f Celtic paganism they were therefore hidden
from sight, and it is only in later times that the earth has been
removed and the massive stones, arranged so as to form a species of
chamber, have been laid bare.

IMAGES.

The Gauls, according to Caesar, possessed _plurima simulacra_ of the
native Mercury, but he does not refer to images of other gods. We need
not infer from this that the Celts had a prejudice against images, for
among the Irish Celts images are often mentioned, and in Gaul under
Roman rule many images existed.

The existence of images among the Celts as among other peoples, may owe
something to the cult of trees and of stones set up over the dead. The
stone, associated with the dead man's spirit, became an image of
himself, perhaps rudely fashioned in his likeness. A rough-hewn tree
trunk became an image of the spirit or god of trees. On the other hand,
some anthropomorphic images, like the palaeolithic or Mycenaean figurines,
may have been fashioned without the intermediary of tree-trunk or stone
pillar. Maximus of Tyre says that the Celtic image of Zeus was a lofty
oak, perhaps a rough-hewn trunk rather than a growing tree, and such
roughly carved tree-trunks, images of gods, are referred to by Lucan in
his description of the Massilian grove.[968] Pillar stones set up over
the graves of the dead are often mentioned in Irish texts. These would
certainly be associated with the dead; indeed, existing legends show
that they were believed to be tenanted by the ghosts and to have the
power of motion. This suggests that they had been regarded as images of
the dead. Other stones honoured in Ireland were the _cloch labrais_, an
oracular stone; the _lia fail_, or coronation stone, which shouted when
a king of the Milesian race seated himself upon it; and the _lia
adrada_, or stone of adoration, apparently a boundary stone.[969] The
_plurima simulacra_ of the Gaulish Mercury may have been boundary stones
like those dedicated to Mercury or Hermes among the Romans and Greeks.
Did Caesar conclude, or was it actually the case, that the Gauls
dedicated such stones to a god of boundaries who might be equated with
Mercury? Many such standing stones still exist in France, and their
number must have been greater in Caesar's time. Seeing them the objects
of superstitious observances, he may have concluded that they were
_simulacra_ of a god. Other Romans besides himself had been struck by
the resemblance of these ston