Andrea Eremita, Bruno Calatroni, Stefano Albertieri, Paolo Ciarma e Aldo Ummarino of the 'Archeonervia' research group have announced the discovery of a 5-meter tall menhir hidden under the vegetation around the Seborga area, near Imperia (Liguria, Italy).
     According to the discoverers, the huge monument - that now lies on the ground - was cut from a single block of quartz sandstone rock and it should weigh at last 6 tons. Measuring 5,22 meters by 1,25 at the base, the gigantic stone fell from the original erect position possibly due to natural causes. On the side that now is facing up there is a pair of cupmarks, and the discoverers believe these have been carved in prehistoric times to assess the sacrality of the stone.
     The base of the rock was slightly tapered, with signs of carving, so to ease its insertion on a holding socket.
     On the same area many other standing stones have been found, but the vast majority was discovered lying on the ground due to both the action of local Benedictine monks that in historical times used to knock down what they considered pagan symbols, and the fact that the ground in the area is very hard and steep, so it's difficult to create a hole deep and strong enough to keep a stone in a standing position.
           
Edited from Sanremo News (25 February 2017)