22 W. J. Perry — Megalithic Monuments 



Dawkins says that during the Roman occupation "the 

 mineral wealth of the country was eagerly sought, not only 

 for the tin of Cornwall, or the iron of the Weald of Sussex, or 

 of the Forest of Dean, and of the northern counties, but the 

 gold and copper of Wales, the lead of Derbyshire and of 

 Somerset, the jet of Yorkshire, and the coal of Northumber- 

 land " (488-9). This is true, and the sooner it is recognised 

 as such by historians the sooner shall we know something of 

 the real cause of the foundation of the Roman Empire. But 

 when we learn that the Romans, in going to Whitby for jet, 

 to Derbyshire for lead, to Cornwall for tin, to Shropshire for 

 lead, to Wales for lead and copper and pearls, found them- 

 selves anticipated there by the megalith-builders, who seem to 

 have concentrated on such spots, what rational reason have 

 we for denying to these earlier comers the same desires as 

 those that possessed the Romans ? These metals were being 

 used in the Mediterranean thousands of years before the 

 Romans emerged on the scene. What reason have we for 

 refusing to believe that, just as the Romans opened up mines 

 that, after their departure were left idle for centuries, so, in 

 the dim past, some other people had come to exploit the mines, 

 which when they went for some reason or other were also left 

 untouched ? We know full well that metals were mined in 

 this country in pre-Roman times, so why should not the 

 megalith-builders have taken a hand in the game ? 



We must remember that they ignored those parts of the 

 country devoid of things that they used in their daily life or 

 in their industry, and carefully chose out those that contained 

 useful objects. 



I suggest, therefore, that the megalith-builders were 

 miners : that they settled in mining regions. Also they made 

 settlements in places where they found materials for their 

 domestic and industrial implements and utensils and for their 

 personal adornment. 



This solution is in accordance with our knowledge of 

 modern civilisation. It reduces the problem of the distribu- 

 tion of population mainly to that of determining human needs 

 and of discovering where exist the means for their satisfaction. 

 So human geography goes hand in hand with history and 

 psychology, and each serves to illuminate the other. The 

 pattern made by a population distribution such as that of the 

 megalith-builders reflects the needs of the builders. The 

 needs of the builders once known will enable us to predict 

 where they would tend to settle. Thus we can eliminate 

 climatic and physiographical factors as playing no real causal 



