Myths and legends ; the Celtic race . awa line from the mouth of the Rhone northward toVaranger Fiord, one may say that, except for a fewMediterranean examples, all the dolmens in Europelie to the west of that line. To the east none arefound till we come into Asia. But they cross theStraits of Gibraltar, and are found all along the NorthAfrican littoral, and thence eastwards through Arabia,India, and as far as Japan. Dolmens, Cromlechs, and Tumuli A dolmen, it may be here explained, is a kind ofchamber composed of upright unhewn stones, androofed generally with a single huge stone. They areusu
Myths and legends ; the Celtic race . awa line from the mouth of the Rhone northward toVaranger Fiord, one may say that, except for a fewMediterranean examples, all the dolmens in Europelie to the west of that line. To the east none arefound till we come into Asia. But they cross theStraits of Gibraltar, and are found all along the NorthAfrican littoral, and thence eastwards through Arabia,India, and as far as Japan. Dolmens, Cromlechs, and Tumuli A dolmen, it may be here explained, is a kind ofchamber composed of upright unhewn stones, androofed generally with a single huge stone. They areusually wedge-shapedm plan, and traces or ^^^» ->^ a porch or vestibulecan often be primary intentionof the dolmen was torepresent a house ordwelling-place for thedead. A cromlech(often confused in ^.^-^i-^ popular language with Dolmen at Proleek, Ireland , 1 11 \ • \ After jjorlnitf the dolmen) is pro- ^ -^ perly a circular arrangement of standing stones, often with a dolmen in their midst. It is believed that most 53. •-4- MYTHS OF THE CELTIC RACE if not all of the now exposed dolmens were originallycovered with a great mound of earth or of smaller , as in the illustration we give from Carnac,in Brittany, great avenues or alignments are formed oisingle upright stones, and these, no doubt, had somepurpose connected with the ritual of worship carriedon in the locality. The later megalithic monuments,as at Stonehengc, may be of dressed stone, but in allcases their rudeness of construction, the absence of anysculpturing (except for patterns or symbols incised onthe surface), the evident aim at creating a powerful im-pression by the brute strength of huge monolithic masses,as well as certain subsidiary features in their designwhich shall be described later 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 ga
Size: 1985px × 1259px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectcelticl, bookyear1910
