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Chap. VIII.
AGE OF DOLMENS.
337

least were erected after the time of the Romans, and at an era extending even far into the middle ages.

Rude Stone Monuments 0363a.png

123.
Dolmen at Confolens.

Rude Stone Monuments 0363b.png

124.
Plan of Dolmen at Confolens.

It is amusing, however, to see how the French antiquaries resist such a conclusion. Dr. de Closmadeuc, for instance, one of the most distinguished antiquaries of Brittany, opened a perfectly virgin tumulus at Crubelz. After penetrating through three distinct but undisturbed strata, he reached the roof of the enclosed dolmen or chamber. In this he found the usual products of cremation and the inevitable flint arrow-heads, but he refers in triumph to the "absence de toute trace des métaux." "Aucun doute," he adds, "n'est donc possible. Ce dolmen appartient bien à cette classe de monuments primitifs de l'âge de pierre." So far all is clear;