On Rude Stone Monuments in the Country of the Carnutes (Department Eure Et Loir, France) Author(S): A
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On Rude Stone Monuments in the Country of the Carnutes (Department Eure et Loir, France) Author(s): A. L. Lewis Source: The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 19 (1890), pp. 66-75 Published by: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2842538 . Accessed: 15/06/2014 12:44 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 185.44.77.38 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014 12:44:51 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 66 A. L. LEWIS.-On Rude Stone Monutmentsin the Coountry remarkable fact that no dolmens were found in Central Europe. It was often maintained that in Western Earope these megalithic monuments were dne to the Celtic people, but considering the geo- graphical area to which they extended, he aid not think this opinion could be maintained. However obscure the origin of the Celts was-and the little that was known pointed to Central Europe as the scene of their development in late pre-historic times -there was no possibility of making the area of their evolution in space and time to coincide with that of the megalithic monuments. In fact the two areas appeared to cross each at right angles. The following Paper was then read by the Autltor, who ex- hibited, in illustration, a collection of nine cork models of the monuments under descriptiou, constructed by himself on a uni- form scale of five feet to one inch:- On RUDE STONEMONUMENTS in the COUNTRYof the CARNUTES (DEPARTMENTEURE ET LOIR, FRANCE). By A. L. LEWIS,Esq., F.C.A. THE country round Chartres is considered to have been that territory of the ancient Carnutes which, according to Ca,sar,was the centre of the Druidic religion in Gaul;' and it has, I believe, been suggested as an argument against any connection between the Druids and the rude stone monuments that, whereas the latter are found in the greatest abundance on the west coast of Brittany, the Druidic centre of operations was, according to Caesar,near Chartres. The fact, however, is that the Department of the Eure et Loir (of which Chartres is the chief city) has been full of rude stone monuments, so mainy of which still remain that it stands tenth with regard to the frequency of dolmens out of 88 French departments in a list published by M. de Mortillet in the " Materiaux pour l'Histoire Primitive et Naturelle de l'Homme," 1876, p. 318.2 1 " Oncea yearthey assembleat a consecratedplace in the Territoriesof the Carnutes,whose countryis supposedto be in the middle of Gaul." Cesar, Book 6-13, Duucan'sTranslation. 2 1. Aveyron(South) .. .. .. .. 325 2. Morbihan(Brittany) .. .. 269 3. Ard6che(South) .. .. .. .. 230 4. Lozere(South) .. .. .. .. 135 5. Finist6re(Brittany) .. .. .. 127 6. C6tesdu Nord (Brittany) .. .. 83 '. Dordogne(South) .. .. .. 81 8. Herault (South) .. .. .. 79 9. Vienne (Central) .. .. .. 77 10. Eure et Loir .. .. .. 65 1,471 This content downloaded from 185.44.77.38 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014 12:44:51 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions of the Carnutes (Departmen.tEure et Lozr, France). 67 These ten departments contain 1,471 out of 2,314 dolmeiis known to M. de Mortillet, or nearly two-thirds. Five out of the first eight are in the south or' France and conitaini850, ol more than one-third of the total, and three are in Brittany and contain about one-fifth of the whole. The average of dolmens to a department is 26-7, or, as nineteen departments are stated not to contain any dolmens, 33-4 is the average, reckoning only those departments in which dolmens are known to exist. In either case the Eure et Loir with a total of 65 is far above the average. The dolmens of the Eure et Loir being also smialler and therefore more easily destroyed than those of the Morbihan, and the country now more cultivated, it is probable that the difference in number was originally not so great as would appear from M. de Mortillet's table. My attention was particularly drawn to the remains in this district by an archaological guide book to France, published apparently about forty years ago, and coumpiledfrom various arehaeologicalworks, reaching back in some cases perhaps as far as the last century, so that many things mentioned in it are not now to be found, while others have been unearthed which we] e not known at the date of its publication; the evidence of this old guide book (which for convenience I will hei einafter speak of as "Richard ") as to monuments that fornmerlyexisted is, however, in some cases, of considerable value. The country in which the remains I am about to describe are situated is a tolerably level plain, devoted largely to the growtlh of corn, and with few trees or buildings, these being concentrated mostly in the small winding valleys cut by the Eure, the Loir, and their tributaries, near the banks of which are also to be foulnd most of the dolmens and standing stones. Many of the roads naturally follow the courses of the rivers and the windings of their valleys, but high roads have been made across the plaill in almost straight lines between the various places of importanace,as will be seen on looking at the maps rnowexhibited. An inspolctioii of these maps will also show a number of places called Garennes or Varennes, both of which words are traiislated by the Englislh word warren, showing that the old Celtic " gw " sound was once prevalent in this district, and that in some places one element in it has dropped out, while in other places the other element has dropped out, as in our own words ward and guard. My first journey was to a village called Gellainville, about four miles south from Chartres, where, according to Richard, 112 blocks of rough millstone were arrangedin an oval, of which the largest diameter was 21 metres, and outside which were other stones ranged without any particular order, but which I hoped might be founidto conform to the general rules of the ouitlyinig F 2 This content downloaded from 185.44.77.38 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014 12:44:51 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 68 A. L. LEWIs.-On Rude Stone .3fonuments in the Country stones of ourown circles; a small engravingof this circle,given by Richard,showed that a cross had been placed on one of the stones, and I hoped that this might have saved the circle from destruction. Dr. Topinard,whom I saw in Paris, said, however, that, if the circle still existed, he should have heard of it from M. de Mortillet,and he thought, therefore,that it must lhave been destroyed,and this appearsto be the case, unless, indeed,some remais of it may be found in an impenetrable little thicket near the railwaycrossing, where I was told there were some stones,and into which I crept for a few feet, finding one sinall stone, but seeing no others,nor should I have been able to make a plan if I had seen any. I showedthe engraving "CROMLRCHI DE GNLLT1IrLL3 (oHAUTREs)." (Facsimileof engravingin " Richard.") to various peasants, including (in the absence of their master) somieold servantsof the Cure,to whose house I went as a last resource; the only result was that I was directed to some crosses, but they were on modern pedestals, so I departed reluctantlyacross the plain to Corancez,a village three or four mnilesfurther south, round which, accordingto Richard,were numerous remains. Half a mile south from Corancezthere still exists a ruined dolmen or " Pierre Couverte,"the capstone of which is 15 feet long from north to south, and 10 wide; three of the stones which supportedit remain in position, and two have fallen inwards; thesa formedtwo sides of the chamber,the other two sidesof which havebeen removed, so that the capstonerests on the groundon the east side. This dolmenwould seem to have been a sepulchralchamber, abouit 15 feet long, 10 wide, and 3 to 4 high inside ; part of the moundwhich envelopedit still remains. While I was measuringand sketching this dolmen my son examinedthe loose soil under it, and found two small pieces of hone, which I now exhibit, and concerning which Professor Flowersays :-" The smallerbone is from a humanhand (fourth This content downloaded from 185.44.77.38 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014 12:44:51 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions of the Carnutes (Department Eure et Loiqr,France). 69 left metacarpal), the other probably a piece of a human hulmierutis, but in too fragmelntary a state to be certain." It seemnsto ilie more likely that these are the last remains of some one interredI in this tomb (whether of the great personage for whom it was constructed or another), than that they have drifted into it accidentally.