6 Perry, Megalithic Monuments and Ancient Mines. 



Western Europe is concerned I am in full accord with 

 M. Siret as to the identity of the carriers of the megalithic 

 culture into Spain. However, this paper is concerned 

 wholly with distributions, and all questions concerning 

 the why and the wherefore are left on one side for the 

 present. 



It would be exceedingly interesting if such a detailed 

 survey as is available in the case of Spain and Portugal 

 could be instituted for the rest of Europe. But, unfor- 

 tunately, I have not yet had the time to collect the 

 necessary information. I may perhaps be allowed to 

 mention that the same correspondence seems to hold in 

 the case of England and Wales. In the latter country 

 the counties where megalithic structures abound are pre- 

 cisely those where mineral deposits and ancient mine- 

 workings occur. In England the grouping in Cumber- 

 land, Westmorland, Northumberland, Durham and Derby- 

 shire is precisely that of old mines ; in Cornwall the 

 megalithic structures are mainly grouped west of Fal- 

 mouth, precisely in that district where mining has always 

 been most active. In the case of Ireland, information 

 (derived both from archaeological researches and from 

 folk-lore) is now coming to hand which promises to make 

 the identification of the carriers of the megalithic culture 

 and their association with gold mining most exact. The 

 absence in large parts of the British Isles both of mega- 

 lithic structures and of old mines, not to speak of mineral 

 deposits, is a most striking and conclusive negative com- 

 plement to the positive evidence provided by their 

 presence and coincidence elsewhere. 



Leaving Europe on one side for a moment, let us 

 turn our attention to other parts of the megalithic region. 

 In this respect Africa is an area of extraordinary interest. 

 The regions of megalithic influence which are most defi- 



