(1912) Rough Stone Monuments and Their Builders

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Harper's Library of Living Thought


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ROUGH STONEMONUMENTSAND THEIRBUILDERS

T. ERIC PEET

HARPER XBROTHERSL0ND0NXNEWYOKK

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ROUGH STONEMONUMENTSAND THEIRBUILDERS

BYT. ERIC PEET

FORMERLY SCHOLAR OF QUEEN'S COLLEGE, OXFORD ;LATELY CRAVEN FELLOW IN THE UNIVERSITY

OF OXFORD AND PELHAM STUDENT ATTHE BRITISH SCHOOL OF ROME

HARPER & BROTHERSLONDON AND NEW YORK45 ALBEMARLE STREET, W.

1912


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Published October, 1912.

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PREFACETHE aim of this volume is to enable thosewho are interested in Stonehenge andother great stone monuments of England tolearn something of the similar buildings whichexist in different parts of the world, of the menwho constructed them, and of the great archaeo-logical system of which they form a part. It ishoped that to the archaeologist it may be usefulas a complete though brief sketch of our presentknowledge of the megalithic monuments, and asa short treatment of the problems which arise inconnection with them.To British readers it is unnecessary to give any

justification for the comparatively full treatmentaccorded to the monuments of Great Britain andIreland. Malta and Sardinia may perhaps seemto occupy more than their due share of space,but the usurpation is justified by the magnificenceand the intrinsic interest of their megalithicbuildings. Being of singularly complicated typesand remarkably well preserved they naturallytell us much more of their builders than do the

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PREFACEsimpler monuments of other larger and now moreimportant countries. In these two islands,moreover, research has in the last few years beenextremely active, and it is felt that the accountshere given of them will contain some materialnew even to the archaeologist.

In order to assist those readers who may wishto follow out the subject in greater detail a shortbibliography has been added to the book.For the figures and photographs with which

this volume is illustrated I have to thank manyarchaeological societies and individual scholars.Plate III and part of Plate II I owe to the kind-ness of Dr. Zammit, Director of the Museum ofValletta, while the other part of Plate II is froma photograph kindly lent to me by Dr. Ashby.I have to thank the Society of Antiquaries forFigures i and 3, the Reale Accademia dei Linceifor Figures 17 and 20, and the Societe prehistoriquede France, through Dr. Marcel Baudouin, forFigure 10. I am indebted to the Royal IrishAcademy for Figure 8, to the Committee of theBritish School of Rome for Figure 18, and to Dr.Albert Mayr and the Akademie der Wissen-schaften in Munich for the plan of Mnaidra. Pro-fessors Montelius, Siret and Cartailhac I have

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PREFACEto thank not only for permission to reproduceillustrations from their works, but also for theirkind interest in my volume. Figure 19 I owe tomy friend Dr. Randall Maclver. The frontispieceand Plate I are fine photographs by Messrs. TheGraphotone Co., Ltd.

In conclusion, I must not forget to thankCanon F. F. Grensted for much help with regardto the astronomical problems connected withStonehenge.

T. Eric' Peet.Liverpool,

August 10th, 1912.

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CONTENTSCHAPTER PAGE

I. Introduction iII. Stonehenge and other great stone

MONUMENTS IN ENGLAND AND WALES I 5III. Megalithic monuments in Scotland

and Ireland ..... 34IV. The Scandinavian megalithic area 52V. France, Spain and Portugal . . 59

VI. Italy and its islands ... 76VII. Africa, Malta, and the smaller

Mediterranean islands . . 90VIII. The Dolmens of Asia . . .114

IX. The builders of the megalithicmonuments, their habits, customs,religion, etc. . . . .123

X. Who were the builders, and whencedid they come? .... 143Bibliography 159Index 167

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONSPLATES

Stonehenge from the south-eastI.

II.

III.FIGU

I.

2.3*4-5-6.7-8.9-

io.ii.

12.13-

14.15-16.17.18.19.20.21.22.

Stonehenge from the south-westMnaidra, doorway of Room HMadrone in SardiniaTemple of Mnaidra, Malta. Apse of chief room 100

FrontispieceFACING PAGE

. 17The Nnraghe of

. 82

KE

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Plan of StonehengeAvebury and Kennet AvenuePlans of English Long BarrowsHorned tumulus, CaithnessPlans of three dolmen-typesType-plan of simple corridor-tombType-plan of wedge-shaped tombCorridor-tomb at New Grange, IrelandCorridor-tomb at Ottagarden, SwedenPlan of La Pierre aux Fees, Oise, FranceChambered mound at Fontenay-le-Marmion,mandyPlan of La Grotte des Fees, Aries, FranceThe so-called dolmen-deity, Petit Morin, FrancePlan of corridor- tomb at Los Millares, SpainSection and plan of a taIayot> MajorcaSection and plan of the nan d'Es TudonsElevation, section and plan of a Sardinian nuraghePlan of Giant's Tomb at Muraguada, SardiniaPlan of stone circle at the Senam, AlgeriaPlan of the Sese Grande, Pantelleria .Plan of the Sanctuary of Mnaidra, MaltaDolmen with holed stone at Ala Safat

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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTSCHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

TO the south of Salisbury Plain, about twomiles west of the small country town ofAmesbury, lies the great stone circle of Stone-henge. For centuries it has been an object ofwonder and admiration, and even to-day it is oneof the sights of our country. Perhaps, however,few of those who have heard of Stonehenge oreven of those who have visited it are aware thatit is but a unit in a vast crowd of megalithicmonuments which, in space, extends from thewest of Europe to India, and, in time, coverspossibly more than a thousand years.What exactly is a megalithic monument ?

Strictly speaking, it is a building made of verylarge stones. This definition would, of course,include numbers of buildings of the present dayand of the medieval and classical periods, whilemany of the Egyptian pyramids and templeswould at once suggest themselves as excellent


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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTSexamples of this type of building. The archaeo-logist, however, uses the term in a much morelimited sense. He confines it to a series of tombsand buildings constructed in Western Asia, inNorth Africa, and in certain parts of Europe,towards the end of the neolithic period and duringpart of the copper and bronze ages which followedit. The structures are usually, though not quiteinvariably, made of large blocks of unworked orslightly worked stone, and they conform to certaindefinite types. The best known of these typesare as follows : Firstly, the menhir, which is atall, rough pillar of stone with its base fixed intothe earth. Secondly, the trilithon, which con-sists of a pair of tall stones set at a short distanceapart supporting a third stone laid across the top.Thirdly, the dolmen, which is a single slab ofstone supported by several others arranged insuch a way as to enclose a space or chamberbeneath it. Some English writers apply the termcromlech to such a structure, quite incorrectly.Both menhir and dolmen are Breton words, thesetwo types of megalithic monument being par-ticularly frequent in Brittany. Menhir is derivedfrom the Breton men, a stone, and Mr, long ;similarly dolmen is from dot, a table, and men, astone. Some archaeologists also apply the worddolmen to rectangular chambers roofed with morethan one slab. We have carefully avoided thispractice, always classing such chambers as corridor-


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INTRODUCTIONtombs of an elementary type. Fourthly, we havethe corridor-tomb (Ganggrab), which usuallyconsists of a chamber entered by a gallery orcorridor. In cases where the chamber is no widerthan, and hence indistinguishable from thecorridor, the tomb becomes a long rectangulargallery, and answers to the French allee couvertein the strict sense. Fifthly, we come to thealignement, in which a series of menhirs is arrangedin open lines on some definite system. We shallfind a famous example of this at Morbihan inBrittany. Sixthly, there is the cromlech (fromcrom, curve, and lec'h, a stone), which consistsof a number of menhirs arranged to enclose aspace, circular, elliptical or, in rare cases, rect-angular.

These are the chief types of megalithic monu-ment, but there are others which, though clearlybelonging to the same class of structure, showspecial forms and are more complicated. Theyare in many cases developments of one or moreof the simple types, and will be treated speciallyin their proper places. Such monuments are thenuraghi of Sardinia and the ' temples ' of Maltaand Gozo.

Finally, the rock-hewn sepulchre is often classedwith the megalithic monuments, and it is thereforefrequently mentioned in the following pages.This is justified by the fact that it generallyoccurs in connection with megalithic structures.


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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTSThe exact relation in which it stands to them willbe fully discussed in the last chapter.

We have now to consider what may be calledthe architectural methods of the megalithicbuilders, for although in dealing with such primi-tive monuments it would perhaps be exaggerationto speak of a style, yet there were certain princi-ples which were as carefully and as invariablyobserved as were in later days those of the Doricor the Gothic styles in the countries where theytook root.The first and most important principle, that on

which the whole of the megalithic constructionmay be said to be based, is the use of the ortho-static block, i.e. the block set up on its edge.It is clear that in this way each block or slab ismade to provide the maximum of wall area atthe expense of the thickness of the wall. Naturally,in districts where the rock is of a slabby natureblocks of a more or less uniform thickness layready to the builders' hand, and the appearanceof the structure was much more finished than itwould be in places where the rock had a lessregular fracture or where shapeless boulders hadto be relied on. The orthostatic slabs were oftendeeply sunk into the ground where this consistedof earth or soft rock ; of the latter case there aregood examples at Stonehenge, where the rock is asoft chalk. When the ground had an uneven


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INTRODUCTIONsurface of hard rock, the slabs were set upright onit and small stones wedged in beneath them tomake them stand firm. Occasionally, as atMnaidra and Hagiar Kim, a course of horizontalblocks set at the foot of the uprights served tokeep them more securely in position. With theupright block technique went' hand in hand theroofing of narrow spaces by means of horizontalslabs laid across the top of the uprights.The second principle of megalithic architecture

was the use of more or less coursed masonry setwithout mortar, each block lying on its side andnot on its edge. It is quite possible that thisprinciple is less ancient in origin than that of theorthostatic slab, for it usually occurs in structuresof a more advanced type. Thus in simple andprimitive types of building such as the dolmenit is most rare to find dry masonry, but in theadvanced corridor-tombs of Ireland, the Giants'Graves and nuraghi of Sardinia, and in the' temples ' of Malta this technique is largely used,often in combination with the upright slab system.Indeed, this combination is quite typical of thebest megalithic work : a series of uprights isfirst set in position, and over this are laid severalhorizontal courses of rather smaller stones. Wemust note that the dry masonry which we aredescribing is still strictly megalithic, as the blocksused are never small and often of enormous size.

Buildings in which this system is used are5


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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTSoccasionally roofed with slabs, but more oftencorbelling is employed. At a certain height eachsucceeding course in the wall begins to projectinwards over the last, so that the walls, as it were,lean together and finally meet to form a falsebarrel-vault or a false dome, according as thestructure is rectangular or round. Occasionally,when the building was wide, it was impossibleto corbel the walls sufficiently to make them meet.In this case they were corbelled as far as possibleand the open space still left was covered withlong flat slabs.

It has often been commented on as a matter ofwonder that a people living in the stone age, orat the best possessing a few simple tools of metal,should have been able to move and place inposition such enormous blocks of stone. Withmodern cranes and traction engines all would besimple, but it might have been thought that inthe stone age such building would be impossible.Thus, for instance, in the ' temple ' of Hagiar Kimin Malta, there is one block of stone which measures21 feet by 9, and must weigh many tons. Inreality there is little that is marvellous in themoving and setting up of these blocks, for thetools needed are ready to the hand of everysavage ; but there is something to wonder atand to admire in the patience displayed and inthe organization necessary to cany out such vast

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INTRODUCTIONpieces of labour. Great, indeed, must have beenthe power of the cult which could combine theforce of hundreds and even thousands of indi-viduals for long periods of time in the constructionof the great megalithic temples. Perhaps slavelabour played a part in the work, but in any caseit is clear that we are in the presence of stronglyorganized governments backed by a powerfulreligion which required the building of temples forthe gods and vast tombs for the dead.

Let us consider for a moment what was theprocedure in building a simple megalithic monu-ment. It was fourfold, for it involved the findingand possibly the quarrying of the stones, themoving of them to the desired spot, the erectionof the uprights in their places, and the placing ofthe cover-slab or slabs on top of them.With regard to the first step it is probable that

in most cases the place chosen for a tomb orcemetery was one in which numbers of greatstones lay on the surface ready to hand. By thismeans labour was greatly economized. On theother hand, there are certainly cases where thestones were brought long distances in order tobe used. Thus, in Charente in France there is atLa Perotte a block weighing nearly 40 tons whichmust have travelled over 18 miles. We have noevidence as to whether stones were ever actuallyquarried. If they were, the means used musthave been the stone axe, fire, and water. It was


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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTSnot usual in the older and simpler dolmens to dressthe stones in any way, though in the later andmore complicated structures well-worked blockswere often used.The required stones having been found it wasnow necessary to move them to the spot. This

could be done in two ways. The first andsimpler is 'that which we see pictured on Egyptianmonuments, such as the tomb of Tahutihotep atEl Bersheh. A rough road of beams is laid in therequired direction, and wooden rollers are placedunder the stone on this road. Large numbers ofmen or oxen then drag the stone along by meansof ropes attached to it. Other labourers assistthe work from behind with levers, and replace therollers in front of the stone as fast as they passout behind. Those who have seen the modernArabs in excavation work move huge blocks withwooden levers and palm-leaf rope will realize thatfor the building of the dolmens little was neededexcept numbers and time.The other method of moving the stones is as

follows : a gentle slope of hard earth coveredwith wet clay is built with its higher extremityclose beside the block to be moved. As many menas there is room for stand on each side of theblock, and with levers resting on beams or stonesas fulcra, raise the stone vertically as far as possible.Other men then fill up the space beneath it withearth and stones. The process is next repeated

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INTRODUCTIONwith higher fulcra, until the stone is level with thetop of the clay slope, on to which it is then slipped.With a little help it now slides down the inclinedplane to the bottom. Here a fresh slope is built,and the whole procedure is gone through again.The method can even be used on a slight uphillgradient. It requires less dragging and morevertical raising than the other, and would thusbe more useful where oxen were unobtainable.When the stones were once on the spot it is nothard to imagine how they were set upright withlevers and ropes. The placing of the cover-slabwas, however, a more complicated matter. Themethod employed was probably to build a slopeof earth leading up from one side to the alreadyerected uprights and almost covering them. Upthis the slab could be moved by means of rollers,ropes, and levers, until it was in position over theuprights. The slope could then be removed.If the dolmen was to be partly or wholly coveredwith a mound, as some certainly were, it wouldnot even be necessary to remove the slope.

Roughly speaking, the extension of megalithicmonuments is from Spain to Japan and fromSweden to Algeria. These are naturally merelylimits, and it must not be supposed that theregions which lie between them all contain mega-lithic monuments. More exactly, we find themin Asia, in Japan, Corea, India, Persia, Syria, and

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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTSPalestine. In Africa we have them along thewhole of the north coast, from Tripoli to Morocco ;inland they are not recorded, except for onepossible example in Egypt and several in theSoudan. In Europe the distribution of dolmensand other megalithic monuments is wide. Theyoccur in the Caucasus and the Crimea, and quitelately examples have been recorded in Bulgaria.There are none in Greece, and only a few in Italy,in the extreme south-east corner. The islands,however, which lie around and to the south ofItaly afford many examples : Corsica, Sardinia,Malta, Gozo, Pantelleria, and Lampedusa arestrongholds of the megalithic civilization, and itis possible that Sicily should be included in thelist. Moving westward we find innumerableexamples in the Spanish Peninsula and in France.To the north we find them frequent in the BritishIsles, Sweden, Denmark, and North Germany ;they are rarer in Holland and Belgium. Twoexamples have been reported from Switzerland.

It is only to be expected that these greatmegalithic monuments of a prehistoric age shouldexcite the wonder and stimulate the imaginationof those who see them. In all countries and at alltimes they have been centres of story and legend,and even at the present day many strange beliefsconcerning them are to be found among thepeasantry who live around them. Salomon

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INTRODUCTIONReinach has written a remarkable essay on thisquestion, and the following examples are mainlydrawn from the collection he has there made.The names given to the monuments often showclearly the ideas with which they are associated inthe minds of the peasants. Thus the Penrith circleis locally known as " Meg and her Daughters,"a dolmen in Berkshire is called " Wayland theSmith's Cave," while in one of the Orkney Islesis a menhir named " Odin's Stone." In Francemany are connected with Gargantua, whose name,the origin of which is doubtful, stands clearly fora giant. Thus we find a rock called the " Chair ofGargantua," a menhir called " Gargantua's LittleFinger," and an allee couverte called " Gargantua'sTomb." Names indicating connections with fairies,virgins, witches, dwarfs, devils, saints, druids,and even historical persons are frequent. Dolmensare often " houses of dwarfs," a name perhapssuggested or at least helped by the small holescut in some of them ; they are " huts " or " cavesof fairies," they are " kitchens " or " forges of thedevil," while menhirs are called his arrows, andcromlechs his cauldrons. In France we havestones of various saints, while in England manymonuments are connected with King Arthur.A dolmen in Wales is his quoit ; the circle atPenrith is his round table, and that of Caermarthenis his park. Both in England and France wefind stones and altars " of the druids " ; in the

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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTSPyrenees, in Spain, and in Africa there are " gravesof the Gentiles " or " tombs of idolaters " ; inAries (France) the allees couvertes are called" prisons " or " shops of the Saracens," and thedolmens of the Eastern Pyrenees are locallyknown as " huts of the Moors." Dolmens inIndia are often " stones of the monkeys," and inFrance there are " wolves' altars," " wolves'houses," and " wolves' tables."

Passing now to more definite beliefs connectedwith megalithic monuments, we may notice thatfrom quite early times they have beenas indeedthey often are stillregarded with fear andrespect, and even worshipped. In certain partsof France peasants are afraid to shelter under thedolmens, and never think of approaching them bynight. In early Christian days there must havebeen a cult of the menhir, for the councils ofAries (a.d. 452), of Tours (a.d. 567), and ofNantes (a.d. 658) all condemn the cult of trees,springs, and stones. In a.d. 789 Charlemagneattempted to suppress stone-worship, and todestroy the stones themselves. In Spain, where,as in France, megalithic monuments are common,the councils of Toledo in a.d. 681 and 682 con-demned the " Worshippers of Stones." Moreoverthere are many cases in which a monument itselfbears traces of having been the centre of a cultin early or medieval times. The best example isperhaps the dolmen of Saint-Germain-sur-Vienne,

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INTRODUCTIONwhich was transformed into a chapel about thetwelfth century. Similar transformations havebeen made in Spain. In many cases, too, crosseshave been placed or engraved on menhirs in orderto " Christianize " them.Remarkable powers and virtues have been

attributed to many of the monuments. One ofthe dolmens of Finistere is said to cure rheumatismin anyone who rubs against the loftiest of itsstones,"and another heals fever patients who sleepunder it. Stones with holes pierced in them arebelieved to be peculiarly effective, and it sufficesto pass the diseased limb or, when possible, theinvalid himself through the hole.

Oaths sworn in or near a megalithic monumenthave a peculiar sanctity. In Scotland as late asthe year a.d. 1438 " John off Erwyne and WillBernardson swor on the Hirdmane Stein beforeoure Lorde ye Erie off Orknay and the gentilessoff the cuntre."Many of the monuments are endowed by thecredulous with life. The menhir du Champ Dolentsinks an inch every hundred years. Others saythat a piece of it is eaten by the moon each night,and that when it is completely devoured the LastJudgment will take place. The stones of Carnacbathe in the sea once a year, and many of thoseof the Perigord leap three times each day at noon.We have already remarked on the connectionof the monuments with dwarfs, giants, and mythi-

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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTScal personages. There is an excellent examplein our own country in Berkshire. Here when ahorse has cast a shoe the rider must leave it infront of the dolmen called " The Cave of Waylandthe Smith," placing at the same time a coin onthe cover-stone. He must then retire for a suitableperiod, after which he returns to find the horseshod and the money gone.

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CHAPTER IISTONEHENGE AND OTHER GREAT STONEMONUMENTS IN ENGLAND AND WALESSTONEHENGE, the most famous of our

English megalith ic monuments, has excitedthe attention of the historian and the legend-loversince early times. According to some of themedieval "historians it was erected by AureliusAmbrosius to the memory of a number of Britishchiefs whom Hengist and his Saxons treacherouslymurdered in A.D. 462. Others add that Ambrosiushimself was buried there. Giraldus Cambrensis,who wrote in the twelfth century, mingles theseaccounts with myth. He says, " There was inIreland, in ancient times, a pile of stones worthyof admiration called the Giants' Dance, becausegiants from the remotest part of Africa broughtthem to Ireland, and in the plains of Kildare, notfar from the castle of Naas, miraculously set themup. . . . These stones (according to the Britishhistory) Aurelius Ambrosius, King of the Britons,procured Merlin by supernatural means to bringfrom Ireland to Britain."From the present ruined state of Stonehengeit is not possible to state with certainty what was

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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTSthe original arrangement, but it is probable thatit was approximately as follows (see frontispiece) :

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ENGLAND AND WALESfive now remain in position. These ' lintels ' prob-ably formed a continuous architrave (PI. I). Thediameter of this outer circle is about 97J feet,inner measurement. The stones used are sarsensor blocks of sandstone, such as are to be foundtying about in many parts of the district roundStonehenge.

Well within this circle stood the five hugetrilithons (a-e), arranged in the form of a horse-shoe with its open side to the north-east. Eachtrilithon, as the name implies, consists of threestones, two of which are uprights, the third beinglaid horizontally across the top. The height ofthe trilithons varies from 16 to 21 J feet, the lowestbeing the two that stand at the open end of thehorseshoe, and the highest that which is at theapex. Here again all the stones are sarsens andall are carefully worked. On the top end of eachupright of the trilithons is an accurately cut tenonwhich dovetails into two mortices cut one at eachend of the lower surface of the horizontal block.Each upright of the outer circle had a doubletenon, and the lintels, besides being morticed totake these tenons, were also dovetailed each intoits two neighbours.

Within the horseshoe and close up to it standthe famous blue-stones, now twelve in number,but originally perhaps more. These stones arenot so high as the trilithons, the tallest reachingonly 7} feet. They are nearly all of porphyritic

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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTSdiabase. It has often been asserted that theseblue-stones must have been brought to Stonehengefrom a distance, as they do not occur anywherein the district. Some have suggested that theycame from Wales or Cornwall, or even by sea fromIreland. Now, the recent excavations haveshown that the blue-stones were brought toStonehenge in a rough state, and that all thetrimming was done on the spot where they wereerected. It seems unlikely that if they had beenbrought from a distance the rough trimmingshould not have been done on the spot where theywere found, in order to decrease their weight fortransport. It is therefore possible that the stoneswere erratic blocks found near Stonehenge.

Within the horseshoe, and near its apex, liesthe famous "Altar Stone " (A), a block measuringabout 16 feet by 4. Between the horseshoe andthe outer circle another circle of diabase stones issometimes said to have existed, but very littleof it now remains.The whole building is surrounded by a rampart

of earth several feet high, forming a circle about300 feet in diameter. An avenue still 1200 feetin length, bordered by two walls of earth, leadsup to the rampart from the north-east. On theaxis of this avenue and nearly at its extremitystands the upright stone known as the Friar's Heel.

In 1901, in the course of repairing the centraltrilithon, careful excavations were carried out overis


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ENGLAND AND WALESa small area at Stonehenge. More than a hundredstone implements were found, of which the majoritywere flint axes, probably used for dressing thesofter of the sandstone blocks, and also for exca-vating the chalk into which the uprights wereset. About thirty hammer-stones suitable forholding in the hand were found. These weredoubtless used for dressing the surface of theblocks. Most remarkable of all were the ' mauls,'large boulders weighing from 36 to 64 pounds,used for smashing blocks and also for removinglarge chips from the surfaces. Several antlers ofdeer were found, one of which had been worndown by use as a pickaxe.

These excavations made it clear that the blue-stones had been shaped on the spot, whereas thesarsens had been roughly prepared at the placewhere they were found, and only finished off onthe spot where they were erected.What is the date of the erection of Stonehenge ?The finding of so many implements of flint in the

excavations of 1901 shows that the structurebelongs to a period when flint was still largelyused. The occurrence of a stain of oxide of copperon a worked block of stone at a depth of 7 feetdoes not necessarily prove that the stones wereerected in the bronze age, for the stain may havebeen caused by the disintegration of malachiteand not of metallic copper. At the same time,

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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTSwe must not infer from the frequency of the flintimplements that metal was unknown, for flintcontinued to be used far on into the early metalage. Moreover, flint tools when worn out weresimply thrown aside on the spot, while those ofmetal were carefully set apart for sharpening orre-casting, and are thus seldom found in largenumbers in an excavation. We have, therefore,no means of accurately determining the date ofStonehenge ; all that can be said is that theoccurrence of flint in such large quantities pointseither to the neolithic age or to a comparativelyearly date in the copper or bronze period. It isunlikely that stone tools would play such aconsiderable role in the late bronze or the ironage.At the same time it must not be forgotten that

Sir Arthur Evans has spoken in favour of a datein the first half of the third century B.C. Hebelieves that the great circles are religious monu-ments which in form developed out of the roundbarrows, and that Stonehenge is therefore muchlater than some at least of the round barrowsaround it. That it is earlier than others is clearfrom the occurrence in some of them of chipsfrom the sarsen stones. He therefore places itsbuilding late in the round barrow period, and seesconfirmation of this in the fact that the roundbarrows which surround the monument are notgrouped in regular fashion around it, as they

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ENGLAND AND WALESshould have been had they been later indate.Many attempts have been made to date themonuments by means of astronomy. All thesestart from the assumption that it was erected inconnection with the worship of the sun, or at leastin order to take certain observations with regardto the sun. Sir Norman Loclryer noticed thatthe avenue at Stonehenge pointed approximatelyto. the spot where the sun rises at the midsummersolstice, and therefore thought that Stonehengewas erected to observe this midsummer rising.If he could find the exact direction of the avenuehe would know where the sun rose at midsummerin the year when the circle was built. From thishe could easily fix the date, for, owing to theprecession of the equinoxes, the point of the mid-summer rising is continually altering, and theposition for any year being known the date ofthat year can be found astronomically. But howwas the precise direction of this very irregularavenue to be fixed ? The line from the altar stoneto the Friar's Heel, which is popularly supposedto point to the midsummer rising, has certainlynever done so in the last ten thousand years, andtherefore could not be used as the direction of theavenue. Eventually Sir Norman decided to usea line from the centre of the circle to a modernbenchmark on Sidbury Hill, eight miles north-east of Stonehenge. On this line the sun rose in

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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTS1680 B.C. with a possible error of two hundredyears each way : this Sir Norman takes to bethe date of Stonehenge.

Sir Norman's reasoning has been severelyhandled by his fellow-astronomer Mr. Hinks, whopoints out that the direction chosen for theavenue is purely arbitrary, since Sidbury Hill hasno connection with Stonehenge at all. Moreover,Sir Norman determines sunrise for Stonehenge asbeing the instant when the edge of the sun's diskfirst appears, while in his attempts to date theEgyptian temple of Karnak he defined it as themoment when the sun's centre reached the horizon.We cannot say which alternative the builderswould have chosen, and therefore we cannotdetermine the date of building.

Sir Norman Lockyer has since modified hisviews. He now argues that the trilithons andouter circle are later additions to an earliertemple to which the blue-stones belong. Thisearlier temple was made to observe " primarilybut not exclusively the May year," while the latertemple " represented a change of cult, and wasdedicated primarily to the solstitial year." Thisview seems to be disproved by the excavations of190 1, which made it clear that the trilithons wereerected before and not after the blue-stones.

Nothing is more likely than that the buildersof the megaliths had some knowledge of themovements of the sun in connection with the

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ENGLAND AND WALESseasons, and that their priests or wise men deter-mined for them, by observing the sun, the timesof sowing, reaping, etc., as they do among manysavage tribes at the present day. They mayhave been worshippers of the sun, and theirtemples may have contained ' observation lines 'for determining certain of his movements. Butthe attempt to date the monuments from suchlines involves so many assumptions and is affectedby so many disturbing elements that it can neverhave a serious value for the archaeologist. Theuncertainty is even greater in the case of templessupposed to be oriented by some star, for in thiscase there is almost always a choice of two ormore bright stars, giving the most divergent results.

y

Fig. 2. Avebury and the Kennet Avenue. (AfterSir R. Colt Hoare.

Next in importance to Stonehenge comes thehuge but now almost destroyed circle of Avebury(Fig. 2). Its area is five times as great as that ofSt. Peter's in Rome, and a quarter of a millionpeople could stand within it. It consists in thefirst place of a rampart of earth roughly circular


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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTSin form and with a diameter of about 1200 feet.Within this is a ditch, and close on the inner edgeof this was a circle of about a hundred uprightstones. Within this circle were two pairs of con-centric circles with their centres slightly east of thenorth-and-south diameter of the great circle. Thediameters of the outer circles of these two pairs are350 and 325 feet respectively. In the centre ofthe northern pair was a cover-slab supported bythree uprights, and in the centre of the southern asingle menhir. All the stones used are sarsens,such as are strewn everywhere over the district.An avenue flanked by two rows of stones ranin a south-easterly direction from the ramparttowards the village of Kennet for a distance ofabout 1430 yards in a straight line.At a distance of 1200 yards due south from

Avebury Circle stands the famous artificial moundcalled Silbury Hill. It is 552 feet in diameter,130 in height, and has a flat top 102 feet across.A pit was driven down into its centre in 1777,and in 1849 a trench was cut into it from the southside to the centre, but neither gave any result.It is quite possible that there are burials in themound, whether in megalithic chambers or not.

South-west of Avebury is Hakpen Hill, wherethere once stood two concentric ellipses of stones.A straight avenue is said to have run from thesein a north-westerly direction. Whether thesethree monuments near Avebury have any con-

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ENGLAND AND WALESnection with one another and, if so, what thisconnection is, is unknown.

There are many other circles in England, butwe have only space to mention briefly some of themore important. At Rollright, in Oxfordshire,there is a circle ioo feet in diameter with a tallmenhir 50 yards to the north-east. Derbyshirepossesses a famous monument, that of Arbor Low,where a circle is surrounded by a rampart andditch, while that of Stanton Drew in Somersetconsists of a great circle A and two smaller circlesB and C. The line joining the centres of B and Apasses through a menhir called Hauptville'sQuoit away to the north-east, while that whichjoins the centres of C and A cuts a group of threemenhirs called The Cove, lying to the south-west.

In Cumberland there are several circles. Oneof these, 330 feet in diameter with an outstand-ing menhir, is known as " Long Meg and herDaughters." Another, the Mayborough Circle,is of much the same size, but consists of a tallmonolith in the centre of a rampart formed en-tirely of rather small water-worn stones. Asimilar circle not far from this is known as KingArthur's Round Table ; here, however, there isno monolith. Near Keswick there is a finelypreserved circle, and at Shap there seems to haveexisted a large circle with an avenue of stonesrunning for over a mile to the north.

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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTSCornwall possesses a number of fine monuments.

The most celebrated is the Dance Maen Circle,which is 76 feet in diameter and has two monolithsto the north-east, out of sight of the circle, butstated to be in a straight line with its centre.Local tradition calls the circle " The MerryMaidens," and has it that the stones are girlsturned into stones for dancing on Sunday : thetwo monoliths are called the Pipers. The threecircles known as the Hurlers lie close togetherwith their centres nearly in a straight line in thedirection N.N.E. by S.S.W. At Boscawen-un,near Penzance, is a circle called the Nine Maidens,and two circles near Tregeseal have the samename. Another well-known circle in Cornwall iscalled the Stripple Stones : the circle stands on aplatform of earth surrounded by a ditch, outsidewhich is a rampart. In the centre is a menhir12 feet in height.At Merivale, in Somersetshire, there are the

remains of a small circle, to the north of whichlie two almost parallel double lines of menhirs,running about E.N.E. by W.S.W., the moresoutherly of the two lines overlapping the otherat both extremities.With what purpose were these great circles

erected ? We have already mentioned the curiousbelief of Geoffrey of Monmouth with regard toStonehenge, and we may pass on to more modern

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ENGLAND AND WALEStheories. James I was once taken to see Stone-henge when on a visit to the Earl of Pembrokeat Wilton. He was so interested that he orderedhis architect Inigo Jones to enquire into its dateand purpose. The architect's conclusion was thatit was a Roman temple " dedicated to the godCaelus and built after the Tuscan order."Many years later Dr. Stukeley started a theorywhich has not entirely been abandoned at thepresent day. For him Stonehenge and other stonecircles were temples of the druids. This was initself by no means a ridiculous theory, but Stukeleywent further than this. Relying on a quaint storyin Pliny wherein the druids of Gaul are said touse as a charm a certain magic egg manufacturedby snakes, he imagined that the druids wereserpent-worshippers, and essayed to see serpentseven in the forms of their temples. Thus in theAvebury group the circle on Hakpen Hill wasfor him the head of a snake and its avenue partof the body. The Avebury circles were coils inthe body, which was completed by the additionof imaginary stones and avenues. He also at-tempted with even less success to see the form ofa serpent in other British circle groups.The druids, as we gather from the rather scanty

references in Gesar and other Roman authors,were priests of the Celts in Gaul. Suetoniusfurther speaks of druids in Anglesey, and traditionhas it that in Wales and Ireland there were druids

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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTSin pre-Christian times. But that druids everexisted in England or in a tithe of the places inwhich megalithic circles and other monumentsoccur is unlikely. At the same time, it is notimpossible that some of the circles of Ireland,Wales, and France were afterwards used by thedruids as suitable places for meeting and preaching.

Fergusson in his great work Rude Stone Monu-ments held a remarkable view as to the purposeof the British stone circles. He believed that theywere partly Roman in date, and that some ofthem at least marked the scene of battles foughtby King Arthur against the Saxons. Thus, forexample, he says with regard to Avebury, " Ifeel it will come eventually to be acknowledgedthat those who fell in Arthur's twelfth and greatestbattle were buried in the ring at Avebury, and thatthose who survived raised these stones and themound of Silbury in the vain hope that theywould convey to their latest posterity the memoryof their prowess." It is hardly necessary to takethis view seriously nowadays. Stonehenge, whichFergusson attributes to the same late era, hasbeen proved by excavation to be prehistoric inorigin, and with it naturally go the rest of themegalithic circles of England, except where thereis any certain proof to the contrary.The most probable theory is that the circles

are religious monuments of some kind. What thenature of the worship carried on in them was it is

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ENGLAND AND WALESquite impossible to determine. It may be thatsome at least were built near the graves of deifiedheroes to whose worship they were consecrated.On the other hand, it is possible that they weretemples dedicated to the sun or to others of theheavenly bodies. Whether they served for thetaking of astronomical observations or not is aquestion which cannot be decided with certainty,though the frequency with which menhirs occurin directions roughly north-east of the circles isconsidered by some as a sign of connection withthe watching of solar phenomena.Dolmens of simple type are not common in

England, though they occur with comparativefrequency in Wales, where the best known arethe so-called Arthur's Quoit near Swansea, thedolmen of Pentre Ifan in Pembrokeshire, and thatof Plas Newydd on the Menai Strait : in Angleseythey are quite common. In England we havenumerous examples in Cornwall, especially westof Falmouth, among which are Chun Quoit andLanvon Ouoit. There are dolmens at Chagfordand Drewsteignton in Devonshire, and there isone near the Rollright Circle in Oxfordshire.Many of the so-called cromlechs of Englandare not true dolmens, but the remains of tombsof more complicated types. Thus the famousKit's Coty House in Kent was certainly not adolmen, though it is now impossible to say what

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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTSits form was. Wayland the Smith's Cave wasprobably a three-chambered corridor-tomb coveredwith a mound. The famous Men-an-tol in Corn-wall may well be all that is left of a chamber-tomb of some kind. It is a slab about 3J feetsquare, in which is a hole ij feet in diameter.There are other stones standing or lying around it.It is known to the peasants as the Crickstone,for it was said to cure sufferers from rickets orcrick in the back if they passed nine times throughthe hole in a direction against the sun. The Isleof Man possesses a fine sepulchral monument onMeayll Hill. It consist of six T-shaped chamber-tombs arranged in a circle with entrances to thenorth and south. There is also a corridor-tomb,known as King Orry's Grave, at Laxey, andanother with a semicircular facade at Maughold.Among the megalithic monuments of our

islands the chambered barrows hold an importantplace. It is well known that in the neolithicperiod the dead in certain parts of England wereburied under mounds of not circular but elongatedshape. These graves are commonest in Wiltshireand the surrounding counties of Dorsetshire,Somersetshire, and Gloucestershire. A few existin other counties. Some contain no chamber,while others contain a structure of the megalithictype. It is with these latter that we have here todeal. Chambered long barrows are most frequent

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ENGLAND AND WALES

a

6

Fig. 3. (a)Barrow at Stoney Littleton, Somersetshire.(b) Barrow at Rodmarton, Gloucestershire, (c)Chambersof barrow at Uley, Gloucestershire. (After Thurnam, Arch-


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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTS Vin Wiltshire, though they do occur inj othercounties, as, for example,^Su^ldn^fe^sIiiLe< wherethe famous Cave of Wayland the Smith is cer-tainly the remains of a barrow of this kind. InDerbyshire and Staffordshire a type of chamberedmound does occur, but it seems uncertain fromthe description given whether it is round orelongated.Turning first to the Wiltshire and Gloucester-

shire group of barrows we find that they are usuallyfrom 120 to 200 feet in length and from 30 to 60in breadth. In some cases there is a wall of drystone-masonry around the foot of the mound andoutside this a ditch. The megalithic chamberswithin the mound are of three types. In thefirst there is a central gallery entering the moundat its thicker end and leading to a chamber orseries of chambers (Fig. 3, a and c). Where thisgallery enters the mound there is a cusp-shapedbreak in the outline of the mound as marked bythe dry walling, and the entrance is closed by astone block. The chambers are formed of largeslabs set up on edge. Occasionally there arespaces between successive slabs, and these arefilled up with dry masonry. The roof is madeeither by laying large slabs across the tops of thesides or by corbelling with smaller slabs as atStoney Littleton.

In the second type of chambered barrow thereis no central corridor, but chambers are built in

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ENGLAND AND WALESopposite pairs on the outside edge of the moundand opening outwards (Fig. 3, b). The two bestknown examples of this are the tumuli of Aveningand of Rodmarton.

In the third type of barrow there is no chamberconnected with the outside, but its place is takenby several dolmensso small as to be mere cistswithin the mound.The burials in these barrows seem to have been

without exception inhumations. The body wasplaced in the crouched position, either sitting upor reclining. In an untouched chamber at Rod-marton were found as many as thirteen bodies,and in the eastern chamber at Charlton's Abbottthere were twelve. With the bodies lay pottery,vases, and implements of flint and bone.

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CHAPTER IIIMEGALITHIC MONUMENTS IN SCOTLANDAND IRELANDTHE stone circles of Scotland have beendivided into three typesthe WesternScottish, consisting of a rather irregular ring orpair of concentric rings ; the Inverness type, inwhich a chamber entered by a straight passageis covered by a round tumulus with a retainingwall of stone, the whole being surrounded b}^ aregular stone circle ; and the Aberdeen type,which is similar to the last, but lias a ' recum-bent ' stone between two of the uprights of itsouter circle.The first type occurs in the southern counties,

in the islands of the west and north coasts, andalso extends into Argyll and Perthshire. Themost famous example is the Callernish Circle inthe Isle of Lewis. The circle is formed bythirteen stones from 12 to 15 feet high, and itscentre is marked by an upright 17 feet high. Fromthe circle extends a line of four stones to the eastand another to the west. To the south runs aline of five uprights and several fallen stones,and to the N.N.E. runs a double line, forming

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SCOTLAND AND IRELANDas it were an avenue with nine stones on one sideand ten on the other, but having no entrance tothe circle. Inside the circle, between the centralstone and the east side of the ring, is what isdescribed as a cruciform grave with three cellsunder a low tumulus. In this tomb were foundfragments of human bone apparently burnt.It has been suggested that the tomb is not partof the original structure, but was added later.The native tradition about this circle as repeated

by Martin in 1700 was that it was a druidicalplace of worship, and that the chief druid stoodnear the central stone to address the assembledpeople. This tradition seems to have now dis-appeared.

In the island of Arran, between Brodick andLamlash, is a damaged circle 21 feet in diameter.At a distance of 60 feet from its circumference in adirection 35 east of south is a stone 4 feethigh. In the centre of the circle was found acist cut in the underlying rock containing bluishearth and pieces of bone. Above were an imple-ment and some fragments of flint.On the other side of the island there were still

in i860 remains of eight circles, five of sandstoneand three of granite, quite close to one another.The diameter of the largest was 63 feet, and thehighest stone reached 18 feet. One of them wasa double ring. In four of them were found cistscontaining pottery, flint arrow-heads, a piece of

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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTSa bronze pin, and some fragments of bone. Othersappear to contain no cists.

In the other islands of the west coast few circlesseem to remain ; there are, however, one atKirkabrost in Skye, and another at Kingarth inBute.At Stromness in Orkney is the famous circlecalled the Ring of Brogar. It originally con-sisted of sixty stones forming a circle 340 feet indiameter, outside which was a ditch 29 feet wide.In a direction 6o east of south from the centre,and at a distance of 63 chains, is a standing stonecalled the Watchstone, 18 feet high, and 42 or 43chains further on in the same line is a secondstone, the Barnstone, 15 feet high. To the leftof this line are two stones apparently placed atrandom, and to the right are the few remainingblocks of the Ring of Stenness, somewhere to thenorth of which was the celebrated pierced blockcalled the " Stone of Odin," destroyed early inthe last century. At a distance of 42 or 43 chainsto the north-east of the Barnstone lies the tumulusof Maeshowe. This tumulus conceals a longgallery leading into a rectangular chamber. Thewalls of this latter are built of horizontal coursesof stones, except at the corners, where there aretall, vertically-placed slabs. The chamber hasthree niches or recesses, one on each of its closedsides. The roof is formed by corbelling the wallsand finishing oft with slabs laid across. If one

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SCOTLAND AND IRELANDsits within the chamber and looks in a direct linealong the passage one sees the Barnstone.A series of measurements and alignments havebeen taken to connect the ' Maeshowe tumuluswith the Ring of Brogar. Thus we have alreadyseen that the distance from the Barnstone to theWatchstone is the same as from the Barnstoneto the tumulus. Moreover, the Watchstone isequidistant from the ring and from the tumulus.Again, a line from the Barnstone to the tumuluspasses through the point of the midsummer sun-rise and also, on the other horizon, through thepoint of the setting sun ten days before thewinter solstice ; the line from the Watchstone tothe Brogar Ring marks the setting of the sun atthe Beltane festival in May and its rising ten daysbefore the winter solstice, while the line fromMaeshowe to the Watchstone is in the line of theequinoctial rising and setting. These alignmentsare the work of Mr. Magnus Spence ; readersmust choose what importance they will assign tothem.The Inverness type of circle is entirely different

from that of which we have been speaking. Thefinest examples were at Clava, seven miles fromInverness, where fifty years ago there were eightstill in existence. One of these is still partlypreserved. It consists of a circle ioo feet indiameter consisting of twelve stones. Withinthis is a cairn of stones with a circular retaining

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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTSwall of stone blocks 2 or 3 feet high. The cairnoriginally covered a circular stone chamber 12feet in diameter entered by a straight passageon its south-west side. In other words, the In-verness monuments are simply chamber-tombscovered with a cairn and surrounded by a circle.Around Aberdeen we find the third type ofcircle. It consists of a cist-tomb covered by alow mound, often with a retaining wall of smallblocks, but there is no entrance passage leadinginto the cist. Outside the whole is a circle oflarge upright blocks with this peculiarity, thatbetween the two highestgenerally to the southor slightly east of southlies a long block on itsside, occupying the whole interval between them.The uprights nearest this ' recumbent ' block arethe tallest in the circle, and the size of the restdecreases towards the north. Of thirty circlesknown near Aberdeen twenty-six still possess the' recumbent ' stone, and in others it may originallyhave existed.

Passing now to monuments of more definitelysepulchral type we find that the dolmen is notfrequent in Scotland, though several are knownin the lowlands and in part of Argyllshire.To the long barrows of England answer in part

at least the chambered cairns of Caithness andthe Orkneys. The best known type is a longrectangular horned cairn (Fig. 4), of which there

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SCOTLAND AND IRELANDare two fine examples near Yarhouse. The largestis 240 feet in length. The chamber is circular,and roofed partly by corbelling and partly bya large slab. In the cairn of Get we have a shorterand wider example of the horned type. Another

Fig. 4. Horned tumulus at Garrywhin, Caithness.(After Montelius.)

type is circular or elliptical. In a cairn of thissort at Camster an iron knife was found. On theHolm of Papa-Westra in the Orkneys there is anelliptical cairn of this kind containing a longrectangular chamber running along its majoraxis with seven small circular niches opening offit. The entrance passage lies on the minor axisof the barrow.


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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTSThe megalithic monuments of Ireland are

extremely numerous, and are found in almostevery part of the country. They offer a particularinterest from the fact that though they are of fewdifferent types they display all the stages bywhich the more complex were developed from themore simple. It must be remembered that mostif not all the monuments we shall describe wereoriginally covered by mounds of earth, thoughin most cases these have disappeared.The simple dolmen is found in almost all parts

of the country. Its single cover-slab is supportedby a varying number of uprights, sometimes asfew as three, oftener four or more. It is of great

CZD"

Fig. 5. Type-plans of (a) the round dolmen ; (b) thedolmen with portico ; [c) the rectangular dolmen.

importance to notice the fact that here in Ireland,as elsewhere in the megalithic area, e.g. Sardinia,we have the round and rectangular dolmens injuxtaposition (Fig. 5, a and c).

Occasionally one of the end-blocks of the dolmen40


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SCOTLAND AND IRELANDinstead of just closing up the space between thetwo nearest side-blocks is pushed back betweenthem so as to form with them a small three-sidedportico outside the chamber, but still under theshelter of the cover-slab (Fig. 5, b). A goodexample of this exists at Gaulstown, Waterford,where a table-stone weighing 6 tons rests on sixuprights, three of which form the little porticojust described. The famous dolmen of Carrick-glass, Sligo, is a still more developed example ofthis type. Here the chamber is an accurate rect-angle, and the portico is formed by adding twoside-slabs outside one of the end-slabs, but stillunder the cover. This last is a remarkable blockof limestone weighing about 70 tons. This formof tomb is without doubt a link between thesimple dolmen and the corridor-tomb. Theportico was at first built under the slab by pushingan end-stone inwards. Then external side-stonesformed the portico, though still under the slab.The next move was to construct the portico outsidethe slab. The portico then needed a roof, and theaddition of a second cover to provide it completedthe transition to the simpler corridor-tomb. Inmany cases the Irish simple dolmens were sur-rounded by a circle of upright stones. At Carrow-more, Sligo, there seems to have been a veritablecemetery of dolmen-tombs, each of which hasone or more circles around it, the outermost being120 feet in diameter. The tombs in these Carrow-

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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTSmore circles were not always simple dolmens,but often corridor-tombs of more or less com-plicated types. Their excavation has not givenvery definite results. In many cases humanbones have been found in considerable quantities,sometimes in a calcined condition ; but there isno real evidence to show that cremation was theburial rite practised. The calcination of humanbones may well have been caused by the lightingof fires in the tomb, either at some funeral cere-mony, or in even later days, when the place wasused as a shelter for peasants. A few poor flintswere found and a little pottery, together withmany bones of animals and some pins and borersof bone. The most important find made, how-ever, was a small conical button made of bonewith two holes pierced in its flat side and meetingin the middle. It is a type which occurs in Europeonly at the period of transition from the age ofstone to that of bronze, and usually in connectionwith megalithic monuments.

Fig. 6. Type-plan of the simple rectangularcorridor-tomb or altie couverte.

We pass on now to consider the simplest form42


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SCOTLAND AND IRELANDof corridor-tomb, that in which there are severalcover-slabs, but no separate chamber (Fig. 6).These tombs occur in most parts of Ireland. AtCarrick-a-Dhirra, County Waterford, there is aperfect example of the most simple type. Thetomb is exactly rectangular and lies east and west,with a length of 19 feet and a breadth of 7J. Ateach end is a single upright, and each long sideconsists of seven. The chamber thus formed isroofed by five slabs. The whole was surroundedby a circle of about twenty-six stones, and nodoubt the chamber was originally covered by amound. In a somewhat similar example atCoolback, Fermanagh, the remains of the ellipticalcairn are still visible.But in most cases the plan of the corridor-tomb

is complicated by a kind of outer lining of blockswhich was added to it. Most of the monumentsare so damaged that it is difficult to see what theexact form of this lining was. Whether it merelyconsisted of a line of upright blocks close aroundthe sides of the chamber or whether these sup-ported some further structure which covered upthe whole chamber it is difficult to say. In somecases the roof-slab actually covers the outer lineof blocks, and here it seems certain that thisouter line served simply to reinforce the chamberwalls, the space between being filled with earthor rubble. However, at Labbamologa, CountyCork, is a tomb called Leaba Callighe, in which

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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTSthis was certainly not the case. The length ofthe whole monument is about 42 feet. The slabscover the inner walls of the chamber, but notthe outer lining : this last forms a kind of outershell to the whole monument. It is shaped roughlylike a ship, and runs to a point at the east end,thus representing the bow. The west end isdamaged, but may have been pointed like theeast. The whole reminds one very forcibly ofthe naus of the Balearic Isles and the Giants'Graves of Sardinia. Occasionally the corridor-tomb has a kind of portico at its west end.

Fig. 7. Type-plan of wedge-shaped tomb. The roofslabs are two or more in number.

In Munster the corridor-tomb takes a peculiarform (Fig. 7). It lies roughly east and west, andits two long sides are placed at a slight angle to oneanother in such a way that the west end is broaderthan the east. In a good example of this atKeamcorravooly, County Cork, there are two largecapstones and the walls consist of double rows of

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SCOTLAND AND IRELANDslabs, the outer being still beneath the cover-slabs. On the upper surface of the coversare several small cup-shaped hollows, some ofwhich at least have been produced artificially.

These wedge-shaped structures are of remark-able interest, for exactly the same broadeningof the west end is found in Scandinavia, in theHiinenbetter of Holland, in the corridor-tombs ofPortugal, and in the dolmens of the Deccan inIndia.

In some Irish tombs the corridor leads to a well-defined chamber. In a curious tomb at Carrickard,Sligo, the chamber was rectangular and lay acrossthe end of the corridor in such a way as to forma T. The whole seems to have been covered withan oval mound. In another at Highwood in thesame count}' a long corridor joins two smallcircular chambers, the total length being 44 feet.The corridor was once divided into four sectionsby cross-slabs. The cairn which covered thistomb was triangular in form.

In the county of Meath, in the parish of LoughCrew, is a remarkable series of stone cairns ex-tending for three miles along the Slieve-na-Callighe Hills. These cairns conceal chamber-tombs. The cairns themselves are roughlycircular, and the largest have a circle of uprightblocks round the base. The chambers are builtofjjupright slabs and are roofed by corbelling.Cairn H covered a corridor leading to a chamber

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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTSand opening off on each side into a side-chamber,the whole group thus being cruciform. In thesechambers were found human remains and objectsof flint, bone, earthenware, amber, glass, bronze,and iron. Cairn L had a central corridor fromwhich opened off seven chambers in a very irregularfashion. Cairn T consisted of a corridor leadingto a fine octagonal chamber with small chambersoff it on three sides.The chief interest of these tombs lies in the

remarkable designs engraved on some of the stonesof the passages and chambers. They are fairlydeeply cut with a rather sharp implement, prob-ably a metal chisel. They are arranged in themost arbitrary way on the stones and are oftencrowded together in masses. There is no attemptto depict scenes of any kind, nor is there, indeed,any example of animal life. In fact, the designsseem to be purely ornamental. The most frequentelements of design are cup-shaped hollows, con-centric circles or ovals, star-shaped figures,circles with emanating rays, spirals, chevrons,reticulated figures, parallel straight or curvedlines. There seems to be no clue as to the meaningof these designs. They may have been merelyornamental, though this is hardly likely.At New Grange, near Drogheda, there is a

similar series of tumuli, one of which has becomefamous (Fig. 8). It consists of a huge mound ofstones 280 feet in diameter surrounded by a circle

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SCOTLAND AND IRELANDof upright blocks. Access to the corridor is gained

oU006

from the south-east side. This corridor leads to achamber with three divisions, so that corridor

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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTSand chambers together form a cross with a longshaft. The walls are formed of rough slabs setupright. In the passage the roof is of slabs laidright across, but the roof of the chamber is formedby corbelling. On the floor of each division of thechamber was found a stone basin.Around the edge of the mound runs an enclosurewall of stones lying on the ground edge to edge.A few of these are sculptured. The finest is agreat stone which lies in front of the entranceand shows a well-arranged design of spirals andlozenges. There are also engravings on one of thestones of the chambers. These designs are ingeneral more skilful than those of Lough Crew.They consist mainly of chevrons, lozenges, spirals,and triangles.

The monuments we have so far described areall tombs. Ireland also possesses several stonecircles. The largest are situated round LoughGur, 10 or 12 miles south of Limerick. Therewas at one time a fine circle west of Lough Gurat Rockbarton, but it is now destroyed. On theeastern edge of the lough is a double concentricring of stones, the diameter of the inner circlebeing about 100 feet. The rings are 6 feet apart,and the space between them is filled up withearth. In 1869 an excavation was made withinthe circle and revealed some human remains,mostly those of children from six to eight years old.

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SCOTLAND AND IRELANDFurther north is a remarkable group of monu-

ments known as the Carrigalla circles. The firstis a plain circle (L) 33 or 34 feet in diameter,composed of twenty-eight stones. The spacewithin them is filled up with earth to form araised platform. At a distance of 75 feet are twoconcentric circles, diameters 155 and 184 feetrespectively, made of stones 5 or 6 feet high. Thespace between the two circles is filled with earth.Within these is a third concentric circle about48 feet in diameter made of stones of the samesize. This group of three concentric circles wewill call M. The line joining the centres of L andM runs in a direction of 29 or 30 west of northand passes through a stone (N) 8 feet high standingon the top of a ridge 2500 feet away. There aretwo other stones more to the west (O and P) insuch a position that the line joining them (41 west of north) passes through the centre of M,from which they are distant 860 and 1450 feetrespectively. Further, a line through the centreof L and a great standing stone (0) 2480 feet fromit in a direction io east of south passes throughthe highest point in the district, 1615 feet awayand 492 feet in height.

Mr. Lewis compares this group of monumentswith that of Stanton Drew in Somersetshire. Inboth a line joining the centre of two circles passesthrough a single stone in a northerly direction,and there is in both a fixed line from the centre

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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTSof the larger circle. Captain Boyle Somerville,r.n., finds that the line 29 or 30 west of northwould mark the setting of Capella in B.C. 1600,or Arcturus 500 B.C. ; he adds that the direction41 west of north would suit Capella in 2500 B.C.or Castor in 2000 B.C.On the west side of Lough Gur is anothergroup of monuments. There is in the first placea circle 55 feet in diameter. On a line 35 eastof north from this is a stone 10 feet high, and thesame line produced strikes a prominent hill-top.Somewhere to the south-west of this circle, perhapswith its centre in the line just described, lay asecond circle between 150 and 170 feet in dia-meter, destroyed in 1870. Three other stonesmentioned by early writers as being near thecircles have now disappeared. The direction 35east of north is the same as that of the King-stone with regard to the Rollright Circle in Oxford-shire. This line, allowing a height of 3 for thehorizon, would, according to Sir Norman Lockyer,have struck the rising points of Capella in 1700B.C. and Arcturus in 500 B.C.To the south of the destroyed circle is anotherabout 150 to 155 feet in diameter, with stones of

over 5 feet in height set close together. Earth ispiled up outside them to form a bank 30 feet wide.There is an entrance 3 feet wide in a direction59 east of north from the centre of the circle.There is said to have been at one time a cromlech

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SCOTLAND AND IRELANDioo feet wide due south of the circle and connectedwith it by a paved way. Sir Norman Lockyerthinks that the position of the doorway is connectedwith observation of the sun's rising in May.Moreover, the tallest stone of the circle, 9 feethigh, is 30 east of north from the centre, a direc-tion which according to him points to the risingof Capella in 1950 B.C. and Arcturus in 280 B.C.

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CHAPTER IVTHE SCANDINAVIAN MEGALITHIC AREAI N Scandinavia megalithic monuments abound.They have been studied with unusual carefrom quite an early date in the history of archaeo-logy, and classified in the order of their develop-ment. The earliest type appears to be the simpledolmen with either four or five sides and a veryrough cover-slab. This and the upper part of thesides remained uncovered by the mound of earthwhich was always heaped round the tomb. Inlater times the dolmen became more regularlyrectangular in shape, and only its roof-blockappeared above the mound. Contemporary withthis later form of dolmen were several other typesof tomb. One was simply the earlier dolmen withone side open and in front of it a sort of portico orelementary corridor formed by two upright slabswith no roofing (cf. the Irish type, Fig. 5, b).This quickly developed into the true corridor-tomb, which had at first a small round chamberwith one or two cover-slabs, a short corridor, anda round or rectangular mound. Later typeshave an oval chamber (Fig. 9) with from one tofour cover-slabs or a rectangular chamber with a


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SCANDINAVIAlong corridor and a circular mound. Finally wereach a type where thin slabs are used in theconstruction, and the mound completely coversthe cap-stones : here the corridor leads out fromone of the short ends of the rectangular chamber.The earliest of these types in point of view ofdevelopment, the true dolmen, is common both in

Denmark and in South Sweden ; only one ex-ample exists in Norway. In Sweden it is neverfound far from the sea-coast.

Fig. 9. Corridor-tomb, Ottagarden, Sweden.(Montelius, Orient und Eitropa.)

The corridor-tomb is also frequent in Denmarkand Sweden, though it is unknown in Norway.In Sweden it is, like all megalithic monuments,confined to the south of the country. Of the earlytransition type with elementary corridor there arefine examples at Herrestrup in Denmark andTorebo in Sweden. A tomb at Sjobol in Swedenwhere the corridor, consisting of only two up-rights, is covered in with two roof-slabs insteadof being left open, shows very clearly the

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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTStransition to the corridor-tomb proper, in whichthe entrance passage consists of at least fouruprights, two on each side. Of this there arenumerous fine examples. A tomb of this type atBroholm in Denmark has a roughly circularchamber separated from the corridor by a kind ofthreshold-stone. Another at Tyfta in Sweden isremarkable for its curious construction, theuprights being set rather apart from one anotherand the spaces between filled up with dry masonryof small stones. Possibly there were not sufficientlarge blocks at hand to construct a tomb of therequired size.The still later type consisting of a rectangular

chamber with a long corridor leading out of oneof its long sides often attains to very imposingdimensions. In Westgothland, a province ofSweden, there are fine examples with walls oflimestone and often roofs of granite visible abovethe surface of the mound. The largest of thesetombs is that of Karleby near Falkoping. Inanother at Axevalla Heath were found nineteenbodies seated round the wall of the chamber,each in a separate small cist of stone slabs. Theposition of the bodies in the Scandinavian gravesis rather variable, both the outstretched and thecontracted posture being used. It is usual tofind many bodies in the same tomb, often asmany as twenty or thirty : in that of Borrebyon the island of Seeland were found seventy

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SCANDINAVIAskeletons, all of children of from two to eighteenyears of age.

In Denmark these rectangular tombs occa-sionally have one or more small round niches.In 1837 a large tomb was excavated at Lundhojon Jutland, which had a circular niche oppositeto the entrance. The niche had a threshold-stone,and the two uprights of the main chamber whichlay on either side of this had been crudely engravedwith designs, among which were a man, an animal,and a circle with a pair of diameters marked.Little was found in the chamber, and only somebones and a pot in the niche.

In Denmark often occur mounds which containtwo or more tombs, usually of the same form,each with its separate entrance passage. At theentrance of the chamber there is sometimes awell-worked framework into which fitted a doorof stone or wood.The late type in which the corridor leads out

of one of the narrow ends of the chamber isrepresented in both Sweden and Denmark. Fromthis may be derived the rather unusual types inwhich the corridor has become indistinguishablefrom the chamber or forms a sort of antechamberto it. An example of the former type at Knyttkarrin Sweden is wider at one end than at the other,and has an outer coating of stone slabs. Itresembles very closely the wedge-shaped tombs ofMunster (cf. Fig. 7).

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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTSIn Germany megalithic monuments are not

infrequent, but they are practically confined tothe northern part of the country. They extendas far east as Konigsberg and as far west as theborders of Holland. They are very frequent inHolstein, Mecklenburg, and Hanover. There areeven examples in Prussian Saxony, but in SouthGermany they cease entirely. Keller in one editionof his Lake Dwellings figures two supposed dolmensnorth of Lake Pfaffikon in Switzerland, but wehave no details with regard to them.The true dolmen is extremely rare in Germany,and only occurs in small groups in particular

localities. The corridor-tomb with a distinctchamber is also very exceptional, especially eastof the Elbe. The most usual type of megalithictomb is that known as the HUnenbett or Ricsenbett.The latter name means Giants' Bed, and it seemsprobable that the former should be similarlytranslated, despite the suggested connection withthe Huns, for a word Hunen has been in use inNorth Germany for several centuries with themeaning of giants. A HUnenbett consists of arectangular (rarely oval or round) hill of earthcovering a megalithic tomb. This is a simpleelongated rectangle in shape, made of uprightblocks and roofed with two or more cover-slabs.The great HUnenbett or Grewismiihlen in Mecklen-burg has a mound measuring 150 feet by 36 witha height of 5 feet. On the edge of the mound

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SCANDINAVIAare arranged forty-eight tall upright blocks ofstone.The Hi'menbetter of the Altmark are among

the best known and explored. Here the corridorsare usually about 20 feet long, though in rarecases they reach a length of 40 feet. Each is filledwith clean sand up to two-thirds of its height,and on this lie the bodies and their funeral deposit.The bodies must have been laid flat, though notnecessarily in an extended position, as there wasnot room above the sand for them to have beenseated upright. Various implements of flint havebeen found in the tombs together with stonehammers and vases of pottery. There is no certaininstance of the finding of metal.

A book printed by John Picardt at Amsterdamin 1660 contains quaint pictures of giants anddwarfs engaged in the building of a megalithicmonument which is clearly a Hunenbett. Accordingto tradition the giants, after employing the labourof the dwarfs, proceeded to devour them. Hlinen-better similar to those shown in Picardt's illustra-tions are still to be seen in Holland, but only inthe north, where over fifty are known. They areof elongated rectangular form, built of uprightblocks, and roofed with from two to ten cover-slabs. They all widen slightly towards the westend. The most perfect example still remainingis that of Tinaarloo, and the largest is that of

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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTSBorger, which contains forty-five blocks, of whichten are cap-stones. Several Hiinenbetler have beenexcavated. In them are found pottery vases,flint celts, axes and hammers of grey granite,basalt, and jade.Belgium possesses several true dolmens, ofwhich the best known is that called La Pierre du

Diable on the right bank of the Meuse. NearLuttich are two simple corridor-tombs, each witha round hole in one of the end-slabs and a smallportico outside it.

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CHAPTER VFRANCE, SPAIN, AND PORTUGALFRANCE contains large numbers of megalithicmonuments. Of dolmens and corridor-

tombs no less than 4458 have been recorded. Inthe east and south-east they are rare, but theyabound over a wide strip running from the Bretoncoasts of the English Channel to the Mediterraneanshores of Herault and Gard. In 1901 Mortillefcounted 6192 menhirs, including those whichformed parts of alignements and cromlechs.Several of these attain to a great size. That toLocmariaquer (Morbihan), now unfortunatelyfallen and broken, measured over 60 feet in height,being thus not much shorter than the Egyptianobelisk which stands in the Place de la Concordein Paris.

Passing now to combinations of menhirs ingroups, we must first mention the remarkablealignements of Brittany, of which the most famousare those of Carnac. They run east and west overa distance of 3300 yards, but the line is brokenat two points in such a way that the whole formsthree groups. The most westerly, that of Menec,consists of eleven lines of menhirs and a cromlech,

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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTSthe total number of stones standing being 1169,the tallest of which is 13 feet in height. Thecentral group, that of Kermario, consists of 982stones arranged in ten straight lines, while themost easterly, that of Kerlescan, is formed by579 menhirs, 39 of which form a rectangularenclosure.

There are other alignements in Brittany, of whichthe most important is that of Erdeven, com-prising 1 1 29 stones arranged in ten lines. OutsideBrittany alignements are unusual, but a fineexample, now ruined, is said to have existed atSaint Pantaleon north of Autun. In the fieldsaround it are found large quantities of polishedstone axes with knives, scrapers, and arrow-headsof flint.We have already noticed the cromlechs whichform part of the alignements of Brittany. Thereare other examples in France. At Er-Lanic aretwo circles touching one another, the lower ofwhich is covered by the sea even at low tide.Excavations carried out within the circles broughtto light rough pottery and axes of polished stone.Two fine circles at Can de Ceyrac (Gard) havediameters of about 100 yards, and are formed ofstones about 3 feet high. Each has a shortentrance avenue which narrows as it approachesthe circle, and in the centre of each rises a trilithonof rough stones.Of the definitely sepulchral monuments the

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FRANCE, SPAIN, AND PORTUGALdolmen is common in all parts of the Frenchmegalithic area. It will suffice to mention themagnificent example known as the Table desMarchands at Locmariaquer. Perhaps the mosttypical structure in France is the corridor-tombin which the chamber is indistinguishable fromthe passage, and the whole forms a long rect-angular area. This is the allee couverte in thenarrower sense. In the department of Oise occursa special type of this in which one of the end-slabs has a hole pierced in its centre and is pre-ceded by a small portico consisting of two uprightssupporting a roof-slab (Fig 10). A remarkable

Fig. io. Alike couverte, called LaPierre aux Fees, Oise, France. (Compterendu du Congres Prihistorique deFrance. )

example in Brittany known as Les Pierres Platesturns at a sharp angle in the middle, and is thuselbow-shaped.

In the north of France the allte is often merelycut out in the surface of the ground and has no

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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTSroof at all. It is sometimes paved with slabs anddivided into two partitions by an upright witha hole in its centre. Tombs of this kind oftencontain from forty to eighty skeletons, some ofwhich are in the contracted position. The skullsare in some cases trepanned, i.e. small roundpieces of the bone have been cut out of them ;such pieces are sometimes found separate in thegraves. No objects of metal occur in these NorthFrench tombs.There are many fine examples in Brittany of

the corridor-tomb with distinct chamber. Thebest known lies on the island of Gavr'inis (Mor-bihan). It is covered by a tumulus nearly 200feet in diameter. The circular chamber, 6 feet inheight, is roofed by a huge block measuring 13feet by 10. The corridor which leads out to theedge of the mound is 40 feet in length. Twenty-two of the upright blocks used in this tomb arealmost entirely covered with engraved designs.These are massed together with very little order,the main object having been apparently to coverthe whole surface of the stone with ornament.The designs consist of spirals, concentric circlesand semicircles, chevrons, rows of strokes, andtriangles, and bear a considerable resemblance tothose of Lough Crew and New Grange in Ireland.Another tomb in the same district, that of

Mane-er-Hroeck, was intact when discovered in1863. It contained within its chamber a hoard

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FRANCE, SPAIN, AND PORTUGAL.

of 101 axes of fibrolite and jadeite, 50 pebblesof a kind of turquoise known as callais, pieces ofpottery, flints, and a peculiarly fine celt of jadeitetogether with a flat ring-shaped club-head of thesame stone. The tomb was concealed by a hugeoval mound more than 100 yards in length. Thefamous Mont S. Michel is an artificial moundcontaining a central megalithic chamber and

Fig. ir. Chambered mound at Fontenay-le-Marmion, Normandy. (After Montelius, Orientitnd Etiropa. )

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ROUGH STONE MONUMENTSseveral smaller cists, some of which held crematedbodies.A very remarkable mound in Calvados (Fig. n)was found to contain no less than twelve circularcorbelled chambers, each with a separate entrancepassage. The megalithic tombs of Brittany allbelong to the late neolithic period, and containtools and arrow-heads of flint, small ornaments ofgold, calla'is, and pottery which includes amongits forms the bell-shaped cup.

In Central and South France the alUes couvertesare mostly of a semi-subterranean type, i.e. theyare cut in the ground and merely roofed withslabs of stone. The most famous is that of theGrotte des Fees near Aries (Fig. 12), in which apassage (a) with a staircase at one end and twoniches (b b) in its sides leads into a narrow rect-angular chamber (c). The total length is nearly80 feet. Another tomb of the same type, LaGrotte du Castellet, contained over a hundredskeletons, together with thirty-three flint arrowor spear-heads, one of which was stuck fast ina human vertebra, a bell-shaped cup, axes ofpolished stone, beads and pendants of variousmaterials, 114 pieces of calla'is, and a small plaqueof gold.On the plateau of Ger near the town of Dax arelarge numbers of mounds, some of which containcremated bodies in urns and others megalithictombs. Bertrand saw in this a cemetery of two

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