Megalithic Marvels - Europe's Lost World: A Journey Inside Her Most Mysterious Megaliths | David O’Connor

Episode Date: April 30, 2026

In this exclusive Megalithic Marvels episode I am joined by researcher, explorer & filmmaker David O'Connor, who takes us on a journey into Europe’s deep antiquity. Step into a forgotten world buried deep in Europe’s past—where massive stone circles, ancient dolmens, and towering standing stones still defy explanation. In this journey through some of the oldest megalithic sites on Earth, we explore who built them, why they were created, and the mysteries that continue to puzzle historians and archaeologists today. From sacred alignments to lost civilizations, this video uncovers the secrets behind Europe’s most enigmatic ancient structures.FOLLOW DAVID HEREJOIN ME ON A TOUR

This episode is brought to you by Activia. You might already be eating yogurt, but not all yogurts are created equal. Activia contains over one billion probiotics per serving to survive and reach the gut alive. When it comes to gut health, Activia is the number one family doctor-recommended probiotic yogurt brand. Choose Activia. Feel good from the inside out. Visitactivia.ca for more details. So in this episode, we are going to go on a journey into the pre-euvre. historic past to the ancient landscapes of Scotland, Portugal, the UK. We're going to explore

megalithic structures that a lot of people don't know exist. And we're going to consider some of their true forgotten purposes and origins with a special guest I have that I'm going to introduce in just a minute. But a quick reminder to please subscribe to my podcast from wherever you are watching or listening. If you are on Spotify, please give me that five-star review really helps me to climb the charts and also consider joining me on a 2026 or 2027 tour I've got tourists to Peru and Bolivia coming up this September we've got a Turkey tour in October Egypt tour in December and we just added a Cambodia tour in January of 2007 we've got some epic deals on these

tours so go to megalithic marbles.com slash tours or click the link in the show notes below to learn more. Well, I am super excited to have this guest with me. He's an explore, researcher, filmmaker of ancient landscapes. Give it up for David O'Connor. David, thanks for joining me. How are you? I'm great, Derek. Thank you so much for having me. We should add Scotland to your tour list next year. Yeah, we need to do that. And I'm not kidding when I say that I've always wanted to go to Scotland. I was in England about two years ago. It had the best time. And so I really want to explore Scotland.

And then, man, you live in Portugal. So all of these sites that you are continually posting about really get me excited. But I'm excited to have you. David is an explorer, again, researcher, filmmaker of ancient landscapes. You can find him on YouTube, on Facebook. His handle is at Repen Nature. R-E-P-P-I-N-N-Nature. So, David, you and I connected, I believe, through Instagram years ago,

and it's cool how we've kind of kept up a relationship, and I see your videos, and I see your short films on YouTube, and I love your content. So I'm really excited that you're going to take us on a journey to explore some of these really sites that a lot of people who even appreciate megalithic history like us, just don't know about. So my first question for you is give us a little bit of your journey into how you came to this point in your life where you are, like me, you're addicted to ancient

history and you're out leading tours and I think you're from Scotland, but you live in Portugal. Give us an idea of how you got into this. And, well, first of all, thank you for having me, Derek. grateful to be here and, you know, respect to you. You've been, doing your thing for a long time flying the flag for megaliths and really brought megaliths inspired people to a global audience so you know much respect to you and as you said we've been connected for a while um how did i get into megalis i mean i always say i was the last person the world that i thought be into megalis and now i'm it's it's beyond an obsession that i have

with megaliths which i'm sure resonates with you um i'm scottish i'm I lived in London for a long time, nearly 20 years working in the city. 10 years ago, I stopped drinking. Seven years ago, I moved to Portugal. And I think my life has kind of changed quite a bit since then. You know, I see my two halves of my life, first half of life very kind of, perhaps ego-driven and now kind of soul-driven. But moving to Portugal, 2019, I think rather than going to the pub,

I used to do where I was drinking. I was going to nature. I was going out in forests and I live in a place called Kashkash which is near Lisbon. We have some magical forests near where I live which I'd describe as a mash-up between Lord of the Rings, Jamaica and Scotland. It's an incredible, magical, mystical forest. There's actually some dolmens there as well and I I spent a lot of time in nature. I don't know. I would just really, really drawn to these, you know, there's crown shining with the trees, going up to the heavens, incredible, beautiful, magical boulders with all sorts of shapes of animals and humans. And I was just really drawn to it. And I think it opens my eyes, my mind, my senses to nature in some way.

And I was drawn to our ancient past. So my path to Megalus, I think, came as a result of, you know, I think living in London for many years, it numbed my senses. I was drawn to nature. And then being in nature made me think about a real estate. ancient past. So I started visiting megalis. It just became a habit which is almost become like a drug where it's addictive. It's kind of snowballed. And in 2022, I went to Egypt. So I went on an ancient technology and metaphysical tour. I think I might have shared some photographs with you

on the very first day. Some strange things were happening. I had a number of photographs taken to me at the pyramids and ancient sites where there's beams of light. It sounds like that. It sounds like that. a way bit odd, but there's beams of light, pointing towards me or coming from me. And that happened several times during that tour. Our tour guide is a lady called Kathleen McGowan. Within the first day, she called me the reluctant mystic as a wee bit of a nickname I got on that tour.

And then towards the end of the tour, there was a group photo, again, I think I might have showed it to you. We're all standing outside the Great Pyramid. There's about 30 of us, and I'm standing at the back and there's a beam of light pointing directly at me, which was kind of mind-blown. So I had all these experiences in Egypt, which is pretty cool. But since then, I've been on a kind of journey.

You know, I would often call it a spiritual journey. And I'm, you know, to see a quest, it sounds like knights at the round table or something. But it's absolutely a million percent a quest I've been on. Based on, you know, I'm out in the middle of nowhere and I'm like, okay, maybe I should turn back or this or that, where you keep going. It has been a quest and since then I've been to

hundreds of sites, particularly across Portugal where I live, in the dominant megalithic form we have in Portugal's dolmens and then in my motherland in Scotland which is, you know, cairns, stone circles, standing stones, predominantly stone circles

in Scotland. We've got over 500s. And it's just, it's be that journey, set up my platform rep in nature. When I started initially, you know, I came to Megaliths, you know, inspired by people like yourself, came to Megalus with an open heart and mind, and I think over that time I've come to understand Megaliths, but kind of had my own framework. I call it Earth-centric technology. So after all this time, I see Megaliths as functional. practical landscape-based systems working with the earth through stone, light, water, sound, the landscape itself, to create places, spaces that were designed for survival and the continuation of life.

So not symbolic, not ritual, not burial monuments, but practical, functional systems. well said yeah you mentioned your time in egypt and some of these interesting experiences you had with the light beams or energy beams if you want to call it that and from all my trips in egypt i've captured some of that on photo as well and even video sometimes i'll post it and people the skeptics will often point out oh that's just your camera doing its thing you know quickly debunking it, but it is interesting. There's so many of them, it's almost like you might be capturing the energy. I think of this experience we had at Karnak Temple. I think it's the largest ancient temple in the world. Absolutely massive. I mean, different ages and epochs of the ancient

Egyptian civilizations built at this temple. But we went into this little side temple. I think it's the temple of Sechmet, where inside is, you know, the lioness goddess. But when we were in that little temple, this dark chamber, you know, there's a hole in the roof ceiling where the light shines down. But the craziest thing happened, I call it the green hand of Sechmet. And I posted videos of this that kind of went viral on some shorts. I see that, yeah. But anybody who got up there in the photo and put their hand out, this other green hand would appear. And then we even caught it on video floating. And, you know, again, the skeptics would say, oh, that's just your camera reflecting the light.

But man, was it strange? So you catch these anomalies, whether it's seeing stuff like that, even in the film, or feeling it. Like I've shared, the last time I was in the so-called King's Chamber of the Great Pyramid, I took my shoes off and I was just laying on the on the floor inside there with my bare feet and man that was the strongest energy sensation I've ever felt at any sight. So it is real and maybe that's part of the addiction is you feel some of this energy, you know, that still leaks out. So I'm really excited about this. We can talk about dolmens for instance, but when you go inside the chamber,

of a dolman, it's like a closed, controlled environment. Something changes when you go inside the dormant, the air, the sound. It's a compact space. But for me, again, maybe it's that drug. I feel super, super present. It's almost like a superpower. You know, the only time I get that is when I'm boxing and I'm sparring. Or when I go to megaliths.

Sometimes it feels like time bends or suspense. I mean, again, it sounds like an odd thing. But when I go to these places, come with it a lot of reverence. I ask for permission. I put it out there into the universe to enter that sacred space, but I feel super, super present.

I don't know if you get that, but it's like a superpower almost. That's part of the appeal for me. And again, I think that's a big thing why megalites are so important today is just being very present in the land and nature. Yeah, on your YouTube, you put out this film called

the Forgotten Purpose of Megalids. where you're exploring these different perspectives, as you said, that you believe megalis were functional. They were earth-centered technology, as you call them, built for survival by people who were deeply connected to the land. Talk to us a little bit more about this, and then I'm going to ask you about specific sites in Scotland and Portugal. So, yeah, I see megalis as these practical functional systems working with the earth. So the key things for me are the landscape itself. They've very carefully chosen where the megalists are through the alignments or the kind of horizon or local rock formations or hills nearby. Often water is very present.

So water is a big thing for me with megalists, which I can talk about. So the light, sound water, the landscape itself to create places essentially for survival. So for me, you know, when you're faced with life or death decisions, you don't build architecture, you don't build monuments, you build infrastructure, essentially. And the pyramids for me is infrastructure, but that could be another conversation. One thing I always do when I go to Megalus is try to tune into that Neolithic mindset. You know, if we're thinking 5,000 years ago, it seems, clearly it's a lot of. long time but if you if you see a generation's 25 years it's only 200 generations it kind of so we as people as human beings biologically we haven't changed much

but for me what's changed is that sense of connection with the planet and the earth so when I go to megaliths the first thing I always do is try and imagine what that ancient prehistoric landscape is looks like obviously if you go to geyser then the the landscape is it's different when you can see macdiscay from the Sphinx, but if you go to place in Scotland or Portugal, the landscape is very much the same or Spain. So I think about the landscape. And again, through those Neolithic eyes, that mindset, it was about survival. Life was about survival, living in very harsh conditions.

And they needed food, shelter and water with water for me, clean drinking water, being as, as, as, of the utmost importance, I think there's something like 1% on the planet of water is actually clean drinking water, two or three days without it, and it's good night, Vienna. So these people, they needed clean drinking water and food. So that's, it's kind of come from that, going out to many, many places, many, many times, seeing patterns, observations. You know, my approach is very much it's reflexive, it's experiential and I think there's a place for that analytical and that phenomenology that can experiential approach. So my approach is very much that experiential going out and out seeing those patterns, thinking through that Neolithic mindset. And again, I think when you're

faced with that existential crisis, life or death, you don't build a monument, you build something practical. And I think these people were clearly very special. in terms of, you know, landscape mapping, water engineering, the selection of stone. Again, we can talk about the choice of stone as well. It's all very, very specific. So for me, it points to more questions beyond symbolism alone. I think symbolism is, again, it's an interpretation, which has been assumed as fact. But my views, my, how I've come to see megalists, it's not through a book or theory.

it's actually just going out there to the land, walking through these places, spending time in nature, and really viewing these as, you know, functional, practical systems. And I see an evolution of megaliths as well. So I see there's a timeline for me. So I've talked about this quite a lot. For me, the first megaliths were rock formations. So again, I got into nature. I got into megaliths through rock formations. I see I don't think her ancient ancestors woke up one day and thought they'd build a dolman. It would have been that very kind of evolution over hundreds, if not thousands, a year. So I think they started with caves, enclosures, semi-enclosures, balanced boulders. And I think these were the, I call it a prototype megalith, which then evolved to your menhires or your standing stones, which for me are the simplest.

megalith, but the megalith is built with the most intention. And then from there, they've moved to Dolman, so that kind of contained controlled space and environment. And then the timeline from there is stone circles, which are more kind of fluids, complex, sophisticated, field-based systems, as I see them. So there's a lot good on there, which for me points way beyond symbolism. And I don't think we're given these people or ancient ancestors the credit they deserve. Yeah, the mainstream narrative of these megaliths in Scotland, the UK that we're talking about, is, like you say, they basically chalk it all up to symbolism, ritualism, and you're saying there's so much more going on.

There was functional purposes to these that we've lost. I did an interview with Maria Wheatley a couple weeks ago. she's from England there and she wrote the book Secrets of Stonehenge and she was saying something similar

she believes that the standing stones preceded most of the other megaliths they preceded the earliest barrows and they were

placed as markers of sites of power going back to the landscape the standing stones were marking if you want to call them the lay lines or whatever

the places of power. And so, man, that's so interesting. So let's get into these sites in Scotland, where you're from, where you grew up. Because a lot of people think of Scotland. They don't necessarily think of ancient, prehistoric megaliths. But tell us about the most fascinating ancient sites in Scotland that you've been to that you visit on a regular basis. I don't think there's anywhere else on that I might be a wee bit biased, but I don't think there's anywhere else on the planet quite like Scotland in terms of landscape but also in terms of megaliths. I think in the British Isles there's something like 1,300 known stone circles and around 500 of those are in Scotland.

So Scotland has by far the most stone circles and I think I did a post on this recently. I think that's down to water. Scotland is one of the most water-rich landscapes in Europe. And again, I can come on to what I think is the purpose of stone circles, but for me it's connected to water.

I mean, there's megalistic complexes all over Scotland. You've got Kilmartin Glen, which I was a couple of weeks ago. It's a beautiful on the west coast of Scotland. There's 800 archaeological sites within a

six-mile radius. It's absolutely crazy. So you've got their incredible rock art, you've got cairns, you've got stone circles, you've got standing stones, you've got places like Mahri Muir on the west coast

of Scotland on the Isle of Arnd. That's a megalithic complex which I was at last year. I describe that as an orchestra of stone. It's a It's a mind-borne place.

It's on this open moor, and there's six stone circles, their standing stones, their cairns. And my big feeling there is that felt like, as I said, an orchestra of stone where each circle plays its part in a bigger symphony. It's all a process there, but very interestingly there is the selection of stone. So some of the stones at Macri Moor are granite. And some of the stones are sandstone. So the granite is very durable, solid.

They're lower to the ground, the stones for the stone circle. And then there's the tall, slender sandstone standing stones. And there's a real contrast. Sandstone is softer than granite. Granite is super, super hard and durable. sandstone is literally layered sand over millions of years and it's kind of holds memory of time of nature. So that place is super interesting, seeing that contrast in the different stone there, again, the granite and the sandstone.

And elsewhere in Scotland you've got, you've obviously got the Opne Islands, which I'm going to in a couple of weeks. Ockney is often described as the Egypt of the north. Is that where the standing stones of Stenis are? Correct, yeah. Standing Stones of Stenest, the Ringabrugger, Mayshaus, Scarabray, absolutely beautiful. The UNESCO heritage site, but again the landscape's beautiful. Standing Stones of Stenest is thought to be the oldest stone circle

in the British Isles, 3100 BC, see the Ring of Broadgar for me. One of my favorite sites on the planet, perhaps the second favorite, but for me it's definitely the most atmospheric stone circle I've ever been to. It sits within a natural amphitheatre and it's surrounded by water. Again, water, it comes up with all these places. How do you say it, the Ring of Broadgar? Is that he say it?

The Ring of Brodgar. It looks like a literal. scenes straight out of Lord of the Rings. I mean, it's so incredible. I'm just looking it up here. It says on chat, GBT, it's the third largest stone circle in Britain with some stones weighing 60 tons. Wow. It's the largest in Scotland's. It's beautiful. It's truly beautiful. There's all sorts of folklore and legend, one being petrified giants. The giants were dancing to the sound of the fiddle and the sun sun was rising and they turned to stone

but when you stand in the centre of the stone at circle you can do like clapping there's kind of there's all sorts of kind of acoustic stuff going on at ring of board as well standing in the centre of circle clapping hearing that echo it's just again the landscape it's chosen very very deliberately and the standing stones of stoness is kind of

walking distance from the Ring of Brodgar. So there's a lot going on there. It's an incredible megalithic complex, Orpne. So it looks like the largest stones are about 15 feet high at least, and we're talking 4,500 to 5,000 years old. That is crazy. The other place for me is the Isla Lewis, where you have the Calanish standing stones.

And I could probably talk about the Calanish standing stones all day. The stones there are actually Lewissian Nice, which are absolutely beautiful. Actually, it's one of the oldest rocks on the planet. This is connecting us to deep, deep antiquity, you know, like long before human life. And Kalanish is, for me, it's an ancient power center. I've shared a kind of a video of it. It's super interesting because it's not. just a stone circle. It's a layered

megalithic site, so it's a cruiform style stone circle but there's a lot going on there. So you've got a stone circle itself. You've got a large standing stone, which is, I don't know, it's well over 15 feet. That large standing stone interestingly is tapered at the top. It's jagged. It's very similar to the

stones of Steness and Otney. So you've got to think it's the same builders. Also within the circle, you've got a cairn and then from the circle itself you've got five rows so you've got at calenish you've got a massive men here you've got a stone circle you've got a cairn or dolman you've got stone rows but also behind the southern row again i've shared videos of this there's a set of natural rock formations it's called knock and tursa and it's like a viewing platform and i'm really big on faces and stones. So one of the stones looks like a face, like a smiley face, and it's pointing, it's pretty bad, it's pointing towards the, the site itself, and then one of the faces

is pointed, is the shape of an animal, it looks like a turtle, and it's pointing towards the water, which for me is no coincidence. I think that's part of the reason why they've selected that location. And then in the distance you've got these hills, it's called Sleeping Beauty, And it looks like a recumbent woman. It looks like a woman lying down, kind of the outline of a woman. And then every 18 and a half years, the major lunar standstill, the moon kind of rolls over these hills. You've got that optical illusion of the moon looking closer towards you. And it's the landscape there is breathtaking.

It's on this elevated hilltop. It feels like you're touching the heavens. I don't think I've ever seen anywhere else quite like it. The beauty of Kalanish is that layered megalithic site, rock formations, massive men here, stone circle, a cairn, stone rose. It's basically a mashup of all the megaliths. Spotify, it's Jay Shetty. Are you one of those media strategy people?

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you know, most of these are just obviously huge, 15, 20 plus foot tall, gigantic megalus emerging straight out of the ground. And most of the rock, you know, itself the stones are, look natural except other than that. then they were erected, right? But there was one, and if you're watching via video, you're going to see a photo or video of this now. There was one that Maria Wheatley pointed out to us

that I think she referred to as the Giant of Avebury. Well, you're thinking giant because of its size, but when you get close, you realize the ancients actually did artificially shape this one to look like a giant. And I can send you the photo, David, if you want to see this, but it clearly shows, you know, a face and like shoulders, kind of almost down to the waist of a giant ogre-looking guy that was carved into this stone.

So, and again, these are so weathered that you can almost not see it, but then when you look close, you see it. And so that's fascinating too. There's a lot of that, every, I don't know if you know, the two stones, it's called the cove. So there's these two, I think they've thought to be the heaviest and the oldest, one of the stones has got it's like a hair,

like a rabbit on it. But there's a few kind of odd shapes and what have you at the stones at Abe, but it's a super interesting place. So back to like Kalanish real quick. I mean, we've got these megalith standing 15 plus feet tall

weighing multiple tons. And any thoughts on how the ancients would have erected without the wheel, without cranes, without semi-trucks. That's one of the questions of questions, isn't it? Yeah.

I mean, me and you have been to places where clearly there's a gap between what we're told and what we see. You know, unfinished obelisk, Osirian, you know, great pyramids. Manga Dolman in Spain is another one. We can talk about it. That's got 180-toned-ton cap.

So clearly there's a gap between what we're told and what we actually see. You know, for me, I think these people were able to work with nature, you know, a big difference between us and them. I certainly don't think it was just ropes, ramps and pulleys, but I don't think it was at the other end in terms of the extreme. So I think they were able to work with nature what that looks like. what that looks like, but when I think about that, I think about sound, I think about light, I think about water. You know, nature's always been at the core of my work, and nature for me is, you know, we call it, we probably call it magic, but I think these people, you know, when I first started out, I thought these people had a higher state of consciousness, but for me it was

environmental, it was an ecological sense and awareness and connection that these people had some they were fully in tune and grounded with nature. So I think, to the long answer short, I think it was somehow working with nature, what the mechanics or how I've got no idea, but probably a lot simpler than we think, perhaps. How about you? What's your thoughts on it?

Oh, man. Yeah, I can't help but wonder about the resonance factor because that's one of the common threads of all these ancient sites. And you might get into more of that when you want to, but the acoustics, the resonance, was there a way that they could levitate stone? As crazy as that sounds, when you think about even the legends of the Inca, talk about how these ancient Andean legends, how the ancients could make the biggest stone as light as a feather. So we have these legends where they're talking about this.

We've got depictions that I've showed at length in other episodes in Egypt at Kamambo Temple, three paneled scenes. And this is in two other temples as well. So the ancient Egyptians showed us this at least three times in three different temples, where they're levitating the temple. And in scene one, you'll see one of the netter gods like Horace and then a king on the right side. and in between them is the symbol for the gate of the temple. And in scene one, it's on the ground level with their feet.

In scene two, it's about waist level. And in scene three, it's floating about chest level. And, you know, in each scene, there's like this bead of energy surrounding it that's coming from the king's hand. So we've got these interesting anomalies that almost hint at some kind of ancient technology. You mentioned the Manga Dolman in Spain, and you've been there, right? I've been a few times, yeah. We've covered some of the best sites in Scotland. Let's jump to Spain, because this is one of the megaliths of megaliths in Europe.

Tell us about it. This place is so giant. It doesn't even necessarily look like some kind of tomb. It looks like a structure. It's the king of dolmens, and I'm obsessed by dolmens, but the Manga Dolmonds. is the daddy of dolmens. So it's called the Antiquara Dolmens. It's in southern Spain.

It's actually not isolated. So right next day, you've got the Vieira Dolman. And then five ten minutes in the car, there's the El Romerald Dolman. The Benga Dolman is... It's absolutely my... It's crazy. I think it's started to date from 3750 BC.

It's 90 feet long. I think like 20 feet wide and it consists of I think like 32 huge megaliths so that consists of something like 24 orthostats five capstones there's three pillars and one of the capstones

is the furthest capstone at the rear of the chamber is estimated to weigh 180 tons I mean this this place is humbling like you go to the great pyramids you go to the Manga Dolman it's like all megal is for me

there's that reverence but you go in there you're like okay wow this is very very special this was built by a extraordinary group of people this for me again is not a place of death or burial this is something else but one of the

one of the special things or many special things about the Menga Dom is it doesn't, it's not lined up to the sun, it's lined up to a mountain range called Lover's Rock and this, this looks like a face pointing to the heavens. So they've, again, they've selected this location with this face point to the heavens. And, you know, I go to all these places, I see the faces in stone, I see the, I see the, like this lover's rock, this face point to the heavens. it reaffirms or reiterates to me that these people, they viewed the earth as a living entity.

That's gone way beyond doubt for me. But the Mengen Dolman is a very, very special place. I mean, it's, yeah, incredible. Yeah, they did nothing by chance. The fact that it's facing this mountain with the human face was specifically selected. And then this dolmens got this deep vertical. well shaft, which might be the only domen I know of or heard of that has that that goes like 60 feet down. What's that look like when you're peering down? It's caged up. You can kind of peer

through it a wee bit through the bars, but you can't really see very much. Again, super, super interesting that that is there. You know, one thing I always talk about is the, where water is nearby and I believe a lot of megalits are built above underground water. So this, the fact that this gigantic dolman has a well is very, very interesting. But I don't know if they've done any studies on it, to be fair, and you can't go down or have a look. Yeah, it's a mind-blown place the megadolman. It's really quite a special place. And it's one of the only dolmens, again, this one is so big and so unique. And it's probably one of the oldest, dolmens 5,000 plus years old might be closer to 6,000. But this dolman's got these massive

interior pillars that are holding up the megalithic slabs of the roof. So a lot of dolmens, you know, that are smaller don't have pillars inside. So that makes this one special too. So we've talked about some of the top sites in Scotland, one of the top ones here in Spain. Now let's go to where you live today in Portugal. Tell us a little bit about life in Portugal and some of these incredible ancient sites, maybe the top three that people don't know exist in Portugal. I don't think Portugal or Spain, to be fair, the Iberian region gets as much credit and attention as it should do.

I mean, I've been to hundreds of megaliths in Portugal, and I've been hundreds of dolmens. So dolmens are definitely the dominant megalithic form in Portugal. there's petroglyphs, there's rock art, there's standing stones. I did a posting this interestingly. There's only about 12 stone circles, if that. We call it a Cromlech here in Portugal,

which is, I find super interest in the limited number of stone circles. But the dolmens is the dominant form. I've been to hundreds. I don't think anyone's ever done a study as to how many dolmens are. in Portugal, I would estimate late hundreds, if not into the early thousands. I mean, I've gone megalith hunting where I've got a specific itinerary, and a lot of it's in private farmland where there's cows or bulls or goodness knows what else, very remote places.

And I've by chance come across a dolman. Like, it's just probably not even been documented. so you kind of find, just find, randomly ancient sites. The most famous one in Portugal is Almenris Kromlech, I would say. So it's the oldest stone circle in Europe, Almenris Kromlech. It's thought to be 7,000 years old, if not 8,000 years old. Not a stone circle per se. It's more a kind of oval shape.

There's something like 95 stones. The stones are very interesting in Portugal, whereas in Scotland you have these kind of, I don't know, they seem a bit more aggressive or masculine or jagged the stones in Scotland. Maybe it says something about us Scots. And then Portugal, they're more kind of egg-shaped or oval or rounded. It's totally different.

But Almenus Crumle is definitely a site to visit. That whole region, that's probably the megalithic heart of Portugal. So you've got Cromleks there, you've got standing stones, you've got the great dolmen of Zambegero. So this is the biggest dolman in Portugal. It's in a wee bit of a dilapidated state. It's not been looked after that well, which happens a lot. in Portugal, they're kind of left to their own devices.

That's the thing that we've found. We've have this passion, which it's a lifetime's passion where we might not get the answers, and it's beyond lifetime in terms of the number of megalists that we could go to or visit. But for me, my feeling thoughts in stone circles, I call them ancient water temples. So for me, stone circles are, they're not, again, symbolic. They're not massive calendars. For me, they're connected to water. My feeling and thoughts is that they're built above underground water.

So the water reacts underneath these granite stones to create, purify, amplify water in some way. Again, what we spoke about at the start, these people needed clean drinking water. Stone circles for me are often built near visible water, or I think there's underground water good on there. So that for me is the purpose of stone circles. And stone circles for me are more complex, they're more fluid. They're on a community level. Dolmans, I see more on that individual level. You know, that kind of regeneration, either for the individual,

but also for food or seeds. So, you know, I'm a big fan of John Buck's book, Seed and Knowledge Stone of Plenty. So he talks about vitality, the germination of seeds. So my feeling with Dolmans, it's about regeneration growth of the individual, perhaps to regenerate the nervous system, but also growth of seeds. Men hears as it's like connection or activation. The dolmen, it's about containment, and then stone circles. It's about distribution.

Yeah. And one thing I was thinking about with dolmens, perhaps similar to the Serapium. I watched, and I watch your video very, very good, very detailed. But I was thinking about that in terms of the, when I think about dolmens, I think it's a controlled environment. It's enclosed space. It's about containment. And then when you think about the serapium, it's containment amplified. It's like containment within containment.

It's extreme containment. It's deep underground. Yeah. I think on these alcoves, it's below the ground as well, isn't it? Yeah, yeah. Massive boxes. You know the score. The lids. So it's extreme, extreme containment. And I don't know, I feel there's a parallel with dolmens, but this is on an extreme level as everything is in Egypt, to be fair. All right. Any closing words? And how can people follow you, follow your channels, get on your tours? Tell us all about that.

So my website is reppin nature.com. You'll find me on Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, repin' dot nature. And yeah, I'd love for people to join my journey. And, you know, I do these tours, predominantly Scotland, Portugal kind of group tours and bespoke tours. But, you know, for me, this is a, like yourself, this is beyond a passion.

It's life-changing megaliths for me. And I think megaliths are as important now as ever. I always say it was the last person I thought I'd be into megaliths. But for me, there's absolutely zero BS with megaliths. They're the most authentic man-made structures on the planet, you know, on this fast-paced, AI-driven social media world we live in. megaliths are straight down the line, there's permanence, they're in your face, and I think they bring us closer to nature. I think we're missing that today, that reconnection with nature, and I think that's the

big difference between us and our ancient ancestors, so I think, you know, these ancient places are as important now as they've ever been. Beautifully said, yeah, there's nothing like going out to some ancient prehistoric site, whether it's in Egypt or Peru or the UK. And it just really levels the playing field that slows everything down. And it brings you such context of really how short life is. You know, when you get out and you're looking at a 6,000-year-old structure, you know, or whatever the mainstream says is, it's probably a lot older. I believe the megalis of Peru easily could be 10,000 plus years old. You stand in front of one of these structures, you touch it. It just changes your perspective, doesn't it? It's just like, yeah, it changes everything. It slows

everything down. It makes you consider your life. Yeah. What am I doing? What is my purpose? It's made me much more comfortable and aware of, you know, my own death and mortality. It just, I just said it just brings so much more perspective, doesn't it? Yeah. These structures will be here long after we're gone. It's changed my life completely. So everybody go to Repen Nature, R-E-P-P-P-I-N-R-E-P-P-I-Nature.com to follow David. Check out his tours. Go on a tour with him and follow him on social media at repin.n.

nature. He's got some great shorts, reels, and then longer form content, especially on YouTube. So follow him. And David, thanks so much for your time. And I look forward to hopefully hanging out with you in Scotland or Portugal and in the near future. No, I'd love that, Derek. Yeah, that'd be great.