Myths and legends ; the Celtic race . on, give these megalithicmonuments a curious family likeness and mark themout from the chambered tombs of the early Greeks,of the Egyptians, and of other more advanced dolmens proper gave place in the end to greatchambered mounds or tumuli, as at New Grange, whichwe also reckon as belonging to the Megalithic arc a natural development of the dolmen. Theearly dolmen-builders were in the neolithic stage ofculture, their weapons were of polished stone. Butin the tumuli not only stone, but also bronze, and eveniron, instruments arc found—a
Myths and legends ; the Celtic race . on, give these megalithicmonuments a curious family likeness and mark themout from the chambered tombs of the early Greeks,of the Egyptians, and of other more advanced dolmens proper gave place in the end to greatchambered mounds or tumuli, as at New Grange, whichwe also reckon as belonging to the Megalithic arc a natural development of the dolmen. Theearly dolmen-builders were in the neolithic stage ofculture, their weapons were of polished stone. Butin the tumuli not only stone, but also bronze, and eveniron, instruments arc found—at first evidently impor-tations, but afterwards of local manufacture. Origin of the Megalithic People The language originally spoken by this people canonly be conjectured by the traces of it left in that oftheir conquerors, the Celts.^ But a map of the distri-bution of their monuments irresistibly suggests theidea that their builders were of North African origin ;that they were not at first accustomed to traverse the ^ See p. bJt) C o (U 2: H CQ ^ e< ft THE CELTS OF THE PLAINSsea for any great distance ; that they migrated west-wards along North Africa, crossed into Europe wherethe Mediterranean at Gibraltar narrows to a strait of afew miles in width, and thence spread over the westernregions of Europe, including the British Islands, whileon the eastward they penetrated by Arabia into Asia. Itmust, however, be borne in mind that while originally,no doubt, a distinct race, the Megalithic People camein the end to represent, not a race, but a human remains found in these sepulchres, withtheir wide divergence in the shape of the skull, &c.,clearly prove this.^ These and other relics testify to thedolmen-builders in general as representing a superiorand well-developed type, acquainted with agriculture,pasturage, and to some extent with seafaring. Themonuments themselves, which are often of imposingsize and imply much thought and organised effort intheir const
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectcelticl, bookyear1910
