STONE REMAINS OF BRITTANY. 105 
tradition of the Bretons was that the alignments were the prin- 
cipal temple of the Druids, and that Armorica was always re- 
garded as their privileged land. 
Ashes, charcoal, flint chips, pottery, and other objects 
are the invariable accompaniments in the dolmens of the rites of 
sepulture whether by burial or by cremation, and the numerous 
excavations have shewn that the dolmens, whether covered by a 
tumulus or otherwise, are sepulchral monuments. We have seen 
all of these objects at the base of the menhirs: we have seen 
that the names given to the menhirs and handed down from a 
remote period are suggestive of sepulture, and their orientation 
also is the same as that of the dolmens. We may thus conclude 
regarding the destination of the alignments that they may also 
have been erected as sepulchral monuments. 
Turn now to examine the correlation existing between the 
alignments, cromlechs and dolmens. In the head of each of 
the alignments of Menec and Kerlescant the large menhirs form 
a cromlech. ‘These cromlechs, from their forming an integral 
part of the alignment and from their stones being of the same 
composition and character, must necessarily be regarded as 
having the same destination. 
Many of the dolmens are covered by tumuli or cairns, 
others are uncovered—everywhere they have been either explored 
or destroyed. The names given to many of the dolmens are 
Significant of sepulture. Very few of them, as in the case of the 
dolmens, are sculptured, and then only in the rudest way, repre- 
senting concentric figures, zig-zag lines, cup markings, and stone 
axes. 
Researches have proved that in some of the dolmens of the 
Morbihan the sepulture had been by cremation, in others by 
burial, and in some few cases the evidences of both rites were 
found in the same dolmen. Cesar speaks of cremation, of 
Magnificent funerals, and of the most cherished objects being 
thrown on the funeral pyre. If it is not ascertained when the 
practice of cremation commenced, there can be no doubt about 
its having continued up to the introduction of Christianity, and 
that there had been great difficulty afterwards in weaning the 
people from this and from the worship of trees, stones, and 
fountains, is shewn by the edicts against these practices. There 
is another edict, so late as the eleventh century, against the 
