ROUGH STONE MONUMENTS 



The slab which closes one end of the tomb is of 

 great size, and consists of a lower rectangular 

 half with a small hole at the base and an upper 

 part shaped like a rounded gable. There is a 

 raised border to the whole slab, and a similar 

 band in relief marks out the two halves. This 

 front slab forms the centre-piece in a curved 

 facade of upright slabs. The chamber is covered 

 with a coating of ashlar masonry, which is shaped 

 into an apsidal form at the end opposite to the 

 facade. Occasionally more than 50 feet in length, 

 the Giants' Tombs served as graves for whole 

 families, or even for whole villages. Mackenzie 

 has shown that the form is derived from the 

 simple dolmen, and has pointed out several of 

 the intermediate stages. 



The inhabitants of Sardinia in the megalithic 

 period also buried their dead in rock-hewn sepul- 

 chres, of which there are numerous examples at 

 Anghelu Ruju. The contents of these graves 

 make it clear that they are the work of the same 

 people as the Giants' Graves. Were further proof 

 needed it could be afforded by a grave at Molafa, 

 where a Giant's Grave with its facade and gabled 

 slab has been faithfully imitated in the solid rock. 

 There is a similar tomb at St. George. Two 

 natural caves in Cape Sant* Elia on the south of 

 the island contain burials of this same period. 



The neighbouring island of Corsica also contains 



SS 



