154 THE MEN-AN-TOL, OR HOLED-STONE. 
apertures was evidently to facilitate the deposit of successive 
interments within the respective chambers, without disturbing, to 
any great extent, the covering earthen mounds. The same idea 
seems to be exemplified in the Trethevy Cromlech, near Liskeard, 
a square-shaped opening having been cut in one of the side-stones, - 
by means of which the chamber could be easily entered before the 
interior was blocked up with a stone which has fallen inwards.* 
Now with regard to the Mén-an-tol, I believe it had a similar 
use to the stones at Avening and Rodmarton, and that it served 
as an entrance-stone to_a sepulchral chamber that once stood on 
its present site; and, further, that the hole was made solely for 
the purpose of enabling anyone to enter the kist or chamber, when 
fresh burials took place, without interfering with the general sta- 
bility of the structure. It is to be regretted that the greater 
number of the stones composing the original kist seem to have 
been removed many centuries ago; and hence it is impossible, at 
the present time, to ascertain with certainty the dimensions, or 
plan, of this chamber-mound. But notwithstanding this, there 
are sufficient traces of the original structure remaining, to enable 
the archeologist to comprehend how the Mén-an-tol could have 
been used as a tolmén-entrance, in the same way as the tolmén 
stones which have been found as integral parts of ancient cham- 
bered barrows. In position and shape, the Mén-an-tol, it should 
be remembered, does not resemble the smaller holed-stones in the 
same district; but the hole is close to the ground, a convenient 
and suitable position for an orifice intended to serve as a4 means 
of access into an interior compartment. 
This, as I have before observed, seems to me to have been the 
original use of the Mén-an-tol; and although the idea may not be 
immediately received with credence by local antiquaries, I feel 
confident that in the end they will arrive at a very similar conclu- 
sion after a careful study of the question. Let me, as a final re- 
mark, express an earnest hope that this valuable relic of a prehis- 
toric past will not be allowed to be destroyed for want of due 
protection, which is so essential in these days, in order to prevent 
any sudden mishap befalling ancient objects of this kind. 
_* The circular hole in the capstone of the Trethevy Cromlech must 
obviously have been made for an entirely different purpose. 
