ROUGH STONE MONUMENTS 



According to the most widely accepted modern 

 theory the whole or at least the greater part of 

 the neolithic population of Europe moved in from 

 some part of Africa at the opening of the neolithic 

 age. In medieval history we have the example 

 of the Arabs, who in their movement covered a 

 considerable portion of the very megalithic area 

 which we are discussing. 



On the other hand, many find it preferable to 

 suppose that over this same distance there ex- 

 tended a vast trade route or a series of trade 

 routes, along which travelled the influences which 

 account for the presence of precisely similar 

 dolmens in Denmark, Spain, and the Caucasus. 

 Yet although much has been written about 

 neolithic trade routes little has been proved, and 

 the fact that early man occasionally crossed large 

 tracts of land and sea in the great movements 

 of migration does not show that he also did so by 

 way of trade, nor does it prove the existence of 

 such steady and extensive commercial relations 

 as such a theory of the megalithic monuments 

 would seem to require. Immigration is often 

 forced on a race. Change of climate or the divert- 

 ing of the course of a great river may make their 

 country unfit for habitation, or they may be 

 expelled by a stronger race. In either case they 

 must migrate, and we know from history that 

 they often covered long distances in their attempt 

 to follow the line of least resistance. Thus there 



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