ROUGH STONE MONUMENTS 



The exact relation in which it stands to them will 

 be fully discussed in the last chapter. 



We have now to consider what may be called 

 the architectural methods of the megalithic 

 builders, for although in dealing with such primi- 

 tive monuments it would perhaps be exaggeration 

 to speak of a style, yet there were certain princi- 

 ples which were as carefully and as invariably 

 observed as were in later days those of the Doric 

 or the Gothic styles in the countries where they 

 took root. 



The first and most important principle, that on 

 which the whole of the megalithic construction 

 may be said to be based, is the use of the ortho- 

 static block, i.e. the block set up on its edge. 

 It is clear that in this way each block or slab is 

 made to provide the maximum of wall area at 

 the expense of the thickness of the wall. Naturally, 

 in districts where the rock is of a slabby nature 

 blocks of a more or less uniform thickness lay 

 ready to the builders' hand, and the appearance 

 of the structure was much more finished than it 

 would be in places where the rock had a less 

 regular fracture or where shapeless boulders had 

 to be relied on. The orthostatic slabs were often 

 deeply sunk into the ground where this consisted 

 of earth or soft rock ; of the latter case there are 

 good examples at Stonehenge, where the rock is a 

 soft chalk. When the ground had an uneven 



