The Prehistoric World; Or, Vanished RacesAllen, Emory Adams
History
The Prehistoric World; Or, Vanished Races
Allen, Emory Adams
Archaeology; Indians; Prehistoric peoples
Scattered over Europe are found numbers of mysterious monuments
of the past. Some of them we have mentioned already as the
embankments surrounding ancient villages. But aside from these
are other monuments, such as burial mounds, rude dolmens, and
great standing stones, sometimes arranged in circles, sometimes
in rows, and sometimes standing singly. Many of these remains may
be of a far later date than the Neolithic Age, still it is
extremely difficult to draw a dividing line between the monuments
of different ages.
Chambered Burial Ground, Denmark.
Dolmen, England.
Burial mounds are found everywhere, many in Europe going back to
the Neolithic Age, though some are of a very recent construction.
The Egyptian Pyramids are burial mounds on the grandest scale.
The first cut represents a Danish Tumulus, or burial mound, of
this Age. The openings lead to the center of the mound, where
they connect with chambers in which the bodies were formerly
placed. There are, of course, various modifications of this
tumulus. Often the gallery was omitted, a rude chamber was
erected, and a mound reared over it. Sometimes, indeed, no
chamber was made, but simply a mound placed over the body.
Dolmen, France.
Dolmen, once covered with Earth.
There have been found in England a great many stones arranged as
in the preceding cut, though generally not built with such
regularity as is there represented. They are named Dolmens, a
word meaning stone tables. They were more generally made of rough
stones, rudely arranged. This cut represents one found in France.
In early times these were supposed to have been rude altars used
by the mysterious Druids in celebrating their rites. They are now
known to be the tombs of the Neolithic Age. They are, in fact,
the chambers above mentioned. The mound of earth has since
disappeared and left its chamber standing exposed to the air.
Traces of the old passage way are still met. Whether all Dolmens
were once covered with earth or not, is not yet known. In the
majority of cases they probably were. In the last cut portions of
stone are still buried in the earth. We are told that in India
the people in some places still erect Dolmens similar to those of
Neolithic times.32
Menhir.
Stone Circle, England.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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