DOLMENS IN JAPAN. 



^91 



They are widely scattered in groups of several along the slopes of the 

 mountains for a considerable distance ; and their general appearance 

 is not unlike the mounds of Upsala, Sweden, as represented in the 

 frontispiece of Lubbock's " Prehistoric Times." 



The structures consist of stone chambers covered by mounds of 

 earth, communications with the chamber being by means of a long, 

 straight, narrow passage— a typical all'ee couverte. The apices of the 

 mounds are not so pointed as in the figure of Lubbock, and their slopes 

 not so steep (see Fig. 1). They average fifteen to twenty feet in 



Fig. 4.— Entrance to Chamber. 



height, and fifty to seventy-five feet in diameter. The entrances to 

 most of the chambers are partially obstructed by dirt and stone which 

 have tumbled from the sides and roof of the entrance. The stones 

 composing the walls of the passageway and chamber were not large. 

 In every case, however, the roofing-stones, both of the passageway and 

 chamber, were of very large size. In some cases the entire roof of the 

 chamber consisted of a single stone, and in one case four huge blocks 

 formed the roof of a passageway twenty-eight feet long (see Fig. 2). 



