saturn·

data trove megaliths

source /home/coolhand/html/datavis/data_trove/data/quirky/megaliths.json 15,464 rows 14 columns profiled 2026-06-22 raw JSON static .html .ipynb Report Notebook

Reading

dataset summary · high confidence anthropic:default

This dataset catalogues 15,464 megalithic structures (dolmens, menhirs, stone circles, nuraghes, and more) drawn from OpenStreetMap, with geographic coordinates, heritage classification, and typology fields. The most striking pattern is extreme sparsity in descriptive metadata: over 95% of records have no description, 98.5% have no material recorded, and roughly 70% lack a Wikidata link, suggesting the dataset is geographically rich but editorially thin. The megalith_type column is the most informative categorical field, splitting meaningfully across menhirs (5,231), dolmens (4,501), nuraghes (1,080), and stone circles (1,011). Geographically, the bulk of sites cluster in Western Europe (median latitude ~47.6°N, median longitude ~-1.6°), but high skew and outliers in both lat and lon indicate a long tail of sites in places like Sardinia, Iberia, Ireland, and beyond — worth mapping.

citing: row_count · column_count · megalith_type.top_values · megalith_type.stats.top_rate · description.stats.top_rate · material.stats.top_rate · wikidata.stats.n_empty · lat.stats.median · lat.stats.skew · lon.stats.median · lon.stats.skew · lon.stats.outlier_rate · heritage.top_values · type.top_values

Schema

14 columns
Per-column summary. Click column name to jump to its detail.
Alerts
id numeric 0.0% 15,464
osm_type categorical 0.0% 2
name text 0.0% 9,869
one_word duplicates
lat numeric 0.0% 15,320
high_skew
lon numeric 0.0% 15,407
high_skew
type categorical 0.0% 19
imbalance
megalith_type categorical 0.0% 73
description categorical 0.0% 587
long_tail imbalance
wikipedia text 0.0% 2,058
one_word duplicates
wikidata text 0.0% 4,289
one_word allcaps short_text duplicates
heritage categorical 0.0% 12
heritage_operator categorical 0.0% 31
start_date categorical 0.0% 26
long_tail imbalance
material categorical 0.0% 13
long_tail imbalance

id

numeric identifier
This column is a numeric row identifier — every one of the 15,464 rows carries a distinct value with zero nulls, confirming it functions as a unique primary key. The values are large integers spanning roughly 24 million to 13.5 billion, which is consistent with a distributed-system or database auto-increment ID rather than a sequential integer index. Mild positive skew (0.89) and a wide IQR (~4.5 billion) suggest IDs were assigned non-uniformly over time or across sources, but no outliers are flagged. Treatment: Retain as a join/lookup key; exclude from any feature matrix or model input. high · anthropic:default
n
15,464
nulls
0 (0.0%)
unique
15,464
min
2.415e+07
max
1.354e+10
mean
4.503e+09
median
3.411e+09
std
3.47e+09
q1
2.375e+09
q3
6.845e+09
iqr
4.471e+09
skew
0.8907
kurtosis
-0.2006
n_outliers
0
outlier_rate
0
zero_rate
0

osm_type

categorical feature
This column encodes the OpenStreetMap geometry type, distinguishing between point features ('node') and linear/polygon features ('way'). With only 2 distinct values across 15,464 rows and zero nulls, it is a clean binary flag. The distribution is heavily skewed: 'node' dominates at 86.1% (13,311 records) versus 'way' at just 13.9% (2,153 records). The low entropy of 0.582 confirms the imbalance, which may matter if 'way' features behave differently in downstream models. Treatment: Binary-encode (node=1, way=0) and monitor class imbalance if used as a feature or stratification variable. high · anthropic:default
n
15,464
nulls
0 (0.0%)
unique
2
top_value
node
top_rate
0.8608
cardinality
2
entropy
0.5822
entropy_ratio
0.5822

name

text label one_word duplicates
This column contains the local or common name of prehistoric megalithic monuments (dolmens, menhirs, stone circles, nuraghes, etc.), drawing from a multilingual dataset spanning at least English, French, Russian (Cyrillic), and German. Two signals stand out: 30.5% of rows (4,720 of 15,464) are empty strings rather than true nulls, and the duplicate rate is 36.2% (5,595 duplicates), largely driven by generic type-names like 'Долмен' (191), 'Dolmen' (51), 'Menhir' (50), and 'Standing Stone' (48) being reused across many distinct monuments. The one-word rate of 37.8% and word mean of ~2.5 are consistent with short monument names, but the 4,720 empty strings should be treated as missing values. Treatment: Replace empty strings with NaN, then use as a descriptive label or weak text feature; do not treat as a unique identifier due to 36% duplicate rate and multilingual generic names. high · anthropic:default
n
15,464
nulls
0 (0.0%)
unique
9,869
len_min
0
len_max
84
len_mean
13.65
len_median
15
len_p95
30
word_mean
2.495
word_median
2
n_empty
4,720
n_duplicates
5,595
duplicate_rate
0.3618
vocab_size
9,447
readability_flesch_mean
46.9
emoji_rate
0
url_rate
0
one_word_rate
0.3782
allcaps_rate
0.003169
boilerplate_rate
0

lat

numeric feature high_skew
This column contains geographic latitude values, ranging from -51.81° to 65.17°, almost certainly representing the latitude coordinate of geolocated records. The vast majority of values cluster in the 43°–51° band (IQR of ~7.6°), suggesting heavy concentration in mid-latitude Europe or North America. The negative skew of -3.09 and extreme kurtosis of 26.33 indicate a sharp central peak with a long left tail — a surprising number of records pull toward lower or even southern-hemisphere latitudes, captured in 134 flagged outliers (~0.87%). Near-uniqueness (15,320 unique out of 15,464 rows) is expected for precise coordinate data. Treatment: Use as-is or pair with longitude for spatial analysis; investigate the 134 outliers for data-entry errors or genuine remote locations before modelling. high · anthropic:default
n
15,464
nulls
0 (0.0%)
unique
15,320
min
-51.81
max
65.17
mean
46.41
median
47.59
std
6.81
q1
42.95
q3
50.52
iqr
7.569
skew
-3.087
kurtosis
26.33
n_outliers
134
outlier_rate
0.008665
zero_rate
0

lon

numeric feature high_skew
This column represents geographic longitude values, with readings spanning from -151.36 to 144.74 degrees — a plausible global range. What is surprising is the severe positive skew (3.65) and extreme kurtosis (34.34), indicating the distribution is heavily concentrated in a narrow band (IQR of only 11.53, centred around Western Europe/Africa longitudes near 0°) with 676 outliers (4.37%) pulled far to the east and west. The mean (2.62) and median (-1.62) diverge noticeably, confirming the asymmetric clustering, likely reflecting a dataset dominated by European locations with a long tail of global outliers. Treatment: Retain as-is for geo-spatial modelling; investigate and potentially stratify or cap the 676 outlier records before distance-based or regression analyses. high · anthropic:default
n
15,464
nulls
0 (0.0%)
unique
15,407
min
-151.4
max
144.7
mean
2.618
median
-1.62
std
14.64
q1
-3.083
q3
8.447
iqr
11.53
skew
3.654
kurtosis
34.34
n_outliers
676
outlier_rate
0.04371
zero_rate
0

type

categorical label imbalance
This column classifies archaeological monument types, with 19 distinct categories across 15,464 records and no nulls. It is severely imbalanced: 'megalith' dominates at 97.73% of all records (15,113), leaving the remaining 18 types — menhir, dolmen, standing_stone, stone_circle, nuraghe, etc. — sharing just 351 records. The entropy ratio of 0.049 confirms near-total concentration in one class, which will severely impair any multi-class model trained on this label. Treatment: Treat as a severely imbalanced categorical label; apply oversampling (SMOTE) or class-weighted losses if used as a target, or collapse rare types into an 'other' bucket for feature use. high · anthropic:default
n
15,464
nulls
0 (0.0%)
unique
19
top_value
megalith
top_rate
0.9773
cardinality
19
entropy
0.2096
entropy_ratio
0.04933

megalith_type

categorical label
This column classifies prehistoric stone monuments into structural types, with 73 distinct categories across 15,464 records and no nulls. The dominant class is 'menhir' (5,231 records, ~33.8%), followed closely by 'dolmen' (4,501), meaning these two types together account for over 60% of all rows — a moderate concentration reflected in an entropy ratio of 0.44. Notably, the third most frequent value is an empty string ('') with 1,714 occurrences (~11.1%), which masquerades as a non-null entry and represents a meaningful data quality issue that null_rate alone does not capture. Treatment: Recode empty-string entries as explicit nulls or an 'unknown' category, then one-hot or target-encode for modelling given 73 categories and moderate class imbalance. high · anthropic:default
n
15,464
nulls
0 (0.0%)
unique
73
top_value
menhir
top_rate
0.3383
cardinality
73
entropy
2.749
entropy_ratio
0.4441

description

categorical free_text long_tail imbalance
This column is a text description field for archaeological or heritage site records, containing short labels or names of megalithic structures (e.g., 'Jættestue', 'Großsteingrab', 'Dolmen', 'Stone circle') in multiple languages including Danish, German, Portuguese, and English. The most striking signal is that 95.8% of the 15,464 rows (14,814) carry an empty string, effectively making the field near-empty at scale. The remaining 586 distinct non-empty values are heavily long-tailed, with the most frequent non-empty value ('Jættestue') appearing only 11 times. The entropy ratio of 0.069 confirms extreme imbalance driven by the dominant empty-string value. Treatment: Treat empty strings as missing; for non-null values, consider as a sparse categorical label or tokenize and embed for similarity/search use cases. high · anthropic:default
n
15,464
nulls
0 (0.0%)
unique
587
top_value
top_rate
0.958
cardinality
587
entropy
0.6328
entropy_ratio
0.0688

wikipedia

text metadata one_word duplicates
This column stores Wikipedia article references in a 'language-code:article-title' format (e.g., 'de:Großsteingräber im Haldensleber Forst'), linking dataset records to corresponding Wikipedia pages across multiple languages including German, French, Catalan, Portuguese, and English. The dominant surprise is that 13,060 of 15,464 rows (84.5%) are empty strings, meaning most records have no Wikipedia link at all. Among populated values, 13,406 duplicates exist because the same Wikipedia article is referenced by multiple records — consistent with grouped/list articles covering many individual megalithic sites. The multi-language mix (de, fr, pt, ca, en prefixes visible) is expected for a multilingual cultural-heritage dataset. Treatment: Parse language prefix and article slug into separate fields; treat empty strings as nulls; use as an optional enrichment join key rather than a model feature. high · anthropic:default
n
15,464
nulls
0 (0.0%)
unique
2,058
len_min
0
len_max
75
len_mean
4.1
len_median
0
len_p95
29
word_mean
1.351
word_median
1
n_empty
13,060
n_duplicates
13,406
duplicate_rate
0.8669
vocab_size
2,769
readability_flesch_mean
5.48
emoji_rate
0
url_rate
0
one_word_rate
0.8524
allcaps_rate
0
boilerplate_rate
0

wikidata

text foreign_key one_word allcaps short_text duplicates
This column stores Wikidata entity identifiers (Q-codes) linking dataset rows to Wikidata knowledge-base entries. Two signals demand immediate attention: 10,819 of 15,464 rows (70%) are empty strings rather than true nulls, and the duplicate_rate is 0.723, meaning many rows share the same Q-code — the top value 'Q106546933' appears 17 times, suggesting a many-to-one entity mapping. The allcaps_rate of 0.300 reflects the uppercase 'Q' prefix on valid codes. Treatment: Replace empty strings with null, then left-join on this Q-code to enrich with Wikidata properties; expect a many-to-one join given high duplicate rate. high · anthropic:default
n
15,464
nulls
0 (0.0%)
unique
4,289
len_min
0
len_max
10
len_mean
2.667
len_median
0
len_p95
10
word_mean
1
word_median
1
n_empty
10,819
n_duplicates
11,175
duplicate_rate
0.7226
vocab_size
4,288
readability_flesch_mean
38.79
emoji_rate
0
url_rate
0
one_word_rate
1
allcaps_rate
0.3004
boilerplate_rate
0

heritage

categorical label
This column represents a heritage classification or designation status for records, likely a regulatory or cultural heritage grading field. The dominant 'value' is an empty string, which accounts for 87.96% of all 15,464 rows, indicating that most records carry no heritage designation. The remaining values are a heterogeneous mix of numeric grades (1–4, 7), boolean-style strings ('yes', 'no'), a Portuguese classification phrase ('Em Vias de Classificação'), and a single 'Scheduled Monument' entry — suggesting the column was populated from multiple source systems or locales with no enforced vocabulary. Treatment: Treat empty strings as a distinct 'undesignated' category; harmonise numeric grades, boolean strings, and foreign-language values into a unified controlled vocabulary before encoding. medium · anthropic:default
n
15,464
nulls
0 (0.0%)
unique
12
top_value
top_rate
0.8796
cardinality
12
entropy
0.7343
entropy_ratio
0.2048

heritage_operator

categorical label
This column identifies the heritage operator or authority responsible for a record, with 31 distinct coded values across 15,464 rows. The dominant 'value' is an empty string, accounting for 89.5% of all rows (13,848), meaning the vast majority of records have no operator assigned — this blank dominance severely suppresses the entropy ratio to 0.14. Among the 30 non-empty values, 'mhs' (960), 'IE:smr' (229), and 'dgpc' (185) are the most common, suggesting a mix of abbreviated authority codes and occasional full names (e.g., 'Historic Environment Scotland'), indicating inconsistent formatting across sources. Treatment: Treat empty string as missing; normalise authority codes to a consistent controlled vocabulary before using as a categorical feature or grouping key. high · anthropic:default
n
15,464
nulls
0 (0.0%)
unique
31
top_value
top_rate
0.8955
cardinality
31
entropy
0.7028
entropy_ratio
0.1419

start_date

categorical metadata long_tail imbalance
This column is intended to capture a start date for records, but it is overwhelmingly empty: 15,430 of 15,464 rows (99.78%) contain a blank string, making it nearly useless as a feature. The 34 non-empty values are highly heterogeneous — mixing ISO dates ('2004-07-01'), calendar years ('1999'), approximate historical dates ('~2000 BC'), ranges ('between 3500 and 2800 BCE'), negative year offsets ('-3000 BC'), and even a code-like value ('C-30') — indicating no enforced format or schema. The extreme imbalance (top_rate 0.998) and near-zero entropy (0.032) confirm the column carries almost no information signal. Treatment: Drop from modelling due to 99.78% blank rate; if historical context is needed, parse and normalise the 34 non-blank values manually before any use. high · anthropic:default
n
15,464
nulls
0 (0.0%)
unique
26
top_value
top_rate
0.9978
cardinality
26
entropy
0.03224
entropy_ratio
0.006859

material

categorical feature long_tail imbalance
This column captures the construction or surface material of a physical feature (likely a wall, path, or structure in a geospatial dataset), with 13 distinct values across 15,464 rows. The dominant 'value' is an empty string, accounting for 98.44% of all records — meaning the field is effectively unpopulated for the vast majority of entries, despite a null_rate of 0.0. The remaining 241 non-empty records span stone-type materials (stone, granite, sandstone, limestone, etc.), with a minor language inconsistency ('Quarzit' appearing in German). Entropy is extremely low (0.133) confirming near-total dominance of the blank value. Treatment: Treat empty string as missing; recode to NaN, then consider a binary 'has_material' flag or impute/drop depending on task, given 98.44% missingness. high · anthropic:default
n
15,464
nulls
0 (0.0%)
unique
13
top_value
top_rate
0.9844
cardinality
13
entropy
0.1326
entropy_ratio
0.03582