PREFACE 



THE aim of this volume is to enable those 

 who are interested in Stonehenge and 

 other great stone monuments of England to 

 learn something of the similar buildings which 

 exist in different parts of the world, of the men 

 who constructed them, and of the great archaeo- 

 logical system of which they form a part. It is 

 hoped that to the archaeologist it may be useful 

 as a complete though brief sketch of our present 

 knowledge of the megalithic monuments, and as 

 a short treatment of the problems which arise in 

 connection with them. 



To British readers it is unnecessary to give any 

 justification for the comparatively full treatment 

 accorded to the monuments of Great Britain and 

 Ireland. Malta and Sardinia may perhaps seem 

 to occupy more than their due share of space, 

 but the usurpation is justified by the magnificence 

 and the intrinsic interest of their megalithic 

 buildings. Being of singularly complicated types 

 and remarkably well preserved they naturally 

 tell us much more of their builders than do the 



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