CORNISH DOLMENS. 95 



ppasants will sometimes answor — " You ask us who raised these 

 mouuments? we r(>j)ly that, when God made the world, lie put 

 the stones there exactly as you see them now." 



The contradictory nature of these traditions shows that no 

 light can he obtained from this source. Our dohucns were as 

 great mysteries to the men amongst whom tlu:' oldest traditions 

 originated as they are to us. 



After what has been said, it will he evident that the Celts 

 had nothing to do with the building of the dolmens. These 

 erections abound in regions into wliich the f'elts never entered. 

 The most ardent Celtic champion will not maintain that the 

 Celts lived in Algeria, Palestine, or Japan, "^ and yet dolmens 

 occur iri all these countries. Moreover, the Celts entered 

 western Europe from the cast, but there are scarcely any dolmens 

 along the line of the Celtic invasion, and we have found that the 

 dolmen builders came into Europe from the sunih by way of North- 

 ern Africa. Tlie Celts, themselves, had no traditions giving any 

 account of the building of (hdniens and were (piite ignorant as 

 to their origin. Curious juoof of the ignorance of the Celts on 

 the origin of these megalithic structures is found in the decrees 

 of some of the C'luirch Councils in Gaul.'" These ordered that 

 the dolmens and menhu's should be destroyed, because the Celtic 

 Christians worshii)ped them. It is 2)lain, therefore, that they 

 were utterly ignorant of their origin. The idea, therefore, that 

 the Celts had anything to do with the erection of our dolmens 

 must be abandoned, and this inipli(^s that these were not raised 

 by any members of the Indo-European, or Aiyan, family. 



The mechanical power and constructive ability shown in the 

 formation of many of these dolmens are often very remarkable. 

 We consider our Cornish examples hne, but they are insigniticant 

 when compared with those in France. The capstone of the one 

 at Zennor is 18 feet long; that of Lanyon is of the same length; 

 that of Trevethy has a length of 14 feet; and the capstone of 

 Chy woone dolmen is 1 3 feet long ; but in Brittany these dimen- 

 sions are greatly exceeded. Thus, the capstone of the dolmen 



48. For a notice of the dolmens in Japan and an account of those in Corea 

 especially, see Journal of the Anthropological /nstitutc, vol. xxiv., 1895, P- 3'6. 



49. Such as the Councils of Aries (A.D. 452), of Tours (A.D. 567), and of Nantes 

 (A.D. 658). 



