236 Existing Analogues of Stonehenge and Avehury. 



locality of a still earlier race. On the first of these points my opinion 

 is exactly opposed to that of Mr. Cunning-tonj who considered that 

 *' the grand erection was first made, and the smaller circle and oval 

 of inferior stones were raised at a later period, for,^' he continues, 

 "they add nothing- to the general grandeur of the temple, but 

 rather give a littleness to the whole, and more particularly so if you 

 add the two small trilithons of granite.''' It is more natural to 

 suppose that as we go back into the times o£ primitive occupation 

 the smaller stones would be erected, and the larger when wealth and 

 power were more at command. The material of the smaller stones 

 approximates to and is of the class generally used by the earlier 

 settlers. Roman roads lead to the neighbourhood, and Roman 

 pottery and relics have been found, I will only notice on this point 

 that the silence of Latin writers is remarkable. It may be observed 

 here that the handling of the larger stones appears unlike that of any 

 monument of Celtic erection in Brittany or Britain. I have been led 

 to form some conclusions on Stonehenge and Avebury by results of 

 an expedition lately prosecuted by me in the Mediterranean, where 

 in some of the islands I have found monuments which appear to 

 me, though hitherto quite undescribed, to throw much light on 

 these structures, if not, indeed, to present analogues of construction, 

 with additions, which, I believe, are as without example as the great 

 Wiltshire monuments themselves. These consist of enormous en- 

 ceintes of Cyclopean walls within which are lofty conical erections 

 capable of supporting a vast concourse of persons externally, and 

 many o£ which are clearly connected with a part in each of such 

 enceintes devoted to solemn rites. These reserved parts are, when 

 the wall has not been destroyed, always surrounded by an inner en- 

 closure. Within these latter are the remains of circles of monoliths, 

 in the centre of which, as a rule, is a lofty table or altar composed 

 of a large block resting horizontally on an oblong, placed vertically, 

 and forming the letter T, the tau. In some cases a third stone is 

 erected, and this has a rude cap-stone — it cannot be called a capital; 

 these are rare in the present condition of these remains ; they appear 

 apparently symbolic — in short, this and the tau represent the two 

 chief symbols of Phoenician worship. The stone tables are very 



