2 W.J. Perry — Megalithic Monuments 



world, stone circles, stone pestles and mortars, stone imple- 

 ments, all of them unknown to the natives of the present day, 

 are located in auriferous gravels or near to pearl-beds. He 

 further states that the natural surroundings of the gold-fields, 

 situated as they are in inhospitable mountain country, are 

 such that only some powerful incentive would impel men to 

 brave the difficulties to be experienced in living there. In my 

 forthcoming work on The Children of the Sun, I propose 

 to present maps of the distribution of megalithic monuments 

 in the Pacific, and to show that the distribution of these 

 structures agrees closely with that of the pearl. 



It is thus evident that support has been forthcoming for 

 the theory from various quarters. But much remains to be 

 done in the matter. It is not necessary to be content with 

 the establishment of the theory that the builders of megaliths 

 were seeking for some form of wealth. It is necessary to 

 see if the study of these distributions of ancient mines and 

 megaliths cannot be used for the improvement of geographical 

 method. For the distribution of megalithic monuments is a 

 fact in human geography, and this distribution has to be 

 explained. It is possible that in explaining this fact we may 

 be put in the way of explaining others and thus of helping to 

 build up a science of human geography. I propose in this 

 paper to remember this ; and in trying to establish the 

 relationship between the geographical distribution of mega- 

 lithic monuments and ancient mines still more securely, shall 

 keep in mind the wider bearings of the problem. 



Megalithic monuments are closely connected with the 

 working of metal. For in some regions objects of bronze 

 have been found in connection with them. They were made 

 in this country at least a millennium after bronze was first 

 used in the ancient East. Since the building of megalithic 

 monuments is now admitted on all sides to have been derived 

 from the ancient East, it is legitimate to claim that the builders 

 of these monuments knew of bronze, even if they did not leave 

 objects of that metal behind them in every case. In " The 

 Megalithic Culture of Indonesia," a work which deals largely 

 with the cultural associations of the building of megalithic 

 monuments, it is shown that the use of stone only occurs 

 in definite cultural circumstances, and that it is not taken 

 up here and there sporadically just because the stone is lying 

 about. I hope during the coming session to put before the 

 Society further evidence in support of this contention. It 

 can be argued with much force that the use of stone for 

 purposes of construction is only found in this country under 



