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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



'J 



Entrance, Table des March ands, Lockmariaquer, Brittany. 



circle of great stones, while within the area enclosed were two small 

 circles formed with a double row of smaller stones. 



Occasionally the interior surface of a support in some dolmen or 

 covered passage is found to he engraved with curious figures. Gen- 

 erally, they seem to be circles or some form of curved lines, and at 

 times there is a figure representing the stone celt,* which was an object 

 of veneration even after it ceased to be employed as a tool or weapon. 

 Some of the best examples of these are in the famous dolmen on the 

 island of Gavr'inis at Locmariaquer. 



The meaning of these curious ' circles and curves has never been 

 explained. They are probably symbolical or the characters used to 

 denote some definite idea among the people who made them, or may be 

 simply decorative, although this latter interpretation I believe to be 

 far less probable. Certain linguists have at times claimed to see in 

 some of them modifications of hieroglyphics or letters of ancient lan- 

 guages. A controversy has arisen as to the nature of the instrument 



* The figure of a celt is engraved on the under surface of the cap stone of 

 the dolmen Table des Marshands. 



