. 



• ■ — 



ROUGH STONE MONUMENTS 



CHAPTER I 

 INTRODUCTION 



TO the south of Salisbury Plain, about two 

 miles west of the small country town of 

 Amesbury, lies the great stone circle of Stone- 

 henge. For centuries it has been an object of 

 wonder and admiration, and even to-day it is one 

 of the sights of our country. Perhaps, however, 

 few of those who have heard of Stonehenge or 

 even of those who have visited it are aware that 

 it is but a unit in a vast crowd of megalithic 

 monuments which, in space, extends from the 

 west of Europe to India, and, in time, covers 

 possibly more than a thousand years. 



What exactly is a megalithic monument ? 

 Strictly speaking, it is a building made of very 

 large stones. This definition would, of course, 

 include numbers of buildings of the present day 

 and of the medieval and classical periods, while 

 many of the Egyptian pyramids and temples 

 would at once suggest themselves as excellent 



