Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race - Knowledge Rush

CHAPTER II: THE RELIGION OF THE CELTS 39as Japan.Dolmens, Cromlechs, and TumuliDolmen at Proleek, Ireland(After Borlase)A dolmen, it may be here explained, is a kind of chambercomposed of upright unhewn stones, and roofed generally witha single huge stone. They are usually wedge-shaped in plan, andtraces of a porch or vestibule can often be noticed. The primaryintention of the dolmen was to represent a house or dwelling-placefor the dead. A cromlech (often confused in popular languagewith the dolmen) is properly a circular arrangement of standingstones, often with a dolmen in their midst. It is believed that mostif not all of the now exposed dolmens were originally covered [54]with a great mound of earth or of smaller stones. Sometimes, asin the illustration we give from Carnac, in Brittany, great avenuesor alignments are formed of single upright stones, and these, nodoubt, had some purpose connected with the ritual of worshipcarried on in the locality. The later megalithic monuments, asat Stonehenge, may be of dressed stone, but in all cases theirrudeness of construction, the absence of any sculpturing (exceptfor patterns or symbols incised on the surface), the evident aimat creating a powerful impression by the brute strength of hugemonolithic masses, as well as certain subsidiary features in theirdesign which shall be described later on, give these megalithicmonuments a curious family likeness and mark them out fromthe chambered tombs of the early Greeks, of the Egyptians, andof other more advanced races. The dolmens proper gave placein the end to great chambered mounds or tumuli, as at NewGrange, which we also reckon as belonging to the MegalithicPeople. They are a natural development of the dolmen. The