TUMULI. 



them excite our interest by the antiquity of their origin, and 

 the mystery with which they are surrounded.* 



FIG. 133. 



V p v 

 - ' 



Plan of the preceding. 



In our own island the smaller tumuli may be seen on 

 almost every down; in the Orkneys alone it is estimated that 

 more than two thousand still remain ; in France there are 

 4000 dolmens, 1600 menhirs, and 450 stone circles; in Den- 

 mark they are even more abundant ; they are found all over 



* Since the last edition of this 

 work, several important contribu- 

 tions have been made to our 

 knowledge of ancient British burial 

 customs. I may refer especially to 

 Greenwell and Rolleston's " British 

 Barrows," Jewitt's " Grave Mounds 

 and their Contents," Boiiase's 



" Nenia Cornuhia}," and AVarne's 

 " Celtic Tumuli of Dorset." Fer- 

 gusson's "Rude Stone Monuments," 

 also, though written in support of a 

 theory which is I think erroneous, 

 contains a valuable summary of 

 our knowledge of megalithic monu- 

 ments. 



