lmost as futile as it would be to theorize upon the
date of their erection.[6] A generation ago it was usual to refer all
European megalithic monuments to a 'Celtic' origin, but European
ethnological problems have become too complicated of late years to
permit such a theory to pass unchallenged, especially now that the
term 'Celt' is itself matter for fierce controversy. In the immediate
neighbourhood of certain of these monuments objects of the Iron Age
are recovered from the soil, while near others the finds are of Bronze
Age character, so that it is probably correct to surmise that their
construction continued throughout a prolonged period.

_What Menhirs and Dolmens are_

Regarding the nomenclature of the several species of megalithic
monuments met with in Brittany some definitions are necessary. A
menhir is a rude monolith set up on end, a great single stone, the
base of which is buried deep in the soil. A dolmen is a large,
table-shaped stone, supported by three, four, or even five other
stones, the bases of which are sunk in the earth. In Britain the term
'cromlech' is synonymous with that of 'dolmen,' but in France and on
the Continent generally it is exclusively applied to that class of
monument for which British scientists have no other name than 'stone
circles.' The derivation of the words from Celtic and their precise
meaning in that tongue may assist the reader to arrive at their exact
significance. Thus 'menhir' seems to be derived from the Welsh or
Brythonic _maen_, 'a stone,' and _hir_, 'long,' and 'dolmen' from
Breton _taol_, 'table,' and _men_, 'a stone.'[7] 'Cromlech' is also of
Welsh or Brythonic origin, and is derived from _crom_, 'bending' or
'bowed' (hence 'laid across'), and _llech_, 'a flat stone.' The _allee
couverte_ is a dolmen on a large scale.

_The Nature of the Monuments_

The nature of these monuments and the purpose for which they were
erected were questions which powerfully exercised the minds of the
antiquaries of a century ago, who fiercely contended for their use as
altars, open-air temples, and places of rendezvous for the discussion
of tribal affairs. The cooler archaeologists of a later day have
discarded the majority of such theories as untenable in the light of
hard facts. The dolmens, they say, are highly unsuitable for the
purpose of altars, and as it has been proved that this class of
monument was invariably covered in prehistoric times by an earthen
tumulus its rit