MEGALITHIC MONUMENTS (front Gk. Ai-ras, in ryas, great + Xleor, lithos, stone). Gigantic monuments. the materials of which in the earliest stages of industrial development were huge undressed stones, and also associated \Vint annuli. Megalithic monuments are found in both hemispheres, and in the progress of vulture t hey marked the crude beginnings of larger voiiper at ice effort as well as of engineering and if 111:1, ;.1vC architecture. The most instructive limit as to the 111a1111U1' in which the stones were set on viol is tarnished by ontrof the Northern tribes of II imlustan visited by IVurtubrand. art' in a region where megalithic monuments have had a long history. A slab weighing several tons on a number of .tout poles laid parallel and just far enough apart to allow men to walk Lrtwec•u them. The ends of these poles are lashed to end and a tirm gridiron frame is made beneath the slab. The whole mass is then lifted by as men as can get into the framework. and carried to the proper place, one man beating thne for their steps. Th, point of destination reached. the framework is laid fiat, the hole dug, and the gridiron set upright In• lifting with the hands aided by shear poles, sliding props. gity ropes, and all other labor-saving devices to them. As the angle between the grid iron and the earth increases, the labor of erection decreases, until the slab is let down carefully into its resting place.
Alegalit hie monuments really belong to two classes. monolithic and polylithic. The former is a simple great slab or boulder stood on end: the latter• consists of several bloeks put together to form a chamber. The diiren.nees wven the Iwo classes is not great. and there are mixed ex amples where both exist side by side.
Monoliths receive different names in the coun tries where they are found. and often the same name applies to quite different things in different trios. They receive names also from the111:I 11111.1' of grouping. The single great stone, weighing perhaps hundreds of tons, set on end, is a menhir: if a number of these stand in rows. they tonne an avenue or :111 ;111;1111111`111: ;11111 a stone circle is a number of menhirs arranged about a centre. The final development of this
simple beginning is seen in the Egyptian obelisk. in the memorial column o• shaft, or in the gi7atitic statue. The enormous size of many of the rude monoliths is a matter of surprise. The rgest one. in 1 trit ta ny, Loehtna Ha quer. weigh- II7 tons. Thousands have been counted in itrittailv and other portion. of France. See Plate of Mr4, mow' MINI:MI:NTS.
The polylit hie monument also receives different names from its associations, If :1 number of stone- arc built into a memorial pile, or over rho dead. it i• 'cairn;' a tumuli.. containing a dead person is in Ireland a `!'algal:' and if a 11.ty formed on one side allowing rei:ntranee to a vault, it hecmnes a dm be r '11:1 rtmx stone box in a barrow 10 hold cinerary urns and relies i• `eistvaen.' The typical 111011- 11111,111 of great stones to this class is I hi. do f!nr•n11v 14.1111141 `qot)iy1, :1 slab of laid out the top of two or more upright globs. forming a Intrial elmniber from which the earth has been removed by the elements. The word 'cromlech' was at one time used to denote a dolmen, as it was originally covered with a tumulus tun! surrounded by a circle of standing stones. "flue term is out of use now in England, but the French apply it to one of the former ele ments of the complete dolmen, the stone circle. The essential part of all is the stone box or capsule, whether under ground, above ground, or covered will a I mini lu.s.
The areas of greatest abundance of megalithic monuments, beginning in Asia, are to be found ill Burma, Assam, and the Deccan; the Persian up lands: Asia INlinor, the Crimea, Syria, Palestine, and Arabia ; across Northern Africa to the At lantic, and in some of the islands of the ranean: in Spain, Portugal. IVestern France, and Belgium; in the British Isles and Scandinavia. Examples of huge monuments are found in Northeastern Asia also, and around the l'acitic from New Zealand to Peru and Easter the great wooden totem posts of the North l'aeitie containing frequently the same motive.