78 
ON THE ? 
Stone Alennes of Caran, 
AND OTHER 
Pre-Historic Monuments of see 
By the Rev. W. C. Luxis, M.A., F.S.A., 
(Hon. Member of the Société Polymathique du Morbihan, and of the Société Archéologique de 
Nantes, Loire Inferiéure.) 
Read before the Society at Salisbury, September, 1870. 
G y G6 HE monuments described in this article belong to that section 
ht the pre-historic age which has been designated the period 
of * lished stone implements. Formerly they were supposéd to be 
among the most ancient structures that told of the earliest inhabit- 
ance of this globe. But archeological researches have now shown 
that there was a more remote period of human history, in which 
man did not erect such buildings, but took refuge in dens and caves 
of the earth, making them his abodes in life and his last resting-places 
in death. The cave-men, however, would seem to have been more 
advanced in the arts than those who planned and executed the grand 
avenues and other megalithic monuments of Britanny. The caves 
which they occupied have produced engravings and sculptures on 
stones, ivory, and reindeer bones, that are marvellous for accuracy 
of delineation and truthfulness of form, compared with which the 
carved stones of Britanny are rude and unmeaning. Some of these 
sculptures and engravings, such as those to be seen in the Museum 
in which we are now assembled, are full of artistic life and vigour. 
Now it is said that there was a remoter period still of human 
existence, in which man simply chipped flints into rude implements 
and knew not how to polish them, nor did he know how to manu- 
facture clay vessels and procure fire. The antiquity of this people 
is supposed to be lost in the impenetrable mists of the post-glacial 
period. 
a Ot 
