ROUGH STONE MONUMENTS 



and in France the same forms of tomb were 

 rendered in great stones or in solid rock almost 

 indifferently. 



There can therefore be no doubt that the 

 hewing out of rock was practised by the megalithic 

 people, and that they were no mean exponents 

 of the art. We have no proof that they brought 

 this art along with them from their original 

 centre of dispersion, though if they did it is 

 curious that the}' did not carry it into other 

 countries where they penetrated besides those of 

 the Mediterranean. It may be that early rock- 

 tombs will yet be found in North Africa, but it 

 seems improbable that, had they existed in the 

 British Isles, in North Germany, or in Scandinavia, 

 not a single example should have been found. 



On the other hand, if the megalithic people 

 did not bring the idea of the rock-tomb with 

 them we must suppose either that it evolved 

 among them after their migration, or that they 

 adopted it from the Eastern Mediterranean. The 

 last supposition is particularly unlikely, as it 

 would involve the modification of a burial custom 

 by foreign influence. 



We have, in fact, no evidence on which to 

 judge the question. Perhaps it is least unreason- 

 able to suppose that the idea of the rock-tomb 

 was brought into the megalithic area by the same 

 people who introduced the megalithic monuments, 

 and did not result from contact with the Eastern 



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