Monolith

:For the computer game company, see Monolith Productions.

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:For the Japanese computer game company, see Monolith Soft.

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A monolith is a monument or natural feature such as a mountain, consisting of a single massive stone or rock. Erosion usually exposes these formations, which are most often made of very hard and solid metamorphic rock.

Related Topics:
Monument - Mountain - Stone - Erosion - Metamorphic rock

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A common cultural reference is to the Monolith from the book and film by Arthur C Clarke and Stanley Kubrick. These fictional monoliths are a group of artifacts built by an alien civilization. Their purpose in the story is to aid in the development of species: a monolith utilised at the dawn of humankind was a major reason for accelerating and directing the evolution of man to its current level of development.

Related Topics:
Arthur C Clarke - Stanley Kubrick - Artifacts - Alien - Evolution

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The word derives from the Latin word monolithus from the Greek word μονόλιϑος (monolithos), derived from μόνος ("one" or "lonely") and λίϑος ("stone").

Related Topics:
Latin - Greek

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