ented by the tombs of Egypt,
Cyprus, and Crete?

The question is difficult to answer. One thing alone is clear, that in
certain places, such as Malta and Sardinia, the megalithic people were
not averse to reproducing in the solid rock the forms which they more
usually erected with large stones above ground. The finest instance of
this is the Halsaflieni hypogeum in Malta, where the solid rock is hewn
out with infinite care to imitate the form and even the details of
surface building.

Similarly we have seen that both in Sardinia and in France the same
forms of tomb were rendered in great stones or in solid rock almost
indifferently.

There can therefore be no doubt that the hewing out of rock was
practised by the megalithic people, and that they were no mean exponents
of the art. We have no proof that they brought this art along with them
from their original centre of dispersion, though if they did it is
curious that they did not carry it into other countries where they
penetrated besides those of the Mediterranean. It may be that early
rock-tombs will yet be found in North Africa, but it seems improbable
that, had they existed in the British Isles, in North Germany, or in
Scandinavia, not a single example should have been found.

On the other hand, if the megalithic people did not bring the idea of
the rock-tomb with them we must suppose either that it evolved among
them after their migration, or that they adopted it from the Eastern
Mediterranean. The last supposition is particularly unlikely, as it
would involve the modification of a burial custom by foreign influence.

We have, in fact, no evidence on which to judge the question. Perhaps it
is least unreasonable to suppose that the idea of the rock-tomb was
brought into the megalithic area by the same people who introduced the
megalithic monuments, and did not result from contact with the Eastern
Mediterranean. Similarly we ought perhaps to disclaim any direct
connection between the corridor-tombs of the megalithic area and the
great _tholoi_ of Crete and the Greek mainland. At first sight there is
a considerable similarity between them. The Treasury of Atreus at Mycenae
with its corbelled circular chamber and long rectangular corridor seems
very little removed, except in size and finish, from the tombs of Gavr'
Inis and Lough Crew. Yet there are vital points of difference. The two
last are tombs built partly with upright slabs on the surface of the
ground, en