246 THE RITUAL OF BARROWS AND CIRCLES. 



The large horizontal blocks that are often found in stone- 

 circles have, with much satisfaction, been called altars. " On 

 this stage the priest officiated " ; " hereon were victims 

 immolated " ; " here offerings were burnt." What Prof. Petrie 

 has said about the so-called Altar at Stonehenge may be applied 

 to most, if not to all other cases. " Its sacrificial intention is 

 strongly contradicted by the absence of all traces of fire or 

 calcination, and by its ver}' low position, almost flush with the 

 ground." * Indeed, the history of the slaughter-stone theor}' does 

 not inspire confidence. M. Troude, the learned author of a 

 Breton Dictionary (1876), says that the cap-stones of dolmens 

 " paraissent avoir ser\i d' autels aux Druides. lis y faisaient 

 des sacrifices humains ou autres, ainsi que semblent I'attester les 

 petites haches et les coins [axes and celts"] trouves sous ces 

 monuments, ainsi que les rigoles trac^es sur les pierres horizon- 

 tales pour r ecoulement du sang." 



In 1 845 Dr. Henr}- Earth visited portions of North Africa, and 

 on the elevated plateau of Tarhuna, a hundred miles south of 

 Tripoli, discovered a number of trilithons. Two of his figures 

 were reproduced by Fergusson in 1872. 



In 1885 Mr. Arthur Evans spoke of "the great trilithic 

 monuments of Tripoli, with altar blocks before them." f 



On the 5th Dec. 1895, Mr. Swainson Cowper, who had care- 

 fully examined these " megalithic temples," read an account of 

 them to the Society of Antiquaries. He said that "the remains 

 consisted of a large number of rectangular enclosures which 

 were surrounded by high walls of dressed stone. Within the 

 enclosures, and generally close to the boundar)^ wall, were large 

 trilithons, two upright pillars and a lintel ; and in front of each, 

 lying on the ground, two large stone altars, with grooves 

 forming a channel roimd the edge of the slab, with a spout 

 leading outwards. There were indications that the Romans not 

 only countenanced the religious practices for the performance of 



* Stonehenge, p. 31. 

 t Trans. Lane, and Ches. Antiq. Soc. III. p. 9. 



