey of just 8,000 people".

Ryanair


In February 2019, the transition began from the airline Ryanair and its subsidiaries into separate sister airlines under the holding company.

Ryanair


In May 2019, following the Boeing 737 MAX groundings, Ryanair initially reaffirmed its confidence in the aircraft and indicated that it would be ready to place a new order once it had returned to service; it would seek a reduced price instead of cash compensation. In July 2019, it warned that some of its bases would be subject to short-term closures in 2020 due to the shortfall in MAX deliveries, and pointed out that the MAX 200 version it has ordered will require separate certification expected to take a further two months after the MAX returns to service. In the same month, O'Leary expressed concerns and frustration with the certification delays and revealed that, in parallel with discussions with Boeing regarding a potential order for new aircraft to be delivered from 2023, he was also talking to Airbus which was offering very aggressive pricing.

Ryanair


In June 2019, Ryanair announced, together with the Government of Malta, that it would establish a new airline called Malta Air (not to be confused with Air Malta), to consist of an initial fleet of 10 aircraft and assume the 61 flights currently operated by Ryanair to/from Malta. The fleet was registered in Malta while a new repair and maintenance hangar was also set up. Ryanair transferred all its existing Maltese operations to the new airline. Ryanair also transferred additional bases in Europe to the Maltese subsidiary due to a legal requirement for certain staff to pay tax in Ireland even though they did not live in Ireland.

Ryanair


In August 2019, Ryanair was ranked last in an annual Which? survey rating the customer services of 100 popular UK brands.

Ryanair


In August 2019, due to the transition inside the holdings company, each airline (Ryanair, LaudaMotion, Ryanair Sun and Ryanair UK) got its own CEO and management team. Edward Wilson became the CEO of the airline Ryanair and Michael O'Leary became the Group CEO.

Ryanair


2020: COVID-19 pandemic

Ryanair


During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ryanair laid off pilots and cabin crew and reduced its flight schedule.

Ryanair


In September 2020, the airline threatened to end operations in Ireland unless the government lifted COVID-19 lockdowns including quarantine requirements.

Ryanair


In April and May 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, customers claimed that they were refused refunds for the flight cancellations, leading to a surge in complaints to the Commission for Aviation Regulation (CAR).

Ryanair


In April 2020, the Italian Civil Aviation Authority threatened a ban of Ryanair due to alleged violation of COVID-19 regulations including the requirement for social distancing by leaving middle seats empty.

Ryanair


In December 2020, Ryanair increased its order for Boeing 737 MAX 200 aircraft by 75, to a total of 210 aircraft, for delivery from early 2021 to December 2024.

Ryanair


After delays due to the grounding of the 737 MAX, the first Boeing 737 MAX 200 was delivered to Ryanair in June 2021. In July 2021, Ryanair handed back all of its leased Boeing 737 aircraft and announced plans to hand back its leased Airbus aircraft.

Ryanair


In June 2022, after backlash, Ryanair cancelled a policy to make South Africans take a general knowledge test in the Afrikaans language before allowing them to board UK-bound flights as a means to verify that their passports were genuine. South Africa has 11 official languages of which Afrikaans is the 3rd most spoken with a prevalence of 12%. A majority of the population cannot understand Afrikaans and some refuse to speak it on principle, regarding it as the language of oppression during the Apartheid era.

Ryanair


In January 2023, the first Ryanair 737-800 to be retrofitted with split scimitar winglets entered service. The winglets reduce fuel burn by 1.5% and are to be fitted to all existing −800 aircraft in the Ryanair fleet.

Ryanair


In July 2022, Ryanair extended its Airbus A320 leases to 2028.

Ryanair


In May 2023, Ryanair ordered 300 Boeing 737 MAX 10 aircraft, with a total list price of €36.3 billion. The deal included 150 firm orders and options for 150 more with deliveries between 2027 and 2033. Half of this order would replace withdrawn 737-800 aircraft. The order followed an 18-month public argument with Boeing over pricing, and Ryanair ultimately achieved a lower discount than their previous orders.

Ryanair


Ryanair initiated a regular dividend in November 2023.

Ryanair


In December 2023, Ryanair announced a $1.4 billion investment in Morocco for its summer 2024 schedule, its largest in the country, including over 1,100 weekly flights on 175 routes, including 35 new routes.

Ryanair


In June 2024, pursuant to a call option, Ryanair purchased the golden share in Malta Air owned by the Government of Malta for €25,000.

Ryanair


In March 2025, in response to a new aviation tax by the Danish government, Ryanair closed the base in Billund and terminated operations at Aalborg.

Ryanair


In June 2025, Ryanair signed a $500 million engine deal with CFM International and in February 2026, Ryanair signed a multibillion-dollar services agreement with CFM to bring engine maintenance in-house to maintain its 2,000 CFM International engines.

Ryanair


In October 2025, Ryanair restarted flights to Jordan.

Ryanair


In February 2026, the company once again placed last in passenger satisfaction based on a survey conducted by Which?; the company responded that it sold 208 million airline tickets in the previous year and that its customers don't seem to care about a survey of a small sample size.

Ryanair


In 2023, Ryanair had about 6,600 pilots and 13,400 cabin crew members, 2,200 employees in administration, IT labs, ground operations and maintenance as well as 125 employees in management.

Ryanair


The key trends for the Ryanair Group are (as of the financial year ending 31 March):

Ryanair


Legal and regulatory issues

Ryanair


In November 2025, Ryanair was denied permission to appeal against a judgement which ruled that a pilot who flew exclusively for the airline was a temporary worker and not a self-employed contractor. Ryanair used independent contractors as pilots to save costs.

Ryanair


In May 2014, Ryanair's office in Marseille was raided by French police investigating complaints that the company was failing to follow French employment law. Ryanair lodged a complaint.

Ryanair


In May 2015, the Mayor of Copenhagen supported boycotting Ryanair and banned city employees from using the airline during working hours after Danish unions protested salary and working conditions. After a court trial confirmed the unions' right to a strike action, Ryanair closed its operations in Denmark.

Ryanair


In February 2011, a Spanish customer brought a claim against Ryanair for unfair surcharges, claiming that the €40 surcharge on passengers who failed to print out a boarding card before arrival at the airport was unfair. Judge Barbara Cordoba, sitting in the Commercial Court in Barcelona, held that, under international air travel conventions, Ryanair can neither demand passengers turn up at the airport with their boarding pass, nor charge them if they do not, and that the fines were abusive because aviation law obliges airlines to issue boarding passes. Ryanair appealed the decision and the Appeals Court in Spain overturned the ruling in November 2011, holding that the surcharge complies with international law.

Ryanair


Credit card surcharges

Ryanair


In December 2011, Ryanair announced that it would fight against the UK Treasury's plan to ban credit card surcharges.

Ryanair


Reneged on promotion to customer

Ryanair


In 2002, the High Court of Ireland in Dublin awarded Jane O'Keefe €67,500 damages and her costs after Ryanair reneged on a prize of free flights for life that she was awarded for being the airline's 1 millionth passenger in 1998.

Ryanair


Treatment of disabled passengers

Ryanair


In 2002, Ryanair refused to provide wheelchairs for disabled passengers at London Stansted Airport, leading to lawsuits. The airline argued that this provision was the responsibility of the airport authority, stating that wheelchairs were provided by 80 of the 84 Ryanair destination airports. A court ruling in 2004 judged that the responsibility should be shared by the airline and the airport owners; Ryanair responded by adding a surcharge of £0.50 to all its flight prices.

Ryanair


In July 2012, a 69-year-old woman, Frances Duff, who has a colostomy, was refused permission to bring her medical kit on board, despite having a letter from her doctor explaining the need for her to carry this with her, and was asked by Ryanair boarding staff to lift her shirt in front of fellow passengers, to prove that she had a colostomy bag. Duff had previously attempted to contact Ryanair on three occasions to inquire about its policy regarding travellers' colostomy bags, but each time no one answered the phone after half an hour.

Ryanair


Difficulty to contact customer service

Ryanair


An early day motion in the British Parliament put forward in July 2006 criticised Ryanair for its complex, predominantly online-only complaints process; it was signed by 57 members but tabled on 24 July 2006.

Ryanair


Refusal to issue invoices for the VAT-exempt services

Ryanair


In 2017, the government of Portugal requested the intervention of the Tax and Customs Authority to force the company to issue invoices to passengers for the VAT-exempt services to allow them to claim tax refunds after passengers complained of difficulties in getting such invoices.

Ryanair


In December 2025, Italy's competition authority fined Ryanair €255 million for allegedly making it more difficult for travel agencies to offer flights by Ryanair in combination with flights from other airlines.

Ryanair


Strike actions and trade union recognition

Ryanair


In August 2018, pilots of Ryanair in Germany, Sweden, Ireland, Belgium and the Netherlands walked out for 24 hours, leading to the cancellation of 400 flights.

Ryanair


On 26 September 2018, Ryanair was forced to cancel 150 flights scheduled for that day, accounting for roughly 6% of its total flights, due to strikes in Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Italy, and Germany. The British Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) urged the company to compensate the 2,400 affected passengers under EU Regulation 261, but Ryanair stated that it would refuse to accept any claims for compensation. In December 2018, the Civil Aviation Authority announced that it would be taking legal action against Ryanair over its refusal to compensate thousands of UK-based customers. In April 2021, the High Court rejected Ryanair's claim that it was exempt from awarding compensation because the disruption was due to "extraordinary circumstances". The ruling was upheld by the Court of Appeal in February 2022, though Ryanair may still appeal to the Supreme Court.In December 2022, Ryanair dropped its appeal to the UK Supreme Court, agreeing to pay claims for flights cancelled due to union-led industrial action.

Ryanair


In the early years, when Ryanair had a total of 450 employees who each had shares in the company, there was an agreement that staff would not join a trade union on the basis that they would influence how the company was run. The treatment of employees has changed considerably since then and new employees no longer get shares in the company.

Ryanair


In 2011, a former Ryanair captain was awarded financial compensation by an employment tribunal in London after being fired for handing out a union form to a cabin crew member while on duty.

Ryanair


Ryanair announced in December 2017 that it would recognise pilots' unions. In 2018, it signed a recognition agreement with Unite the Union to enable collective bargaining for 650 directly employed cabin crew operating out of Ryanair's UK bases. Also in 2018, Ryanair reached a collective labour agreement with the Italian pilots' union ANPAC. In summer 2019, Ryanair attempted to block strike action by UK pilots through the courts, but the High Court allowed the strike over pay and working conditions to go ahead.

Ryanair


Sensationalist advertising

Ryanair


Michael O'Leary has deliberately courted controversy to generate free publicity for the airline.

Ryanair


In February 2004, a Ryanair advert depicted fireworks with the headline "Fawking great offers", leading to condemnation by the Advertising Standards Authority for using offensive language in an advert.

Ryanair


In February 2008, a French court ordered Ryanair to pay damages of €1 to Nicolas Sarkozy and €60,000 to Carla Bruni for using their picture in an advertisement with a cartoon bubble above Bruni reading: "With Ryanair, my whole family can come to my wedding." The funds were donated to Restaurants du Cœur.

Ryanair


In February 2009, Michael O'Leary commented on BBC News that Ryanair was considering charging passengers £1 to use the toilet on its flights. The story subsequently made headlines in the media for several days and drew attention to Ryanair's announcement that it was removing check-in desks from airports and replacing them with online check-in. Eight days later, O'Leary admitted that it was a publicity stunt saying "It is not likely to happen, but it makes for interesting and very cheap PR."

Ryanair


In the spring of 2001, a Ryanair advertisement used a picture of Manneken Pis, a famous Belgian statue of a urinating child, with the words: "Pissed off with Sabena's high fares? Low fares have arrived in Belgium." Sabena sued and the court ruled that the advertisements were misleading and offensive. Ryanair was ordered to discontinue the advertisements immediately or face fines. Ryanair was also obliged to publish an apology and publish the court decision on its website. Ryanair used the published apologies for further advertising, primarily for further price comparisons.

Ryanair


Another provocative ad campaign headlined "Expensive BAstards!" compared Ryanair with British Airways. As with Sabena, British Airways disagreed with the accompanying price comparisons and brought legal action against Ryanair. However, in this case, the High Court sided with Ryanair and threw BA's case out, ordering BA to make a payment towards Ryanair's court costs. The judge ruled "The complaint amounts to this: that Ryanair exaggerated in suggesting BA is five times more expensive because BA is only three times more expensive."

Ryanair


In August 2007, to promote its new flight routes to/from Belfast, an advertisement by Ryanair noted that "the company's fares are so low even the British army flew home". The advert showed Sinn Féin politicians Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams next to a speech bubble which said "Ryanair fares are so low even the British Army flew home". Michael Copeland stated that the advertisement was "insensitive, crass and made a clear political statement". Ulster Unionists reacted angrily to the advertisement, while the Advertising Standards Authority said it did not believe the ad would cause widespread offence.

Ryanair


An advertisement depicting a model dressed as a schoolgirl was accompanied by the words "Hottest back to school fares". Ryanair advertised two Scottish and one UK-wide newspaper. After receiving 13 complaints, the advertisement was widely reported by national newspapers. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) instructed the airline to withdraw the advertisement in the United Kingdom, saying that it "appeared to link teenage girls with sexually provocative behaviour and was irresponsible and likely to cause serious or widespread offence". Ryanair said that it would "not be withdrawing this ad" and would "not provide the ASA with any of the undertakings they seek", on the basis that it found it absurd that "a picture of a fully clothed model is now claimed to cause 'serious or widespread offence' when many of the UK's leading daily newspapers regularly run pictures of topless or partially dressed females without causing any serious or widespread offence".

Ryanair


In late 2020, the airline faced criticism over its "jab and go" advert, implying that people can fly without a mask after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. The Advertising Standards Authority ordered the company to remove the adverts, which it called "irresponsible", after receiving 2,370 complaints, the third highest ever received for an advert.

Ryanair


Outlandish comments by the company to gain publicity

Ryanair


Ryanair has proposed eliminating two toilets to add six more seats, redesigning the aircraft to allow standing passengers travelling in "vertical seats", charging extra for overweight passengers, and asking passengers to carry their checked-in luggage to the aircraft.

Ryanair


Ryanair also claimed to want to charge people to use the toilet, but later said that it was not possible and the headline "[made] for interesting and very cheap PR".

Ryanair


In January 2026, the company spat with Elon Musk over the costs, including fuel drag, of installing antennas by Starlink, which is majority-owned by Musk. Musk mused about buying the airline, while Ryanair launched a fare sale dedicated to Musk called the "idiot" sale, and O'Leary claimed that the spat increased bookings and resulted in a "wonderful boost in publicity".

Ryanair


Girls of Ryanair calendar

Ryanair


From 2008 to 2014, Ryanair published and sold on its flights a charity calendar using female cabin crew as models, raising money for homeless charity Dublin Simon Community in 2009, KIDS (a charity for disabled children and their families) in 2010, and the Teenage Cancer Trust in 2014. It was strongly criticised by the National Women's Council of Ireland (NWCI). and an advertising campaign for it was prohibited by Spain following complaints.

Ryanair


Misleading advertising

Ryanair


In 2018, Ryanair became the first airline and the only non-coal-power plant to be among the 10 companies with the highest amount of CO2 emissions in the EU. That year, Ryanair had an emission equivalent of 9.9 megatonnes of CO2. Emissions had risen by 49% over five years. Environmentalists criticised the airline harshly and saw it as a sign of the lack of taxation of aviation. In 2020, Ryanair was criticised for releasing misleading advertisements through their claim they were "Europe's… Lowest Emissions Airline", using figures from an airline efficiency rating dating back to 2011.

Ryanair


In 2007, Ryanair was ordered by the ASA to stop claiming that its flights from London to Brussels were faster than the rail connection Eurostar, because the claim was misleading, due to the required travel times to the airports Ryanair served. Ryanair stood by its claims, noting that the flight time is shorter than the train trip and that travel time is also required to reach Eurostar's stations.

Ryanair


In April 2008, Ryanair faced a probe by the UK Office of Fair Trading, after a string of complaints about its adverts. It was found to have breached advertising rules seven times in two years. ASA's director general Christopher Graham commented that formal referrals to the OFT were rare, the last occurring in 2005. He added that the ASA "would prefer to work with advertisers within the self-regulatory system rather than call in a statutory body, but Ryanair's approach has left us with no option". Ryanair countered with the claim that the ASA had "demonstrated a repeated lack of independence, impartiality and fairness".

Ryanair


In July 2009, Ryanair took several steps to "increase the clarity and transparency of its website and other advertising" after reaching an agreement with the OFT. The airline's website now includes a statement that "fares don't include optional fees/charges" and they now include a table of fees to make fare comparisons easier.

Ryanair


In July 2010, Ryanair once again found itself in controversy regarding alleged misleading advertising. Ryanair circulated advertisements in two newspapers offering £10 one-way fares to European destinations. Following a complaint from rival carrier EasyJet, the ASA ruled the offer was "likely to mislead". Ryanair did not comment on the claim but did hit back at EasyJet, claiming it cared about details in this regard but did not itself publicise its on-time statistics. EasyJet denied this.

Ryanair


In April 2011, Ryanair advertised a place in the sun destinations but the advert was banned when it was found that some of the destinations experienced sunshine for as little as three hours per day and temperatures between 0 and 14 °C (32 and 57 °F).

Ryanair


In 2016, Ryanair stated that websites such as Opodo and CheapOair and their partners engaged in screenscraping and false advertising, and attempted to prevent them from showing Ryanair data.

Ryanair


In February 2020, the Advertising Standards Authority told Ryanair to provide adequate evidence to support environmental claims after the ASA banned adverts that claimed Ryanair was the lowest emissions airline in Europe for being misleading. Ryanair had claimed in the adverts that they had "the lowest carbon emissions of any major airline" and it was a "low CO2 emissions airline" based on Europe's top 27 airlines. The ASA queried some figures and the definition of a "major airline" for the purposes of assessing. Complainants said the adverts were misleading and could not be substantiated. In response to the ASA Ryanair cited data from Eurocontrol and airline efficiency rankings from Brighter Plant. However, the ASA said that Ryanair had used an efficiency ranking from 2011 which was "of little value as substantiation for a comparison made in 2019". The ASA said that customers would interpret the adverts as saying that flying with Ryanair would mean they contributed fewer CO2 emissions to the earth atmosphere, which could not be proven. The ASA said that the adverts "ads must not appear again in their current forms" as claims in them could not be substantiated.

Ryanair


Ryanair has several low-cost competitors. Although traditionally a full-service airline, Aer Lingus moved to a low-fares strategy from 2002, leading to a much more intense competition with Ryanair on Irish routes. Ryanair is a member of Airlines for Europe, having formerly been a member of the defunct European Low Fares Airline Association.

Ryanair


Airlines that attempt to compete directly with Ryanair are treated competitively, with Ryanair being accused by some of reducing fares to significantly undercut its competitors. In response to MyTravelLite, which started to compete with Ryanair on Birmingham to Dublin route in 2003, Ryanair set up competing flights on some of MyTravelLite's routes until it pulled out. Go was another airline that attempted to offer services from Ryanair's base in Dublin to Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland. A fierce battle ensued, which ended with Go withdrawing its service from Dublin.

Ryanair


In September 2004, Ryanair's biggest competitor, EasyJet, announced routes to Ireland for the first time, beginning with the Cork to London Gatwick route. Until then, EasyJet had never competed directly with Ryanair in Ireland. EasyJet later withdrew its Gatwick-Cork, Gatwick-Shannon, Gatwick-Knock and Luton-Shannon routes.

Ryanair


In 2008, Ryanair asked the Irish High Court to investigate why it had been refused permission to fly from Ireland West Airport to Dublin. This route was won by CityJet, which could not operate the service. The runner-up, Aer Arann, was then allowed to start flights, a move Ryanair criticises as the basis of not initiating an additional tender process was unlawful.

Ryanair


DFDS Seaways cited competition from low-cost air services, especially Ryanair, which now flies to Edinburgh Airport and London Stansted Airport from Göteborg Landvetter Airport, as the reason for scrapping the Newcastle–Gothenburg ferry service in October 2006. It was the only dedicated passenger ferry service between Sweden and the United Kingdom and had been running under various operators since the 19th century.

Ryanair


Ryanair operates 3,500 short-haul flights per day serving approximately 230 airports in over 40 countries in Europe as well as Morocco, Jordan, and Turkey.

Ryanair


Ryanair's largest base is at London-Stansted, followed by its home base at Dublin Airport.

Ryanair


To save money on landing fees and turnaround time, Ryanair traditionally uses smaller or secondary airports. Examples include London Stansted, Paris Beauvais or Rome Ciampino.

Ryanair


Major airports served by Ryanair include Amsterdam-Schiphol, Athens, Barcelona-El Prat, Berlin-Brandenburg, Brussels Airport, Bucharest-Otopeni, Budapest, Copenhagen, Dublin, Lisbon, London-Stansted, Madrid, Marseille, Oslo-Gardermoen, Rome-Fiumicino and Stockholm-Arlanda. Some of these cities do not have a viable secondary airport that Ryanair could use as an alternative. Ryanair uses large airports where it is not dominant and pay the normal fees. Examples include Barcelona, Oslo, Copenhagen and Manchester, where the carrier increased flights in 2021.

Ryanair


When Ryanair negotiates with airport operators, it demands very low landing and handling fees, as well as financial assistance with marketing and promotional campaigns. In subsequent contract renewal negotiations, the airline has been reported to play airports against each other, threatening to withdraw services and deploy the aircraft elsewhere, if the airport does not make further concessions. According to Michael O'Leary's biography, A Life in Full Flight, Ryanair's growing popularity and also growing bargaining power, with both airports and aircraft manufacturers, has resulted in the airline being less concerned about a market research/demographics approach to route selection to one based more on experimentation. This means it is more likely to fly its aircraft between the lowest-cost airports in anticipation that its presence alone on that route will be sufficient to create a demand which previously may not have existed, either in whole or in part.

Ryanair


In April 2006, a failure to reach an agreement on a new commercial contract resulted in Ryanair announcing that it would withdraw service on the Dublin–Cardiff route at short notice. The airport management rebutted Ryanair's assertion that airport charges were unreasonably high, claiming that the Cardiff charges were already below Ryanair's average and claimed that Ryanair had recently adopted the same negotiating approach with Cork Airport and London Stansted Airport.

Ryanair


In 2009, Ryanair was reported to have adopted "harsh" negotiating with Shannon Airport, threatening to close 75% of its operations there from April 2010. Ryanair was forced to give up its Rome Ciampino–Alghero route, after the route was allocated to Air One, as a public service obligation (PSO) route. The European Commission is investigating the actions of the Italian government in assigning PSO routes and thus restricting competition.

Ryanair


Ryanair flies in a point-to-point transit model rather than a spoke-hub distribution paradigm model, where the passengers have to change aircraft in transit at a major airport. In April 2017, Ryanair added connecting flights to its portfolio, starting with a new transfer hub in Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO).

Ryanair


Ryanair has a significant presence in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom as well as many other European countries. Its biggest country market is Italy, with fourteen bases and nine non-base airports. Ryanair also serves sun and beach destinations with bases in Sicily, the Canary Islands, Cyprus, the Greek Islands, and Malta among others.

Ryanair


In August 2010, Ryanair announced its first-ever Bulgarian destination connecting Plovdiv with London Stansted.

Ryanair


In late 2010, Ryanair began withdrawing all routes from its smallest base, Belfast City, and Shannon due to increased airport fees.

Ryanair


In the summer of 2014, the airline opened bases in Athens, Lisbon, Brussels, and Rome.

Ryanair


Ryanair began service to/from Milan Malpensa Airport in December 2015, initially with one aircraft.

Ryanair


In November 2015, Ryanair launched flights to Israel.

Ryanair


In December 2014, Ryanair announced plans to open its a base in 2015 in the Azores.

Ryanair


In June 2016, Ryanair withdrew over half of its flights from Rygge Airport in Norway, after which the airport decided to close down totally, as it was privately owned and would make a loss on the low traffic volume.

Ryanair


In February 2018, due to the Scottish Government not abolishing or reducing Air Passenger Duty (APD), Ryanair announced that it would cut many flights out of Glasgow Airport resulting in the airline closing its base there. The only routes out of Glasgow by the end of October were Dublin, Kraków and Wrocław, with the rest being suspended permanently. This resulted in the loss of 300 members of airport staff. In April 2019, the airline reinstated four of its routes to/from Glasgow: Alicante, Brussels, Málaga and Warsaw.

Ryanair


In December 2020, Ryanair announced a new base at Venice Treviso.

Ryanair


In March 2021, Ryanair announced a new base in Zadar. It also announced a new base in Zagreb.

Ryanair


In April 2021, Ryanair announced a new base in Riga.

Ryanair


In October 2021, Ryanair announced a new base in Venice Marco Polo Airport.

Ryanair


In autumn 2021, Ryanair began flights to/from Stockholm Arlanda.

Ryanair


In January 2022, Ryanair announced that it would close its base at Frankfurt Airport in a row over fees, with the loss of 17 routes.

Ryanair


In January 2025, Ryanair announced five new routes to/from Abruzzo Airport: Wrocław, Cagliari, Valencia and Kaunas beginning June 2025.

Ryanair


In June 2025, Ryanair launched additional routes to/from Bournemouth.

Ryanair


In September 2025, Ryanair announced new routes to/from Trapani.

Ryanair


In November 2025, Ryanair lost two landing slots at Eindhoven airport due to repeatedly late flights.

Ryanair


In January 2026, after the German government reduced airport fees, the company reinstated many routes in Germany. Also in January 2026, Ryanair announced a 10% reduction in flights to/from Charleroi due to the implementation of a €3 per ticket passenger tax.

Ryanair


In 2026, Ryanair added new routes to/from Tirana.

Ryanair


As of February 2026, Ryanair and its subsidiaries operates the following aircraft:

Ryanair


Ryanair has operated the following types of aircraft in the past:

Ryanair


On 21 March 2008, Ryanair Flight 1216 while landing in Limoges skidded off the runway. The weather at the time was poor. Emergency slides were deployed and an emergency evacuation announced.

Ryanair


On 10 November 2008, Ryanair Flight 4102 from Frankfurt–Hahn Airport suffered damage in an emergency landing at Rome–Ciampino Airport after experiencing bird strikes which damaged both engines on the approach. Two crew members and eight passengers were taken to hospital with minor injuries. The port undercarriage of the Boeing 737-800 collapsed, leaving the aircraft stranded on the runway and closing the airport for over 35 hours. As well as damage to the engines and undercarriage, the rear fuselage was damaged. The aircraft involved was damaged beyond repair and was scrapped. The final report of the accident, investigated by ANSV (National Flight Safety Agency) was released on 20 December 2018, more than 10 years later. An English translation was provided by Aviation Accident Database.

Ryanair


On 23 May 2021, Ryanair Flight 4978 (Athens–Vilnius) was diverted to Minsk National Airport after a false bomb threat was made while the aircraft was 45 nautical miles (83 km; 52 mi) south of Vilnius and 90 nautical miles (170 km; 100 mi) west of Minsk, but still in Belarusian airspace. According to the airline, its pilots were notified by Belarusian authorities of "a potential security threat on board" and told to land the plane in Minsk. In Minsk, Belarusian journalist and opposition activist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend were deplaned and arrested. Although the plane was closer to Vilnius, Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, according to his press service, personally ordered the flight to be redirected to Minsk and sent Belarusian Air Force MiG-29 fighter aircraft to escort it. Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called for an ICAO investigation of the incident.

Ryanair


On 3 October 2024, a Ryanair plane (Flight 8826 Brindisi-Turin) caught fire while taxiing for take-off, leading to the passengers being evacuated and Brindisi airport being closed for three hours. Italian lawmakers, who cited multiple incidents involving Ryanair in 2024, demanded an investigation into the company's safety practices by the Italian Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC) and a parliamentary hearing with the authority's leaders. A similar request was made to the EU Commission by Italian MEPs, who requested an answer as to what action the EU Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) will take.

Ryanair


On 26 July 2012, three Ryanair aircraft inbound to Madrid–Barajas Airport diverted to Valencia Airport due to severe thunderstorms in the Madrid area. All three aircraft declared an emergency (Mayday) when the calculated usable fuel on landing at Valencia Airport was less than the final reserve (30 minutes of flight) after having been held in the air for 50 to 69 minutes. The Irish Aviation Authority investigated the incidents and came to several conclusions, including "The aircraft in all three cases departed for Madrid with fuel over Flight Plan requirements"; "The Crew diverted to Valencia with fuel more than the minimum diversion fuel depicted on the Flight Plan"; "Diverting with fuel close to minimum diversion fuel in the circumstances presented on the evening in question was likely to present challenges for the crew. Initial holding was to the Southwest of Madrid which increased the diversion time to the alternate"; "The Crew declared an Emergency by EU-OPS when the calculated usable fuel for landing at Valencia was less than final reserve"; "The Met conditions in Madrid were more significant than anticipated by the Crew when reviewing the Met Forecast. Consequently, the additional fuel carried was influenced by the forecast"; "Operations into a busy airport such as Madrid in Thunderstorm conditions with the associated traffic levels can add significant delays to all traffic"; and "Air Traffic Control in Valencia was under significant pressure with the number of diversions arriving in their airspace." The Irish Aviation Authority made several recommendations, including that Ryanair should "review [its] fuel policy and consider issuing guidance to Crew concerning fuel when operating into busy airports with mixed aircraft operators and types, particularly in poor weather conditions when diversions are likely." The IAA also recommended that the Spanish Aviation Safety and Security Agency "review delays into Madrid to consider if additional fuel should be recommended or required to be carried in normal operations, particularly where the southerly Runways are in operation." Among the causes of the incident, the Civil Aviation Accident and Incident Investigation Commission concluded that "the company's fuel savings policy, though it complies with the minimum legal requirements, tends to minimise the amount of fuel with which its aircraft operate and leaves none for contingencies below the legal minimums. This contributed to the amount of fuel used being improperly planned and to the amount of fuel onboard dropping below the required final fuel reserve." In an interview with the Dutch investigative journalism programme KRO Reporter, four anonymous Ryanair pilots claimed they were being pressured to carry as little fuel as possible on board to cut costs. Ryanair and its CEO Michael O'Leary denied the allegations and sued KRO. In April 2014, the Dutch Court found that KRO had provided sufficient evidence in two television episodes of Mayday, Mayday broadcast in 2012 and 2013 to back the claims in respect of Ryanair's fuel policy and "fear culture". It also found that Ryanair had been given a right to reply in response to the claims. The broadcast of the programmes was found to be in the public interest. Ryanair was ordered to pay the legal costs of the case. The incident was the subject of a documentary on Apple TV.

Ryanair


List of companies of Ireland

Ryanair


List of low-cost airlines

Ryanair


Calder, Simon (2002). No Frills: The Truth Behind the Low-Cost Revolution in the Skies. London: Virgin Books. ISBN 1-85227-932-X.

Ryanair


Clark, Andrew (8 May 2006). "Ryanair ... the low-fare airline with the sky-high insurance levy". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 29 May 2006.

Ryanair


Creaton, Siobhán (2004). Ryanair: How a Small Irish Airline Conquered Europe. London: Aurum Press. ISBN 1-85410-992-8.

Ryanair


— (2007). Ryanair: The full story of the controversial low-cost airline. London: Aurum. ISBN 978-1-84513-293-4.

Ryanair


Ruddock, Alan (2007). Michael O'Leary – A Life in Full Flight. Dublin: Penguin Ireland. ISBN 978-1-84488-055-3.

Ryanair


Field, James (22 May 2018). "Ryanair's Unstoppable Growth: Profits, Planes, Routes". Airways magazine. Archived from the original on 7 July 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2018.

Ryanair


L.M., Skinner; Cranitch, T. Ireland and world aviation. Dublin: Director Publications (Ireland) Ltd.

Ryanair


Solid State Recital is the fifth studio album from Puressence. It was also their last album as they split two years after its release and associated tour. The album features Judy Collins on two tracks after she became friendly with the band when James Mudriczki covered her song Che for a tribute album to her.

Solid State Recital


"Swathes of Sea Made Stone"

Solid State Recital


"When Your Eyes Close"

Solid State Recital


"Cape of No Hope (Water's Edge)"

Solid State Recital


"Raise Me to the Ground"

Solid State Recital


"Our Number's Oracle"

Solid State Recital


James Mudriczki – vocals

Solid State Recital


Lowell Killen – guitar

Solid State Recital


Kevin Matthews – bass

Solid State Recital


Anthony Szuminski – drums

Solid State Recital


Judy Collins – vocals on tracks 1 & 3

Solid State Recital


The Westray Wife (also known as the Orkney Venus) is a small Neolithic figurine, 4 centimetres (1.6 in) in height, carved from sandstone.  It was discovered during an Historic Scotland dig at the Links of Noltland, on Westray, Orkney, Scotland, in the summer of 2009. It was the first Neolithic carving of a human form to have been found in Scotland, and to date it is the earliest depiction of a face found in the United Kingdom.

Westray Wife


A second figurine of about the same size and shape as the Westray Wife, but made from clay, and missing its head, was discovered by archaeologists at the same Links of Noltland site during the summer of 2010. This figurine, 3.4 centimetres (1.3 in) in height, has a rectangular panel decorated with triangles on the front of its torso, which may represent a tunic, and a punched hole in the centre of its stomach. A number of small clay balls have also been discovered at the site, and it is possible that these were intended for use as heads for similar figurines. A third figurine was discovered in 2012.

Westray Wife


It has been noted that the original figure's eyes bear a resemblance to "eyebrow motif" carvings found in a chambered cairn on the Holm of Papa. Archaeologist Richard  Strachan has said:

Westray Wife


Initial comparisons do show a similarity in use of this eyebrow motif and may point to the possibility that the markings in the cairn are meant to show human eyebrows and eyes, as the style is very similar to the figurine. Alternatively, we may be seeing the re-use of a motif familiar  to the carver and applied to different contexts with different meaning.

Westray Wife


Despite the figurine's name, it is not certain that the Westray Wife does represent a female form, as the marks initially interpreted as breasts may in fact represent clothing fasteners and clothing fabric. The figurine was on display in the Westray Heritage Centre in Pierowall for the summer of 2010, and an enterprising local baker created "Westray Wifie" shortbread replicas for sale. In 2010, some local businesses reported a 45% increase in turnover since the discovery of the figurine.

Westray Wife


List of Stone Age art

Westray Wife


Turan Amirsoleimani (Persian: توران امیرسلیمانی), born Qamar ol-Molouk Amirsoleimani (قمرالملوک امیرسلیمانی; 4 February 1905 – 24 July 1994), was an Iranian aristocrat and the third wife of Reza Shah, with whom she had a son named Gholam Reza Pahlavi.

Turan Amirsoleimani


Turan was born Qamar ol-Molouk Amirsoleimani in 1905. Her father, Qajar Prince Isa Khan Majd es-Saltaneh Amirsoleimani, was a son of Prince Majd ed-Dowleh, one of the most important politicians during the Qajar era and a first cousin of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar. Her mother, Shams ol-Molouk Monazzah od-Dowleh, was also a member of the Qajar dynasty.

Turan Amirsoleimani


Turan Amirsoleimani completed her education at Namous High School in Tehran, an institution founded in 1908 to advance women's education in Iran, where she earned her diploma at a time when female education was still met with considerable societal resistance.

Turan Amirsoleimani


In 1922, she married Reza Khan who was, at the time, minister of war. Reza Khan, though not of noble lineage, sought to strengthen his political position by marrying into a prominent Qajar family. The following year she gave birth to her only son, Gholam Reza Pahlavi. The couple divorced shortly afterwards as Reza Khan considered her arrogant.

Turan Amirsoleimani


After the divorce, Amirsoleimani refrained from remarrying and lived with her son Gholam Reza in a royal residence. In 1945, a year after Reza Shah's death, she married Zabihollah Malekpour, a renowned merchant. Tadj ol-Molouk, Reza Shah's widow and the Queen Mother, used this marriage as an excuse to force Amirsoleimani out of the residence given to her by her former husband.

Turan Amirsoleimani


Later life and death

Turan Amirsoleimani


Following the Iranian Revolution in 1979, Amirsoleimani left Iran and moved to Germany, where she stayed at her cousin Soltan-Mahmoud Amirsoleimani's home for extended periods, before being moved to a retirement home in Paris in her later years. She died there on 24 July 1994 and was buried at the cimetière parisien de Thiais. Her son was buried next to her after his death in 2017.

Turan Amirsoleimani


Amirsoleimani's house in Iran was located on the southwest side of the intersection of Pesyan and Ismaili in the Zafaraniyeh neighbourhood of Tehran. This property was partially destroyed by the Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation on 19 July 2016 before being sold to a private owner and demolished completely.

Turan Amirsoleimani


Media related to Turan Amirsoleimani at Wikimedia Commons

Turan Amirsoleimani


Pomham Rocks Light (also known as "Pomham Lighthouse") is a historic lighthouse in the Providence River about 200 yards (180 m) off the shoreline of the Riverside neighborhood of the city of East Providence, Rhode Island. It is the northernmost lighthouse in Narragansett Bay.

Pomham Rocks Light


The light was established in 1871. The light was one of a group of New England lighthouses built to the same plan after an award-winning design by Vermont architect Albert Dow. Nearly identical lights were constructed at Sabin Point, Rose Island, Esopus Meadows Light and Colchester Reef.

Pomham Rocks Light


The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1974, and its antique fourth-order fresnel lens donated to the Custom House Maritime Museum in Massachusetts. The lighthouse was sold to a private family in 1974. In 1980 it was acquired by ExxonMobil, which operates a fuel terminal nearby. In 2010, ExxonMobil donated the building and island to the American Lighthouse Foundation, the parent organization of the Friends of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse.

Pomham Rocks Light


Friends of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse

Pomham Rocks Light


The Friends of Pomham Rocks Lighthouse was formed in 2004. In 2006, the group restored the exterior and installed a new LED navigational light.

Pomham Rocks Light


When the group acquired ownership of the lighthouse from ExxonMobil in 2010, the floor was completely rotted and the tower was leaning 7 degrees off center. The stairs were crooked, and the tower would sway in the wind. The Friends raised over $1.5 million to restore the building. The group installed a new floor, restored electricity to the island, and acquired a dedicated boat, among other repairs.

Pomham Rocks Light


In 2021, the original 2.5-foot tall fourth-order fresnel lens was restored and returned to the lighthouse, in time to mark the light's 150th anniversary. The lens is displayed inside the lighthouse building for visitors.

Pomham Rocks Light


C.H. Salisbury (1871 – 1893)

Pomham Rocks Light


Mary A. Salisbury (1893)

Pomham Rocks Light


Nathaniel Dodge (1893 – 1898)

Pomham Rocks Light


Thomas S. Fishburne (1898 – 1908)

Pomham Rocks Light


Adolf H. Aronson (1908 – 1937)

Pomham Rocks Light


William James Howard (1937 – 1951)

Pomham Rocks Light


Howard B. Beebe (1951 – 1956)

Pomham Rocks Light


Dennis Tardiff (1971 – 1974)

Pomham Rocks Light


National Register of Historic Places listings in Providence County, Rhode Island

Pomham Rocks Light


Dana Gartzke is an American political advisor and government official serving as the acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development. Gartzke succeeded John Fleming, who left the Department of Commerce to take a role in the White House Office.

Dana Gartzke


Gartzke earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from the University of South Florida and a Master of Business Administration from the Florida Institute of Technology. He also earned a certificate in negotiation from Harvard Law School.

Dana Gartzke


Gartzke began his career at an engineering firm. In 1994, he served as the campaign manager for Dave Weldon's first run for the United States House of Representatives.

Dana Gartzke


From 1995 to 2017, Gartzke worked in the United States House of Representatives as a chief of staff to Dave Weldon, Bill Posey, and John Fleming. After Fleming was selected to serve as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development in the first Trump administration, Gartzke was selected to serve as chief of staff of the Economic Development Administration. In March 2020, Gartzke was selected to serve as acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development.

Dana Gartzke


A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. More than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging geographically from Sweden in the north to the Mediterranean Sea in the south.

Megalith


The word was first used in 1849 by the British antiquarian Algernon Herbert in reference to Stonehenge and derives from Ancient Greek μέγας (mégas), meaning "great", and λίθος (líthos), meaning "stone". Most extant megaliths were erected between the Neolithic period (although earlier Mesolithic examples are known) through the Chalcolithic period and into the Bronze Age.

Megalith


Types and definitions

Megalith


While "megalith" is often used to describe a single piece of stone, it also can be used to denote one or more rocks hewn in definite shapes for special purposes. It has been used to describe structures built by people from many parts of the world living in many different periods. The most widely known megaliths are not tombs.

Megalith


Menhir is the name used in Western Europe for a single upright stone erected in prehistoric times; sometimes called a "standing stone".

Megalith


A monolith is any single standing stone erected in prehistoric times.

Megalith


Single megaliths placed horizontally, often over burial chambers, without the use of support stones.

Megalith


Multiple megaliths placed in relation to each other with intention. Often placed in rows or spirals. Some alignments, such as the Carnac Stones in Brittany, France, consist of thousands of stones.

Megalith


Also called Cyclopean walls

Megalith


In most languages stone circles are called "cromlechs" (a word in the Welsh language); the word "cromlech" is sometimes used with that meaning in English.

Megalith


A dolmen is a stone table, consisting of a wide stone supported by several other stones

Megalith


A cist is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. Burials are megalithic forms very similar to dolmens in structure. These types of burials were completely underground.

Megalith


c. 9000 BC: Constructions in Asia Minor, Turkey (Göbekli Tepe, Nevalı Çori and other sites); perhaps proto-Hattian, a yet to be named culture (the oldest discovered ceremonial structures in the world).

Megalith


c. 7400 BC: A 12 m long monolith probably weighing around 15,000 kg found submerged 40 m under water in the Strait of Sicily south-west of Sicily. Its origin and purpose are unknown.

Megalith


c. 7000 BC: Construction in proto-Canaanite Israel (Atlit Yam).

Megalith


c. 6000 BC: Constructions in Portugal (Almendres Cromlech, Évora) – Possibly first standing stones in Portugal.

Megalith


c. 5000 BC: Emergence of the Atlantic Neolithic period, the age of agriculture along the western shores of Europe during the sixth millennium BC pottery culture of La Almagra, Spain nearby, perhaps precedent from Africa.

Megalith


c. 4800 BC: Constructions in Brittany, France (Barnenez) and Poitou (Bougon).

Megalith


c. 4500 BC: Constructions in south Egypt (Nabta Playa).

Megalith


c. 4300 BC: Constructions in south Spain (Dolmen de Alberite, Cádiz).

Megalith


c. 4300 BC: Kuyavian Pyramids, known as Polish Pyramids, enormous tombs, megalithic structures in Kuyavia, Poland

Megalith


c. 4000 BC: Constructions in Brittany (Carnac), Portugal (Great Dolmen of Zambujeiro, Évora), France (central and southern), Corsica, Spain (Galicia), England and Wales, Constructions in Andalusia, Spain (Villa Martín, Cádiz), Construction in proto-Canaanite Israel c. 4000~3000 BC: Constructions in the rest of the proto-Canaanite Levant, e.g. Rujm el-Hiri and dolmens.

Megalith


c. 3700 BC: Constructions in Ireland (Knockiveagh and elsewhere).

Megalith


c. 3600 BC: Constructions in Malta (Skorba temples).

Megalith


c. 3600 BC: Constructions in England (Maumbury Rings and Godmanchester), and Malta (Ġgantija and Mnajdra temples).

Megalith


c. 3500 BC: Constructions in Spain (Málaga and Guadiana), Ireland (south-west), France (Arles and the north), Malta (and elsewhere in the Mediterranean), Belgium (north-east), and Germany (central and south-west).

Megalith


c. 3400 BC: Constructions in Sardinia (circular graves), Ireland (Newgrange), Netherlands (north-east), Germany (northern and central) Sweden and Denmark.

Megalith


c. 3300 BC: Constructions in France (Carnac stones)

Megalith


c. 3200 BC: Constructions in Malta (Ħaġar Qim and Tarxien).

Megalith


c. 3100 BC: Constructions in Russia (Dolmens of North Caucasus)

Megalith


c. 3000 BC: Constructions in Sardinia (earliest construction phase of the prehistoric altar of Monte d'Accoddi), France (Saumur, Dordogne, Languedoc, Biscay, and the Mediterranean coast), Spain (Los Millares), Sicily, Belgium (Ardennes), and Orkney, as well as the first henges (circular earthworks) in Britain.

Megalith


c. 2500 BC: Constructions in Brittany (Le Menec, Kermario and elsewhere), Italy (Otranto), Sardinia, and Scotland (northeast), plus the climax of the megalithic Bell-beaker culture in Iberia, Germany, and the British Isles (stone circle at Stonehenge). With the bell-beakers, the Neolithic period gave way to the Chalcolithic, the age of copper.

Megalith


c. 2500 BC: Tombs at Algarve, Portugal. Additionally, a problematic dating (by optically stimulated luminescence) of Quinta da Queimada Menhir in western Algarve indicates "a very early period of megalithic activity in the Algarve, older than in the rest of Europe and [similar to] the famous Anatolian site of Göbekli Tepe"

Megalith


c. 2400 BC: The Bell-beaker culture was dominant in Britain, and hundreds of smaller stone circles were built in the British Isles at this time.

Megalith


c. 2100 BC:The highest plateau Lampung, West Lampung Regency, Batu Brak Liwa, Indonesia Megalith Site.

Megalith


c. 2000 BC: Constructions in Brittany (Er Grah), Italy : (Bari); Sicily (Cava dei Servi, Cava Lazzaro);, and Scotland (Callanish). The Chalcolithic period gave way to the Bronze Age in western and northern Europe.

Megalith


c. 1800 BC: Constructions in Italy (Giovinazzo, in Sardinia started the Nuragic civilisation).

Megalith


c. 1500 BC: Constructions in Portugal (Alter Pedroso and Mourela).

Megalith


c. 1400 BC: Burial of the Egtved Girl in Denmark, whose body is today one of the best-preserved examples of its kind.

Megalith


c. 1200 BC: Last vestiges of the megalithic tradition in the Mediterranean and elsewhere following the Bronze Age Collapse. Megalithic construction persisted in Egypt into the Iron Age.

Megalith


Geographic distribution of megaliths

Megalith


The most common type of megalithic construction in Europe is the portal tomb—a chamber consisting of upright stones (orthostats) with one or more large flat capstones forming a roof. Many portal tombs have been found to contain human remains, but it is debated if their primary function was use as burial sites. The megalithic structures in the northwest of France are believed to be the oldest in Europe based on radiocarbon dating. Though generally known as "dolmens", the term most accepted by archaeologists is "portal tomb". Local names for portal tombs exist in multiple locations, such as anta in Galicia and Portugal, stazzone in Sardinia, hunebed in the Netherlands, Hünengrab in Germany, dysse in Denmark, and cromlech in Wales. It is assumed that most portal tombs were originally covered by earthen mounds.The second-most-common tomb type is the passage grave. It normally consists of a square, circular, or cruciform chamber with a slabbed or corbelled roof, accessed by a long, straight passageway, with the whole structure covered by a circular mound of earth. Sometimes it is also surrounded by an external stone kerb. Prominent examples include the sites of Brú na Bóinne and Carrowmore in Ireland, Maes Howe in Orkney, and Gavrinis in France.

Megalith


The third tomb type is a diverse group known as gallery graves. These are axially arranged chambers placed under elongated mounds. The Irish court tombs, British long barrows, and German Steinkisten belong to this group.

Megalith


Standing stones, or menhirs as they are known in France, are very common throughout Europe, where some 50,000 examples have been noted. Some of these are thought to have an astronomical function as a marker or foresight. In some areas, long and complex "alignments" of such stones exist, the largest known example being located at Carnac in Brittany, France.

Megalith


In parts of Britain and Ireland a relatively common type of megalithic construction is the stone circle, of which examples include Stonehenge, Avebury, Ring of Brodgar and Beltany. These, too, display evidence of astronomical alignments, both solar and lunar. Stonehenge, for example, is famous for its solstice alignment. Examples of stone circles are also found in the rest of Europe. The circle at Lough Gur, near Limerick in Ireland has been dated to the Beaker period, approximately contemporaneous with Stonehenge. The stone circles are assumed to be of later date than the tombs, straddling the Neolithic and the Bronze Ages.

Megalith


Megalithic tombs are aboveground burial chambers, built of large stone slabs (megaliths) laid on edge and covered with earth or other, smaller stones. They are a type of chamber tomb, and the term is used to describe the structures built across Atlantic Europe, the Mediterranean, and neighbouring regions, mostly during the Neolithic period, by Neolithic farming communities. They differ from the contemporary long barrows through their structural use of stone.

Megalith


There is a huge variety of megalithic tombs. The free-standing single chamber dolmens and portal dolmens found in Brittany, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Sweden, Wales, and elsewhere consist of a large flat stone supported by three, four, or more standing stones. They were covered by a stone cairn or earth barrow.

Megalith


In Italy, dolmens can be found especially in Sardinia. There are more than 100 dolmen dating to the Neolithic (3500–2700 BC) and the most famous is called Dolmen di Sa Coveccada (near Mores). During the Bronze Age, the Nuragic civilization built c. 800 Giants' grave, a type of megalithic gallery grave that can be found throughout Sardinia with different structures. The earliest megalithic tombs in Sardinia are the circular graves of the so-called Arzachena culture, also found in Corsica, southern France and eastern Spain.

Megalith


Dolmens are also in Apulia and in Sicily. In this latter region, they are small structures located in Mura Pregne (Palermo), Sciacca (Agrigento), Monte Bubbonia (Caltanissetta), Butera (Caltanissetta), Cava Lazzaro (Siracusa), Cava dei Servi (Ragusa), Avola (Siracusa), and Argimusco in Montalbano Elicona (Messina). Dating to the Early Bronze Age (2200–1800 BC), the prehistoric Sicilian buildings were covered by a circular mound of earth. In the dolmen of Cava dei Servi, archaeologists found numerous human bone fragments and some splinters of Castelluccian ceramics (Early Bronze Age) which confirmed the burial purpose of the artefact.

Megalith


Examples with outer areas, not used for burial, are also known.  The Court Cairns of southwest Scotland and northern Ireland, the Severn-Cotswold tombs of southwest England and the transepted gallery graves of the Loire region in France share many internal features, although the links between them are not yet fully understood. That they often have antechambers or forecourts is thought to imply a desire on the part of the builders to emphasize a special ritual or physical separation of the dead from the living.

Megalith


Megalithic tombs appear to have been used by communities for the long-term deposition of the remains of their dead, and some seem to have undergone alteration and enlargement. The organization and effort required to erect these large stones suggest that the societies concerned placed great emphasis on the proper treatment of their dead. The ritual significance of the tombs is supported by the presence of pre-historic art carved into the stones at some sites. Hearths and deposits of pottery and animal bone found by archaeologists around some tombs also implies that some form of burial feast or sacrificial rites took place there.

Megalith


Further examples of megalithic tombs include the stalled cairn at Midhowe in Orkney and the passage grave at Bryn Celli Ddu on Anglesey. There are also extensive grave sites with up to 60 megaliths at Louisenlund and Gryet on the Danish island of Bornholm.

Megalith


Despite its name, the Stone Tomb in Ukraine was not a tomb but rather a sanctuary.

Megalith


In association with the megalithic constructions across Europe, there are often large earthworks of various designs—ditches and banks (like the Dorset Cursus), broad terraces, circular enclosures known as henges, and frequently artificial mounds such as Silbury Hill in England and Monte d'Accoddi in Sardinia (the prehistoric step pyramid).

Megalith


Spread of megalithic architecture in Europe

Megalith


In Europe megaliths are, in general, constructions erected during the Neolithic or late Stone Age and Chalcolithic or Copper Age (4500–1500 BC). The megalithic temples of Malta are believed to be the oldest in Europe. Perhaps the most famous megalithic structure is Stonehenge in England.

Megalith


In Sardinia, in addition to dolmens, menhirs and circular graves there are also more than 8000 megalithic structures made by a Nuragic civilisation, called Nuraghe: buildings similar to towers (sometimes with really complex structures) made using only rocks. They are often near giant's grave or the other megalithic monuments.

Megalith


The French Comte de Caylus was the first to describe the Carnac stones. Pierre Jean-Baptiste Legrand d'Aussy introduced the terms menhir and dolmen, both taken from the Breton language, into antiquarian terminology. He mistakenly interpreted megaliths as Gallic tombs. In Britain, the antiquarians Aubrey and Stukeley conducted early research into megaliths. In 1805, Jacques Cambry published a book called Monuments celtiques, ou recherches sur le culte des Pierres, précédées d'une notice sur les Celtes et sur les Druides, et suivies d'Etymologie celtiques, where he proposed a Celtic stone cult. This unproven connection between druids and megaliths has haunted the public imagination ever since. In Belgium, there are the Wéris megaliths at Wéris, a little town situated in the Ardennes. In the Netherlands, megalithic structures can be found in the northeast of the country, mostly in the province of Drenthe. Knowth is a passage grave of the Brú na Bóinne neolithic complex in Ireland, dating from c. 3500–3000 BC. It contains more than a third of the total number of examples of megalithic art in all Europe, with over 200 decorated stones found during excavations.

Megalith


Nabta Playa at the southwest corner of the western Egyptian desert was once a large lake in the Nubian Desert, located 500 miles south of modern-day Cairo.  By the 5th millennium BC, the peoples in Nabta Playa had fashioned an astronomical device that accurately marks the summer solstice. Findings indicate that the region was occupied only seasonally, likely only in the summer when the local lake filled with water for grazing cattle. There are other megalithic stone circles in the southwestern desert.

Megalith


At Nabta Playa, located in Egypt and broader region of the Eastern Sahara, there is a megalithic cultural complex (e.g., sacrificed cow burial site, solar calendar, altar) that dates between 4000 BCE and 2000 BCE.

Megalith


Likely part of Copper Age and Bronze Age cultural traditions of megalith-building, megaliths (e.g., dolmens) were constructed in Mediterranean North Africa.

Megalith


Archaeologist, Fekri Hassan, (2002) indicated that the megalithic monuments in the Saharan region of Niger and the Eastern Sahara which developed, as early as 4700 BCE, may have served as antecedents for the mastabas and pyramids of ancient Egypt.

Megalith


In Cross-River State, Nigeria, there are megalithic monoliths of an anthropomorphic nature.

Megalith


At Tondidarou, in the Malian Lakes Region, there are megaliths of an anthropomorphic nature (e.g., face, navel, scarifications) that date between 600 CE and 700 CE.

Megalith


Between 1350 BCE and 1500/1600 CE, Senegambian megaliths (e.g., tumuli) were constructed for the purpose of ancestral reverence.

Megalith


In the northwestern region of the Central African Republic, there are megaliths that were created for various purposes (e.g., burial, ritual performances).

Megalith


Between late 3rd millennium BCE and mid-2nd millennium CE, megaliths (e.g., monuments, cairn burials) were constructed in the regions (e.g., Eastern Adamawa, Oubanguian Ridge, Chad/Congo watershed) in Central African Republic and Cameroon, throughout various periods (e.g., Balimbé: 2000 BCE – 1000 BCE; Early Gbabiri: 950 BCE – 200 BCE; Late Gbabiri: 200 BCE – 500 CE; Bouboun: 500 CE – 1600 CE), for various purposes (e.g., ritual practices, territorial marking).

Megalith


In the Ethiopian Highlands of Harar in Chercher, the earliest construction of megaliths occurred.  From this region and its megalith-building tradition (e.g., dolmens, tumuli with burial chambers organized in cemeteries), the subsequent traditions in other areas of Ethiopia likely developed.  In the late 1st millennium BCE, the urban civilization of Axum developed a megalithic stelae-building tradition, which commemorated Axumite royalty and elites, that persisted until the Christian period of Axum. In the Sidamo Province, the megalithic monoliths of the stelae-building cultural tradition were utilized as tombstones in cemeteries (e.g., Arussi, Konso, Sedene, Tiya, Tuto Felo), and have engraved anthropomorphic features (e.g., swords, masks), phallic form, and some of that served as markers of territory.  Sidamo Province has the most megaliths in Ethiopia.

Megalith


In 2nd millennium BCE, Namoratunga (Monolith Circles) megaliths were constructed as burials the eastern Turkana region of northwestern Kenya.

Megalith


Namoratunga, a group of megaliths dated 300 BC, was used by Cushitic-speaking people as an alignment with star systems tuned to a lunar calendar of 354 days. This site was excavated by B. N. Lynch and L. H. Robins of Michigan State University.

Megalith


Additionally, Tiya in central Ethiopia has a number of old megaliths. Some of these ancient structures feature engravings, and the area is a World Heritage Site. Megaliths are also found within the Valley of Marvels in the East Hararghe area.

Megalith


In the mid-2nd millennium CE, the megalithic funerary monuments of Madagascar were constructed amid the emergent period of the Merina Kingdom.  Some of the megaliths remain utilized by Malagasy-speakers for funerary practices (e.g., ceremony of turning the dead) in present-day.

Megalith


Megalithic burials are found in Northeast and Southeast Asia. They are found mainly in the Korean Peninsula. They are also found in the Liaoning, Shandong, and Zhejiang in China, the East Coast of Taiwan, Kyūshū and Shikoku in Japan, Đồng Nai Province in Vietnam and South Asia. Some living megalithic traditions are found on the island of Sumba and Nias in Indonesia. The greatest concentration of megalithic burials is in Korea. Archaeologists estimate that there are 15,000 to 100,000 southern megaliths in the Korean Peninsula. Typical estimates hover around the 30,000 mark for the entire peninsula, which in itself constitutes some 40% of all dolmens worldwide (see Dolmen).

Megalith


Northeast Asian megalithic traditions originated from Gojoseon, which was in modern-day Manchuria and North Korea. This was prominent within the Liao River basin in particular in the early phases. The practice of erecting megalithic burials spread quickly from the Liao River Basin and into the Korean Peninsula, where the structure of megaliths is geographically and chronologically distinct. The earliest megalithic burials are called "northern" or "table-style" because they feature an above-ground burial chamber formed by heavy stone slabs that form a rectangular cist. An oversized capstone is placed over the stone slab burial chamber, giving the appearance of a table-top. These megalithic burials date to the early part of the Mumun pottery period (c. 1500–850 BC) and are distributed, with a few exceptions, north of the Han River. Few northern-style megaliths in North Korea and Manchuria contain grave goods such as Liaoning bronze daggers, prompting some archaeologists to interpret the burials as the graves of chiefs or preeminent individuals. However, whether a result of grave-robbery or intentional mortuary behaviour, most northern megaliths contain no grave goods.

Megalith


Southern-style megalithic burials are distributed in the southern Korean Peninsula. It is thought that most of them date to the latter part of the Early Mumun or to the Middle Mumun Period. Southern-style megaliths are typically smaller in scale than northern megaliths. The interment area of southern megaliths has an underground burial chamber made of earth or lined with thin stone slabs. A massive capstone is placed over the interment area and is supported by smaller propping stones. Most of the megalithic burials on the Korean Peninsula are of the southern type.

Megalith


As with northern megaliths, southern examples contain few, if any, artifacts. However, a small number of megalithic burials contain fine red-burnished pottery, bronze daggers, polished groundstone daggers, and greenstone ornaments. Southern megalithic burials are often found in groups, spread out in lines that are parallel with the direction of streams. Megalithic cemeteries contain burials that are linked together by low stone platforms made from large river cobbles. Broken red-burnished pottery and charred wood found on these platforms has led archaeologists to hypothesize that these platform were sometimes used for ceremonies and rituals. The capstones of many southern megaliths have 'cup-marks' carvings. A small number of capstones have human and dagger representations.

Megalith


These megaliths are distinguished from other types by the presence of a burial shaft, sometimes up to 4 m in depth, which is lined with large cobbles. A large capstone is placed over the burial shaft without propping stones. Capstone-style megaliths are the most monumental type in the Korean Peninsula, and they are primarily distributed near or on the south coast of Korea. It seems that most of these burials date to the latter part of the Middle Mumun (c. 700–550 BC), and they may have been built into the early part of the Late Mumun. An example is found near modern Changwon at Deokcheon-ni, where a small cemetery contained a capstone burial (No. 1) with a massive, rectangularly shaped, stone and earthen platform. Archaeologists were not able to recover the entire feature, but the low platform was at least 56×18 m in size.

Megalith


Living megalith culture of Indonesia

Megalith


The Indonesian archipelago is the host of Austronesian and Melanesians megalith cultures both past and present. Living megalith cultures can be found on Nias, an isolated island off the western coast of North Sumatra, the Batak people in the interior of North Sumatra, on Flores and Sumba island in East Nusa Tenggara and also Toraja people from the interior of South Sulawesi. These megalith cultures remained preserved, isolated and undisturbed well into the late 19th century.

Megalith


Several megalith sites and structures are also found across Indonesia. Menhirs, dolmens, stone tables, and ancestral stone statues were discovered in various sites in Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi, Lesser Sunda Islands, and New Guinea.

Megalith


The Cipari megalith site also in West Java displays monoliths, stone terraces, and sarcophagi.

Megalith


Lore Lindu National Park in Central Sulawesi houses ancient megalith relics such as ancestral stone statues, mostly located in the Bada, Besoa and Napu valleys.

Megalith


Megaliths in South Asia are dated before 3000 BC, with recent findings dated back to 5000 BC in southern India. Megaliths are found in almost all parts of South Asia. There is also a broad time evolution with the megaliths in central India and the upper Indus valley where the oldest megaliths are found, while those in the east also old shows evidence of continued traditions of living megalithic practices until recently. A large fraction of these are assumed to be associated with burial or post burial rituals, including memorials for those whose remains may or may not be available. The case-example is that of Brahmagiri, which was excavated by Wheeler (1975) and helped establish the culture sequence in south Indian prehistory. However, there is another distinct class of megaliths that do not seem to be associated with burials.

Megalith


In South Asia, megaliths of all kinds are noted; these vary from menhirs, rock-cut burial, chamber tomb, dolmens, stone alignment, stone circles and anthropomorphic statue figures. These are broadly classified into two (potentially overlapping) classes (after Moorti, 1994, 2008): Sepulchral (containing remains of the dead), or memorial stones where mortal remains along with funerary objects are placed; and Non-sepulchral including large patterned placement of stones over a wide area. The 'non-sepulchral' type is associated with astronomy and cosmology in South Asia and in other parts of the world (Menon and Vahia, 2010).

Megalith


In the context of prehistoric anthropomorphic figures in India, (Rao 1988/1999, Upinder Singh 2008) note that it is unclear what these giant anthropomorph statues symbolize. They usually occur in association with megalithic monuments and are located in megalithic burial grounds, and may have been connected with ancestor worship.

Megalith


At a number of sites in southeastern Turkey, ceremonial complexes with large T-shaped megalithic orthostats, dating from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN, c. 9600–7000 cal BC), have been discovered.

Megalith


At the most famous of these sites, Göbekli Tepe, parts of the oldest level (III) have been C14-dated as far back as to the mid-10th millennium BC (cal). On this level, 20 great stone circles (up to 20 meters in diameter) with standing stones up to 7 meters high have been identified. At least 5 of these circles have so far (as of 2019) been excavated. Many of the standing stones are richly ornamented with carved reliefs of "[b]ears, boars, snakes, foxes, wildcats, aurochs, gazelle, quadruped reptiles, birds, spiders, insects, quadrupeds, scorpions" and other animals; in addition, some of the stones are carved in low profile with stylized human features (arms, hands, loincloths, but no heads).

Megalith


On the younger level (II) rectangular structures with smaller megaliths have been excavated. In the surrounding area, several village sites incorporating elements similar to those of Göbekli Tepe have been identified. Four of these have Göbekli Tepe's characteristic T-shaped standing stones, though only one of them, Nevalı Çori, has so far been excavated. At Göbekli Tepe itself, no traces of habitation have so far been found, nor any trace of agriculture or cultivated plants, though bones of wild animals and traces of wild edible plants, along with many grinding stones, have been unearthed. It is thus assumed that these structures (which have been characterized as the first known ceremonial architecture) were erected by hunter-gatherers.

Megalith


Göbekli Tepe's oldest structures are about 7,000 years older than the Stonehenge megaliths, although it is doubtful that any of the European megalithic traditions (see below) are derived from them.

Megalith


Dolmens and standing stones have been found in large areas in other parts of West Asia starting at the Turkish border in the north of Syria close to Aleppo, southwards down to Yemen. They can be encountered in Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. The largest concentration can be found in southern Syria and along the Jordan Rift Valley; these are threatened with destruction. They date from the late Chalcolithic or Early Bronze Age.  Megaliths have also been found on Kharg Island and Pirazmian in Iran, at Barda Balka in Iraq.

Megalith


A semicircular arrangement of megaliths was found in Israel at Atlit Yam, a site that is now under the sea. It is a very early example, dating from the 7th millennium BC.

Megalith


The most concentrated occurrence of dolmens in particular is in a large area on both sides of the Jordan Rift Valley, with greater predominance on the eastern side. They occur first and foremost on the Golan Heights, the Hauran, and in Jordan, which probably has the largest concentration of dolmen in West Asia. In Saudi Arabia, only very few dolmen have been identified so far in the Hejaz. They seem, however, to re-emerge in Yemen in small numbers, and thus could indicate a continuous tradition related to those of Somalia and Ethiopia.

Megalith


The standing stone has a very ancient tradition in West Asia, dating back from Mesopotamian times. Although not always 'megalithic' in the true sense, they occur throughout the area and can reach 5 metres or more in some cases (such as at Ader in Jordan). This phenomenon can also be traced through many passages from the Old Testament, such as those related to Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, who poured oil over a stone that he erected after his famous dream in which angels climbed to heaven (Genesis 28:10–22). Jacob is also described as putting up stones at other occasions, whereas Moses erected twelve pillars symbolizing the tribes of Israel. The tradition of venerating standing stones continued in Nabatean times.

Megalith


Related phenomena, such as cupholes, rock-cut tombs and circles, also occur in West Asia.

Megalith


Melanesian megaliths

Megalith


Megaliths occur in many parts of Melanesia, mainly in Milne Bay Province, Fiji and Vanuatu. Few excavations have been made and little is known about the structures.

Megalith


The megalith tomb Otuyam at Kiriwina has been dated to be approximately 2,000 years old which indicates that megaliths are an old custom in Melanesia. However very few megaliths have been dated. The constructions have been used for different rituals. For example, tombs, sacrifices and rituals of fecundity. Dance sites exist next to some megaliths. In some places in Melanesia rituals are continued to be held at the sacred megalith sites. The fact that the beliefs are alive is a reason that most excavations have been stopped at the sites.

Megalith


Micronesian megaliths

Megalith


Megalithic structures in Micronesia reach their most developed form on the islands of Pohnpei and Kosrae in the Eastern Caroline Islands. On these two islands there was extensive use of prismatic basalt columns to build upland building complexes such as those at Salapwuk on Pohnpei and Menka on Kosrae.  These building sites, remote from the ocean, appear to have been abandoned early.  Megalithic building then shifted to constructing networks of artificial islands on the coast that supported a multitude of common, royal and religious structures.  Dating of the structures is difficult but the complex at Nan Madol on Pohnpei was probably inhabited as early as c. 800, probably as artificial islands, with the more elaborate buildings and religious structures added to the site from 1000 to 1400 AD.

Megalith


Megaliths were used for a variety of purposes ranging from serving as boundary markers of territory, being reminder of past events, to being part of the society's religion. Common motifs including crooks and axes seem to be symbols of political power, much as the crook was a symbol of Egyptian pharaohs. Amongst the indigenous peoples of India, Malaysia, Polynesia, North Africa, North America, and South America, the worship of these stones, or the use of these stones to symbolize a spirit or deity, is a possibility. In the early 20th century, some scholars believed that all megaliths belonged to one global "Megalithic culture" (hyperdiffusionism, e.g. "the Manchester school", by Grafton Elliot Smith and William James Perry), but this has long been disproved by modern dating methods. Nor is it believed any longer that there was a pan-European megalithic culture, although regional cultures existed, even within such small areas as the British Isles.  The archaeologist Euan Mackie wrote, "Likewise it cannot be doubted that important regional cultures existed in the Neolithic period and can be defined by different kinds of stone circles and local pottery styles (Ruggles & Barclay 2000: figure 1). No-one has ever been rash enough to claim a nationwide unity of all aspects of Neolithic archaeology!".

Megalith


Methods of construction

Megalith


Much scholarship over history has suggested that Stone Age peoples moved the large stones on cylindrical wooden rollers. However, there is some disagreement with this theory, specifically as experiments have indicated that this method is impractical on uneven ground. In some contemporary megalith building cultures, such as in Sumba, Indonesia, great emphasis is placed on the social status of moving heavy stones without the relief of rollers. In the majority of documented contemporary megalithic-building communities, the stones have been placed on timber sledges and dragged without rollers.

Megalith


Types of megalithic structure

Megalith


The types of megalithic structure can be divided into two categories, the "polylithic type" and the "monolithic type". Different megalithic structures include:

Megalith


Contemporary megalith-building cultures

Megalith


The Toraja of Indonesia

Megalith


The megalithic culture of the Toraja people in the mountainous region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia dates back to around 2500–1000 BC.

Megalith


The Marapu of Indonesia

Megalith


In West Sumba, Indonesia, the more than 20,000 followers of the Marapu animist religion construct monolithic tombs by hand.  Originally built with slave labor, the large tombs of nobles are now built by a class of dependents who are paid either in animals or cash (an amount equal to $0.65–0.90 per day). The tombs are planned long in advance, with families sometimes going into extreme debt to finance the construction. In 1971, one leading family sacrificed 350 buffalo over the course of a year in order to feed the 1,000 people necessary to drag the capstone 3 km from the quarry to the tombsite.

Megalith


Quarrying the stones for a tomb can take almost a month and typically involves 20–40 laborours, sometimes subcontracted by a relative. It can be months or years before the stones are actually transported to the gravesite, which is done traditionally by hand, using a wooden sled and rollers with the help of many members of the family's clan. Building the sled itself can take several days, and typically males between the ages of 10–60 are assembled to pull the stone from the quarry to the tombsite. Smaller capstones may be moved by a few hundred members of a clan, but larger ones can involve upwards of 2,000 individuals over many days.

Megalith


Sometimes the stones are draped with woven cloths given as gifts by relatives of the owner. The sidewalls are smaller and usually require fewer participants. The entire process is accompanied by large feasts and ritual singers provided by the owner. Some contemporary practitioners now choose to use large machinery and trucks to move the stones.

Megalith


Once on site, the stones were traditionally assembled and mortared with a mix of water buffalo dung and ash, but are now more commonly cemented together. Typically, the walls are assembled first, and then the capstone is incrementally elevated to the height of the walls by means of a wood scaffolding which is inserted log by log at alternating ends. Once the capstone is at the correct height beside the walls it is slid into place above the tomb. Alternately, some tombs are constructed by dragging the capstone up a fabricated ramp and then assembling the sidewalls below it, before removing the ramp structure to let the capstone rest upon the walls. Often, but not always, the finished structure is decorated by a professional stone carver with symbolic motifs. The carving alone can at times take over a month to complete.

Megalith


References in literature

Megalith


And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.

Megalith


British megalith architecture

Megalith


Irish megalithic tombs

Megalith


List of individual rocks

Megalith


List of megalithic sites

Megalith


Megalithic monuments in Europe

Megalith


Megaliths in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

Megalith


Megaliths in the Urals

Megalith


Nordic megalith architecture

Megalith