Monolith

A monolith or single stone as derived from Greek (and Latin) is a massive above-ground stone or rock, some as big as mountains. Some such rocks became exposed, reduced and shaped by erosion, others were moved by natural forces in ice as part of glaciers and later eroded further as stand-alone pieces.

The harder and core parts naturally remain longer, a bit as a sculptor would remove “wrong” bits selectively, like the story of Michelangelo chipping away all the marble that did not look like David to create his famous sculpture.

Then there is rock-cut architecture that remains attached to solid rock, as in the monolithic churches of Ethiopia and some of the hewn sandstone cliff relics in Petra, Jordan. Historic art includes obelisks, monolithic columns and stelae, numerous examples of which abound around the Mediterranean in Egypt, Turkey, Greece and Italy, as well as some art collecting Western European nations, now encouraged to return them to their places of origin.

Some huge structures have also been moved a considerable distance after quarrying in ancient times, causing today’s admirers to marvel at forgotten technologies. Some large sculptures constitute the only proof of the existence of some forgotten cultures in various parts of the world, such as the Moai megaliths of Easter Island or Stonehenge.

This natural rock in picture belonging in a lesser league was seen at Kagga Kamma (Wikipedia).