ent megalithic chamber.

These early corridor-tombs are evidently not the work of the Ainu, the
aborigines of Japan, but of the Japanese invaders who conquered them.
These latter do not seem to have brought the idea of megalithic building
with them, as their earlier tombs are simple mounds. As no dolmen has
yet been found in Japan we cannot at present derive the corridor-tomb
there from it. It is, however, worthy of mention that true dolmens occur
as near as Corea, though none have been reported from China.

CHAPTER IX

THE BUILDERS OF THE MEGALITHIC MONUMENTS,
THEIR HABITS, CUSTOMS, RELIGION, ETC.

With regard to the date of the megalithic monuments it only remains to
sum up the evidence given in the previous chapters. It may be said that
in Europe they never belong to the beginning of the neolithic age, but
either to its end or to the period which followed it, i.e. to the age of
copper and bronze. The majority date from the dawn of this latter
period, though some of the chambered cairns of Ireland seem to belong to
the iron age. Outside Europe there are certainly megalithic tombs which
are late. In North Africa, for example, we know that the erection of
dolmens continued into the early iron age; many of the Indian tombs are
clearly late, and the corridor-tombs of Japan can be safely attributed
in part at least to the Christian era.

With what purpose were the megalithic monuments erected? The most simple
example, the menhir or upright stone, may have served many purposes. In
discussing the temples of Malta we saw reason for believing that the
megalithic peoples were in the habit of worshipping great stones as
such. Other stones, not actually worshipped, may mark the scene of some
great event. Jacob commemorated a dream by setting up the stone which
had served him as a pillow, and Samuel, victorious over the Philistines,
set up twelve stones, and called the place "Stones of Deliverance."
Others again perhaps stood in a spot devoted to some particular national
or religious ceremony. Thus the Angami of the present day in Assam set
up stones in commemoration of their village feasts. It seems clear from
the excavations that the menhirs do not mark the place of burials,
though they may in some cases have been raised in honour of the dead.

The question of the purpose of stone circles has already been dealt with
in connection with those of Great Brita