o show that in some part of the megalithic
area the structures were definitely earlier than in any other, and that
as we move away from that part in any direction they become later and
later. Such a means of solution is not hopeful, for the earliest form
of structure, the dolmen, occurs in all parts of the area, and if we
attempt to date by objects we are met by the difficulty that a dolmen in
one place which contained copper might be earlier than one in another
place which contained none, copper having been known in the former place
earlier than in the latter.

It still remains to consider the question of the origin of the rock-hewn
sepulchre and its relation to the megalithic monument. The rock-tomb
occurs in Egypt, Phoenicia, Rhodes, Cyprus, Crete, South Italy, Sicily,
Sardinia, Malta, Pianosa, the Iberian Peninsula, the Balearic Isles, and
France. In all these places there are examples which are certainly
early, i.e. belong to the neolithic or early metal age, with the
exception of Malta and perhaps Rhodes and Phoenicia. Two types are
common, the chamber cut in the vertical face of rock and thus entered
from the side, sometimes by a horizontal passage, and the chamber cut
underground and entered from a vertical or sloping shaft placed not
directly over the chamber, but immediately to one side of it. It is
unlikely that these two types have a separate origin, for they are
clearly determined by geological reasons. A piece of country where
vertical cliffs or faces of rock abounded was suited to the first type,
while the other alone was possible when the ground consisted of a flat
horizontal surface of rock. We frequently find the two side by side and
containing identically the same type of remains. In South-East Sicily we
have the horizontal entrance in the tombs of the rocky gorge of
Pantalica, while the vertical shaft is the rule in the tombs of the
Plemmirio, only a few miles distant.

Two curious facts are noticeable with regard to the distribution of the
rock-hewn tombs. In the first place they are all in the vicinity of the
Mediterranean, and in the second some occur in the megalithic area,
while others do not. The examples of Egypt, Cyprus, and Crete show that
this type of tomb flourished in the Eastern Mediterranean. Was it from
here that the type was introduced into the megalithic area, or did the
megalithic people bring with them a tradition of building rock-tombs
totally distinct from that which is repres