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STONE MONUMENTS, PRIMITIVE

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Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 966 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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STONE MONUMENTS, See also:PRIMITIVE .—The raising of commemorative monuments of such enduring material as stone is a practice that may be traced in all countries to the remotest times. The highly sculptured statues, obelisks and other monumental erections of See also:modern See also:civilization are but the lineal representatives of the unhewn monoliths, dolmens, cromlechs, &c., of prehistoric times. Judging from the large number of the latter that have still survived the destructive agencies (notably those of See also:man himself) to which they have been exposed during so many ages, it would seem that the motives which led to their erection had as See also:great a hold on humanity in its earlier stages of development as at the See also:present See also:time. In giving some See also:Locmariaquer, See also:Morbihan, is the largest menhir in the See also:world. It was in the See also:form of a smooth-sided See also:obelisk, but now lies on the ground broken into four fragments, the aggregate length of which amounts to 20.50 metres (about 67 ft.). It was made of See also:granite See also:foreign to the neighbourhood, and its See also:weight, according to the most See also:recent calculations, amounted to 347,531 kilogrammes, or 342 tons (L°Homme, 1885, p. 193). The next largest menhir is at Plesidy (See also:Cotes-du-See also:Nord), measuring about 37 ft. in height. Then follows a See also:list of sixty-seven gradually diminishing to i6 ft. in height of which the first ten (all above 26 ft.) are in See also:Brittany. As regards form these menhirs vary greatly. Some are cylindrical, as the well-known See also:Pierre de champ-Dolent at See also:Dol (height 30 ft.), and that of Cadiou in See also:Finistere (28 ft.); while that of Penmarch (26 ft.) takes the shape of a partially See also:expanded See also:fan. A menhir of See also:quartz at Medreac (Ille-et-Vilain,e) stands x6a ft. high in the form of a rectangular See also:pillar indubitablement tailU.

On the introduction of See also:

Christianity into See also:France its adherents appear to have made use of these menhirs at an See also:early See also:period; many of them at present support a See also:cross, and some a Madonna. While the scattered positions of some monoliths suggest that they were sometimes used as landmarks, or perhaps as places of See also:rendezvous for hunters, the singular grouping of others shows that these were only secondary or subsidiary functions. So far as the Ogam See also:inscriptions, found on some of the See also:standing stones in See also:Scotland, See also:Ireland and See also:Wales, have thrown See also:light on the subject they appear to have been the headstones of See also:graves. It is not uncommon to find a monolith overtopping a See also:tumulus, thus simulating the bauta (See also:grave or See also:battle) stones of Scandinavia. Menhirs of all sizes are also met with in See also:Algeria, See also:Morocco, See also:India, Central See also:Asia, &c. Alignments.—The most celebrated monuments of this class are to be seen in the vicinity of See also:Carnac in Brittany. They are situated in See also:groups at Menec (see See also:Plate, fig. 5), Kermario, Kerlescant, Erdeven and Ste Barbe—all within a few See also:miles of each other, and in the centre of a See also:district containing the most remark-able megalithic remains in the world. The first three groups are supposed by some archaeologists to be merely portions of one See also:original and continuous See also:series of alignments, which extended nearly 2 M. in length in a See also:uniform direction from See also:south-See also:west to See also:north-See also:east. Commencing at the See also:village of Malec the menhirs extend in eleven rows. At first they stand from le to 13 ft. above ground, but as we advance they become gradually smaller till they attain only 3 or 4 ft. in height, and then cease altogether. After a vacant space of about 350 yards we come to the Kermario See also:group, which contains only ten lines, but the menhirs are nearly of the same magnitude as those at the beginning of the former group.

After a still greater See also:

interval the menhirs again appear at the village of Kerlescant, but this time in thirteen rows. In 1881 M. See also:Felix See also:Gaillard, Plouharnel, made a See also:plan of the alignments at Erdeven, from which it appears that, out of a See also:total of 1120 menhirs which originally constituted the group, 290 are still standing, 740 fallen, and 90 removed. The menhirs here may be traced for nearly a mile, but their linear arrangement is not so distinct, nor are the stones so large as those at Carnac. About 5o alignments are known in France. At Penmarch there is one containing over 200 stones arranged in four rows. Others, however, are formed of only a single See also:row of stones, as at Kerdouadec, Leure and Camaret. The first is 48o metres in length, and terminates at its See also:southern extremity in a See also:kind of croix gammee. At Leure three See also:short lines meet' at right angles. The third is situated on the rising ground between the See also:town of Camaret and the point of Toulinguet. It consists of a See also:base See also:line, some 600 yards See also:long, with 41 stones (others had apparently been removed), and two rectangular lines as short offsets. See also:Close to it were a dolmen and a prostrate menhir.

All these monoliths consist of a coarse quartz and are of small dimensions; only one, at Leure, reaching a height of 9 ft. Alignments are also found in the regions flanking the See also:

Pyrenees, but here they are generally in single See also:file —mostly straight, but sometimes reptiliform. One at Peyrelade (Billiere) runs in a straight line from north to south for nearly See also:idea of the characteristics of these See also:rude and primitive monuments in See also:Britain and elsewhere it will be convenient to classify them as follows: (i) Isolated pillars, or monoliths (.ovos, solitary, and )tiOos, stone) of unhewn stones raised on end, are called menhirs (Cornish, maenhir, and Welsh maen, a stone, and hir, long). (2) When these monoliths are arranged in lines they become alignments (ad, to, and Fr. ligne, a line), as at Menec, Carnac (see Plate, fig. 5). (3) But if their linear arrangement be such as to form an enclosure (See also:enceinte), whether circular, See also:oval or irregular, the group is designated by the name of cromlech (Gaelic, crom, crooked, and leac, Welsh llech, a flagstone), as at Carrowmore, Ireland (see Plate, fig. 4). (4) When the monoliths, instead of standing apart as in the previous structures, are placed close to each other and enclose an See also:area sufficiently small and narrow to be roofed over by one or more capstones so as to form a rude chamber, the See also:monument is called a dolmen (See also:Breton, dolmen, from dol, a table, and men, Welsh maen, a stone). For illustrations of the dolmens at Keriaval and See also:Kit's Coty See also:House (see Plate, See also:figs. r and 2). This megalithic chamber is sometimes wholly embedded in a See also:mound of See also:earth or stones so as to present to outward See also:appearance the form of a tumulus or See also:cairn. As, however, there are many tumuli and See also:cairns which do not contain megalithic See also:chambers, it is only partially that these prehistoric remains come under the See also:category of primitive stone monuments. In the rare instances of a dolmen being constructed of two single standing stones. supporting a third, like the See also:lintel of a See also:door, as may be - seen at See also:Stonehenge (q.v.), the monument is called a trilithon (rpt=rpeis, three, and XiOos, stone).

Menhirs.—Rude monoliths set on end appear to have been erected in all ages for a variety of commemorative purposes, such as on the See also:

accession of See also:kings and chiefs, or to See also:mark the site of a battle, a grave, or a boundary line, &c. Throughout the See also:British Isles such standing stones are widely interspersed, especially in the less cultivated districts. In Scotland, when stones were used ceremonially in the See also:act of crowning a See also:king, they were called tanist stones, the most celebrated of which was the Lia Fail, formerly at See also:Scone (now at See also:Westminster See also:Abbey), on which the kings of Scotland used to be crowned. We read also of See also:hare or hoer stones, cambus or See also:camus stones (See also:cam, crooked), See also:cat (cath, battle) stones, See also:witch stanes, Druid stanes, &c. The See also:Hawk stane, or Saxum Falconis, at St Madoes, See also:Perthshire, was erected in memory of the defeat of the Danes at Luncarty, and a monolith now standing on the See also:field of See also:Flodden is said to mark the See also:place where King See also:James See also:fell. When menhirs were grouped together their number was often significant, e.g. twelve (See also:Joshua iv. 5) or seven (See also:Herod. iii. 8). Some standing stones are found to have been artificially perforated, and with these superstition has associated some curious ceremonies. As examples of this class may be mentioned the famous Stone of See also:Odin near the circle of Stennis, the Clach-Charra, or Stone of Vengeance, at Onich near Balachulish, See also:Argyllshire, and Men-en-tol (the holed-stone) in See also:Cornwall. Two rude monoliths in Scotland See also:bear inscriptions—the famous See also:Newton Stone in the district of Garioch, and the Cat Stane near See also:Edinburgh. Others have See also:cup-and-See also:ring markings, spirals or concentric circles.

In Ireland, Wales and Scotland they are occasionally found with Ogam inscriptions and in the north-east of Scotland (Pict-See also:

land) with some remarkable and hitherto unexplained symbolical figures, which were continued on the hewn and elaborately sculptured stones of early See also:Christian times so largely found in that locality. In See also:England monoliths are often associated with the cromlechs or stone circles, as the King's Stone at See also:Stanton See also:Drew, Long Meg at Little Salkeld, the Ring Stone at See also:Avebury, &c. One of the finest British monoliths stands in the See also:churchyard of Rudston, See also:Yorkshire. Menhirs are found in all countries which abound in megalithic structures. In France over r600 isolated examples have been recorded, of which about the See also:half, and by far the most remarkable, are within the five departments which constitute Brittany. Over the See also:rest of France they are generally small, and not to be compared in See also:size to those of Brittany. At 300 yds. and contains 93 stones, some of which are of great cromlech (now partially submerged), the circles of which intersect size. At St Columb, in Cornwall, there is one called the Nine each other. Cromlechs may also be connected by alignments or Maidens, which consists of eight quartz stones extending in avenues, as already explained; and they are often associated a perfectly straight line for 262 ft. In Britain, however, with other megalithic monuments. Thus, at the end of the the alignments are more frequently arranged in a See also:double file, great Carnac alignments are the remains of a large circle which or in avenues leading to, or from, other megalithic monuments, can be readily traced, notwithstanding that some houses such as still exist, or formerly existed, in connexion with the are constructed within its area. In the British Isles and in cromlechs or circles at Avebury, Stonehenge, See also:Dartmoor, Shap, the north of See also:Europe they frequently surround dolmens (as at Callernish, &c.

The stone circle at Callernish, in the See also:

island of Carrowmore, Ireland—Plate, fig. 4), tumuli and cairns. A few See also:Lewis, shows an unusually elaborate See also:design with two parallel examples of a dolmen being surrounded by one or more circles rows of upright stones See also:running northwards and a single line have been recorded by M. Cartailhac from the See also:department of across, thus presenting a cruciform appearance. A very tall See also:Aveyron, in France. Outside the stone circle there is also menhir (17 ft. long) occupies the centre of the circle (42 ft. frequently to be found a circular ditch as at Avebury, Stone-in See also:diameter). The See also:peat which in the course of ages had accumu- henge, Arbor See also:Low, Ring of Brogar, &c. The most remarklated to a See also:depth of 5 ft. was removed in 1858, and hence able megalithic monument of this class now extant is Stone-the characteristic features of this remarkable monument henge, which differs, however, from its congeners in having the are well seen in the Plate, fig. 3. The only example in England stones of its See also:outer circle partially hewn and attached by trans-comparable to the great alignments of Carnac is in the vale of See also:verse lintels. The largest cromlech in France was situated at the See also:White See also:Horse, in See also:Berkshire. Here the stones, numbering the village of Kergonan, on the Ile-aux-Moines (Morbihan), about 800, are grouped in three divisions, and es .end over an about the half of it being now destroyed by the encroachment irregular parallelogram measuring from 500 to 60o yds. in of the houses.

The remaining semi-circumference contains length and from 250 to 300 yds. in breadth. See also:

Sir See also:Henry See also:Dryden 36 menhirs, from 6 to 10 ft. high, and its diameter is abut describes several groups of alignments in See also:Caithness, as at Garry- 328 ft. This cromlech, like so many See also:English " circles," whin, Camster, Yarhouse, and the " Many Stones " at Clyth was not circular but slightly elliptical. Only a few of the (See also:Fergusson, Rude Stone Monuments, p. 529). Alignments in British cromlechs exceed these dimensions, among which may single and multiple rows have also been observed in See also:Shetland, be mentioned Avebury (126o by 1170 ft.), Stonehenge (outer India, Algeria, &c. circle 300 ft., inner 1o6 ft.), Stanton Drew (36o ft.), Brogar Cromlechs.—In Britain the use of the word cromlech is vir- (345 ft.), Long Meg and her Daughters (330 ft.). One near tually synonymous with that of dolmen. In France, however, See also:Dumfries with 11 stones and 291 ft. in diameter, called the and on the See also:Continent generally, it is exclusively applied to that Twelve Apostles, also closely approaches what Fergusson calls class of monument for which in this See also:country only the descrip- the Too-See also:metre size; but, generally speaking, the Scotch and Irish tive name of " stone circles," or " circles of standing stones," examples are of smaller proportions, rarely exceeding xoo ft. is used. This application of the See also:term in various countries to in diameter. That most of the smaller circles have been used different classes of monuments has given rise to some confusion. as sepulchres has been repeatedly proved by actual excavations The earliest known use of the word occurs in See also:Bishop which showed that interments had taken place within their areas. See also:Morgan's See also:translation of the See also:Bible into Welsh (1588), where " the It is difficult, however, to believe that this could have been the clefts of the rocks " is rendered by cromlechydd y creigiau. Its See also:main See also:object of the larger ones.

At Mayborough, near See also:

Penrith, earliest occurrence in the See also:special sense in which it has continued there is a circular mound entirely composed of an immense to be used by British antiquaries is in a description of some See also:aggregation of small stones in the form of a gigantic ring and See also:ancient remains by the Rev. See also:John See also:Griffith of Llanddyfnan enclosing a See also:flat area, about 300 ft. in diameter. This space (165o), in which he says—" There is a crooked little See also:cell of is entered by a wide See also:aperture in the ring, and near the centre stone not far from Alaw, where according to tradition Bronwen there is a See also:fine monolith, one of several known to have formerly Leir was buried; such little houses, which are See also:common in this stood there. Of the same type is the See also:Giant's Ring, near See also:Bel-country, are called by the apposite name cromlechaw." In fast; but the ring in this instance is made of earth and it is this See also:article the word cromlech retains its See also:continental meaning considerably larger in diameter (58o ft.), while the central and is exclusively used to indicate enclosures (enceintes) formed object is a fine dolmen. It is more probable that such enclosures of rude monoliths placed at intervals of a few yards; and as were used, like many of our modern churches, for the double such enclosures generally assume a circular, or oval, shape they purpose of burying the dead and addressing the living. are not infrequently described as stone circles. Rectangular Dolmens.—In its simplest form a dolmen consists of three, enclosures are, however, not unknown, examples of which may be four, or five stone supports, covered by one selected megalith seen at Curcunno (Morbihan), near the well known dolmen of called a capstone, or table. A well-known example of this kind that name, and at See also:Saint Just (Ille-et-Vilaine). The former in England is Kit's Coty House (see Plate), situated between See also:measures 37 by 27 yds., and is now composed of 22 menhirs, See also:Rochester and See also:Maidstone, which is formed of three large sup-all of which are standing (some fallen ones having been restored ports with a capstone measuring 11 by 8 ft. From this See also:simple by the See also:government), while about a dozen appear to be wanting. form there is an endless variety of structures till we reach the A " donkey-See also:shoe-shaped " enclosure has been described by so-called Giant Graves and Grottes See also:des Fees, which consist of Sir Henry Dryden in the See also:parish of Latheron, Caithness, measur- numerous supports and several capstones. The dolmen of See also:ing 226 ft. long, 110 ft. wide in the See also:middle, and 85 ft. wide Bagneux, situated in the corner of a See also:plantation on the outskirts at the two extremities. Stone circles are frequently arranged of the town of See also:Saumur, measures 18 metres in length, 6.5o in concentrically, as may be seen in the circles at See also:Kenmore, near breadth and 3 in height.

It is constructed of huge flagstones, Aberfeldy, Perthshire, as well as in many other Scottish, Irish 4 on each See also:

side, and 4 capstones—the largest capstone measuring and Scandinavian examples. More rarely one large circle 7.50 metres in length, 7 in breadth and 1 in thickness. Another surrounds inner groups without having a common centre, as near Esse (Ille-et-Vilaine) called La See also:Roche aux Fees, is See also:con-at Avebury where the outer circle (1200 ft. in diameter) sur- structed of 3o supports and 8 capstones, including the vestirounded two others each of which contained an inner con- bule. Dolmens of this kind are extremely rare in the British centric circle. The stone circle of Ballynoe, Co. Down, Isles, the only one comparable to them in form being Calliagh Ireland, consists of inner and outer (See also:eccentric) circles; the Birra's House near Monasterboice, Ireland, which consists former measures about 57 ft. in diameter with 22 stones, and of 4 capstones supported by 4 or 5 thin stones on edge to form the latter 1o5 ft. in diameter with 45 stones. At See also:Boscawen, each side, and one stone closing one end. Owing to its small in Cornwall, there is a group of circles confusedly attached and size (12 ft. long by 4 wide) this monument is disappointing in partially overlapping. Also, on the small island of Er-Lanic appearance. These See also:free standing megalithic chambers, generally (near the famous tumulus of Gavr'inis), there is a double I known as allees couvertes, as well as many other examples of the simple dolmen, show no See also:evidence of having been covered aver by a mound containing an entrance passage. Only one dolmen with a mound. When there was a mound, it necessitated in has been recorded in See also:Belgium; but in France their number the larger ones an entrance passage which, like the chamber, was constructed of a series of side stones and capstones.

Some archaeologists maintain that all dolmens were formerly covered with a cairn or tumulus—a theory which undoubtedly derives some support from the See also:

condition of many examples still extant, especially in France, where they may be seen, as it were, in all stages of degradation from a partial to a See also:complete See also:state of denudation. Were the See also:soil and stones which compose the tumulus of New See also:Grange, Ireland, removed, leaving only the large stones which form its entrance passage and central chambers, there would be exposed to view a very imposing megalithic structure, not unlike the group of monoliths at Callernish in the Lewis (see Plate, fig. 3). The See also:alias couvertes of France, See also:Germany and the Channel Islands had their entrance at the end; but, on the other See also:hand, those of the See also:Drente, in See also:Holland (Hunebedden), had both ends closed and the entrance was on the side facing the See also:sun. The covered dolmens are extremely variable in shape—circular, oval, quadrangular and irregular being forms commonly met with; and as to size they range from that of an See also:ordinary See also:barrow up to that of New Grange, which rises in the form of a truncated See also:cone to a height of 70 ft. with a diameter of 315 ft. at the base and 120 ft. at the See also:top. Around its base was a circle of some See also:thirty rude monoliths, placed about to yds. apart, and forming a circumference of t000 ft.—only a few of these menhirs are now in situ. The entrance passage to the interior of this huge tumulus measures about 63 ft. long, 4 ft. q in. high, and 3 ft. 6 in. wide, and discloses some large blocks of stone; and its cruciform chamber measures 26 ft. long, 21 ft. broad and 194 ft. high in the middle. The entrance See also:gallery may be attached to the end of the chamber, as in the Grotte de Gavr'inis, or to the side, as in the Giant's Grave at Oem near See also:Roskilde. In other instances there is no distinct chamber, but a long passage gradually widening from the entrance; and this may be See also:bent at an See also:angle, as in the dclmen du Rocher (Morbihan). Again, there may be several chambers communicating with one entrance passage; or, two or three chambers, having See also:separate entrances, may be imbedded in the same tumulus. A curious specimen of the former may be seen in a ruined tumulus near St Helier, See also:Jersey; and an excellent example of the latter is the partially destroyed tumulus of Rondosec, near Plouharnel railway station, which contains three separate dolmens.

That such See also:

variations are not due to altered customs, in consequence of wideness of See also:geographical range, is shown by de See also:Mortillet, who gives plans of no less than 16 differently shaped dolmens (Musee prehistorique, pl. 58), all within a confined district in Morbihan. Ruined dolmens are abundantly met with in the provinces of See also:Hanover, See also:Oldenburg and See also:Mecklenburg. At Riestedt, near See also:Uelzen in Hanover, there is, on the See also:summit of a tumulus, a very singular dolmen which measures about 40 ft. long and 6 ft. wide. Another at Naschendorf, near See also:Weimar, consists of a mound surrounded by a large circle of stones and a covered chamber on its summit. Remains of a megalithic structure at Rudenbeck, in Mecklenburg, though now very imperfect, show that originally it had been constructed like an allee couverte. It had four supports on each side, two at one end (the other end being open and forming the entrance), and two large capstones. The length in its completed state was about 20 ft., breadth 7z ft., and height from the See also:floor to the under See also:surface of the roof 3 ft. According to See also:Bonstetten, no less than 200 of these megalithic monuments are distributed over the three provinces See also:Luneburg, See also:Osnabruck and See also:Stade; and the most gigantic examples in Germany are in the duchy of Oldenburg. In Holland, with one or two exceptions, they are confined to the See also:province of Drente, where between 50 and 6o still exist, under the name of Hunebedden (See also:Huns' beds). The Borger Hunebed, the largest of the group, is 70 ft. long and 14 ft. wide. In its original condition it contained 45 stones, ten of which were capstones.

All the Drente monuments are now denuded, but a few show evidences which suggest that they had formerly been surrounded amounts to 3000-4000. They are irregularly distributed over 78 departments, no less than 618 being in Brittany. In the centre of the country they are also numerous, some 435 having been recorded in Aveyron; but here they are of much smaller dimensions than in Brittany. From the Pyrenees these rude stone' monuments are sparsely traced along the north See also:

coast of See also:Spain and through See also:Portugal to See also:Andalusia, where they occur in considerable See also:numbers, but of their precise numbers and See also:distribution we have no trustworthy accounts. According to Cartailhac (Ages prehistoriques de l'Espagne et du Portugal, p. 152) 118 were recorded up to 1899 under the name of antas. Many of them are in the form of free standing dolmens and allees couvertes. The most remarkable monument of this kind in Spain, and certainly one of the finest in Europe, is that near the village of See also:Antequera, some distance north of See also:Malaga. The chamber, slightly oval in shape, measures 24 metres long, 6.15 metres broad, and from 2.70 metres to 3 metres high. The entire structure comprises 31 monoliths—ten on each side, one at the end and five on the roof. Moreover, the roof is strengthened by three pillars placed along the middle line at the widest See also:part of the chamber. The huge stones are made of the See also:Jurassic See also:limestone of the district and, like those of Stonehenge, appear to have been partly dressed.

The entire structure was originally, and still is partially covered by earth, which formed a mound about too ft. in diameter. In See also:

Africa dolmens are found in large groups in Morocco, Algeria and See also:Tunis. See also:General See also:Faidherbe writes of having examined five or six thousand at the cemeteries of Bou Merzoug, 1'Oued Berda, See also:Tebessa, Gastal, &c. (Congres inter-See also:national d'anth. et d'See also:arch. prehist., 1872, p. 408). In the Channel Islands every kind of megalithic monument is met with. At Mont Cochon, near St Helier, there was lately discovered in-a mound of blown See also:sand an allee couverte and, close to it, a stone circle surrounding a small dolmen. In the British Isles dolmens are common in many localities, particularly in the west of England, See also:Anglesey, the Isle of Man, Ireland and Scotland. In the last named country they are not, however, the most numerous and striking remains among its rude stone monuments—the stone circles and cisted cairns having largely superseded them. No dolmens exist in eastern Europe beyond See also:Saxony. They reappear, however, in the See also:Crimea and See also:Circassia, whence they have been traced through Central Asia to India where they are widely distributed. Similar structures have also been recognized by travellers in See also:Palestine, See also:Arabia, See also:Persia, See also:Australia, See also:Madagascar, See also:Peru, &c.

The irregular manner in which these megalithic monuments are distributed along the western parts of Europe bordering on the seashore has led to the theory that they were erected by a special See also:

people, but as to the when, whence and whither of this megalithic See also:race we have no know-ledge whatever. Although the See also:European dolmens, however widely apart they may be situated, have a strong See also:family likeness, yet they present some striking See also:differences in certain localities. In Scandinavia they are confined to Danish lands and a few provinces in the south of See also:Sweden. In the former country the exposed dolmens are often placed on artificial mounds and surrounded by cromlechs which are either circular (runddysser), or oval (langdysser). In Sweden the sepulture a galerie is very rarely entirely covered up as in the Giant graves of See also:Denmark. In the See also:absence of See also:historical records and scientific investigations it was formerly the See also:custom to regard all these different varieties of primitive stone monuments as of See also:Celtic origin. By some they were supposed to have been constructed by the See also:Druids, the so-called priests of the Celts; and hence they have been described, especially since the time of See also:Aubrey and Stukely, under the name of Celtic or Druidical monuments. But from more recent researches there can be no doubt that the See also:primary object of this class of remains was sepulchral, and that the megalithic chambers with entrance passages were used as family vaults. Against the theory that any of them were ever used as altars, there is prima facie evidence in the care taken to have the smoothest and flattest surface of the stones composing the chambers always turned inwards. Moreover, cup marks and other primitive markings, when found on capstones, are almost invariably on their underside, as at the dolmens of Keriaval, Kercado and Dol ar Marchant. Also, all the six stones forming the three-sided chamber of the great tumulus of Gavr'inis (Morbihan) and most of those in the sides of its long entrance passage (44 ft.), are elaborately sculptured with primitive incised patterns, perfectly analogous to those on the walls of the chamber of New Grange (Ireland). From its position in the centre of a large circular enclosure, as uniformly even as a See also:garden See also:lawn, no dolmen could be more suggestive as a place of See also:sacrifice than that within the Giant's Ring near See also:Belfast; yet nothing could be more inappropriate for such a purpose that its capstone, which, in fact, is nothing more than a large granite See also:boulder presenting on its upper side an unusually rounded surface.

No See also:

chronological sequence has been detected in the construction and See also:evolution of these primitive stone monuments; nor can their existence and special forms in different countries be said to indicate contemporaneity. The dolmens of Africa are often found to contain See also:objects See also:peculiar to the See also:Iron See also:Age, and it is said that in some parts of India the people are still in the See also:habit of erecting menhirs, cromlechs, dolmens and other megalithic monuments. Scandinavian archaeologists assign their dolmens exclusively to the Stone Age. It would appear that, subsequent to the great chambered cairns of the Stone Age, a period of degradation in this kind of See also:architecture occurred in Britain when the See also:Bronze Age barrows replaced the dolmens, and these again gave way to simple See also:burial in the earth. In Scandinavia the megalithic chamber seems to have been discarded in the Iron Age for burials, either by See also:cremation or inhumation under huge tumuli, as may be seen in the three great mounds of See also:Thor, Odin and Freya at Gamla See also:Upsala, and the See also:ship-barrow at Gokstad on the Sandefiord, the See also:scene of the See also:discovery of the See also:Viking ship now exhibited in the museum at See also:Christiania. Just on the borderland between the See also:works of nature and See also:art comes the so-called Rocking-Stone (See also:Logan, or Loggan, stone, See also:French, pierre branlante), which usually is nothing more than an erratic, See also:ice-transported boulder, poised so nicely over a rocky See also:bed that See also:gentle pressure with the hand may cause it to See also:rock or oscillate. Such stones appear to be sparsely distributed over the whole area occupied by the primitive stone monuments, and, being very large, they were pre-eminently calculated to awaken astonishment in the minds of the worshippers of the mysterious works of nature. Hence the important position assigned to them in the Druidical See also:worship invented by Stukely and other antiquaries of the 18th See also:century. Some rocking-stones are evidently artificial, having had the rock cut underneath them, leaving in each a See also:pivot-like prominence on which the See also:block rests; but, on the other hand, natural causes can produce similar results, the stone itself acting like an See also:umbrella to protect the central portion of the bed while weathering outside is going on all around. The same See also:process is often well illustrated on See also:moraine-bearing glaciers where a huge stone may be seen resting on a pillar of ice several feet in height. That man sometimes imitated such striking natural phenomena is quite probable, and to this extent rocking-stones come within the category of primitive stone monuments.

End of Article: STONE MONUMENTS, PRIMITIVE

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