Manchester Memoirs, Vol. Ix. (191 5), No. 1. 5 



Copper was formerly worked in southern Spain and 

 Asturias. Tin was formerly worked in Spain and 

 Portugal, in Orense, Pontevedra, Beira, Minhos, Tras-os- 

 Montes, Salamanca, Cartagena and Almeria : in France in 

 Loire, Morbihan and Limousin. Cartagena, Linares and 

 Almeria were the chief centres of silver and lead mining 

 in Spain. 7 



Thus in three countries the mining districts were 

 those which contained megalithic structures. But, before 

 proceeding, one point must be made quite clear. The aim 

 of this grouping of facts is to demonstrate one thing only: 

 the coincidence in certain regions of the distribution of 

 the megalithic culture with that of ancient mining opera- 

 tions. No assumptions whatever are made as to chrono- 

 logy. Where the authorities report ancient mines, that 

 fact is indicated on the map. Without doubt some 

 workings are later than others, but at present we are not 

 concerned with that. As far as the chronology of the 

 cultural intrusions into Spain and Portugal is concerned, 

 I am willing at present to accept the views of M. Siret 

 as a tentative working hypothesis. But the fact remains 

 that in all this welter of Neolithic, Celt-Iberian, Greek, 

 Roman, and other influences, which in varying degrees 

 played their part in the history of the Iberian peninsula, 

 one fact stands out quite clearly — the exact coincidence 

 of megalithic structures with the earliest seats of the 

 metal industry. The question as to the identity of the 

 people who were responsible for the megalithic structures 

 in various parts of the world and the complex culture 

 associated with them may also be left in abeyance for the 

 present. But so far as the special problem of South 



7 In the Oxford School Economic Atlas silver and lead mines are seen 

 to occur along the track of the megaliths (p. 62) in France, and the distribu- 

 tion in Spain is strikingly like that of megalithic structures. 



