DOLMENS IN JAPAN. 



595 



western coast of Wales, eastern coast of Scotland, southern portion of 

 Sweden, and in Denmark and Northern Germany ; also on the coast 

 of Spain, Portugal, Northern Africa and the western portion of India. 

 Mr. Fergusson, at the date of the publication of his book, asserts that 

 the typical dolmen had not yet been found in America. 



The occurrence in different parts of the world of a mound of earth 

 containing a stone vault or chamber can not be looked upon as evi- 

 dence of a community of origin, because such a structure seems to be 

 a most natural form for the purposes of burial. The same structures 



Fig. 2.— Plan of Chamber. The dotted lines show the roofing-stones. 



are built to-day in many countries. It is only when it possesses some 

 peculiar feature, like a perforation in one of its wall-stones, or a cer- 

 tain direction in which the passageway opens, that it suggests the idea 

 that a common origin may be ascribed to those possessing these pecu- 

 liarities. 



In traveling across the southern part of Yeso last year, and also in 

 a journey overland from the northern part of Japan to Tokio, I scanned 

 the country carefully for mounds or monuments of any description. 

 At the entrances of towns, one often sees two large mounds between 

 which the road runs. Each mound is often surmounted by a large 

 tree. Though these mounds are old, they are not prehistoric. With 

 the exception of these, I saw nothing that would suggest a monument 

 coming under the names of dolmen, menhir, etc. 



There are many burial-mounds in Japan, such, for example, as the 

 large one in Yamato, the grave of Jimmu Tenno, and others which 

 are known to belong to historic periods. It is not improbable that 

 the dolmens to be described belong to the same category. 



It is difficult for one who has not traveled in Japan to realize the 

 almost universal state of cultivation the country is under. Having a 

 population of 33,000,000, largely given to agriculture, with an area 

 not exceding 80,000 square miles, one may imagine how few tracts 

 of uncultivated land are found. One is amazed at the sight of ranges 

 of hills and mountains extending for miles, and all terraced to their 



