megalithic monuments, from the great size of the stones used in their construction. Erection of megalithic monuments was by no means peculiar to Denmark, but was practiced throughout western Europe during the later stone age and on into the bronze age.
It is stated that there are upon the islands of Denmark and in eastern Jutland about 47·5 of these monuments to every square myriameter, or one to about two kilometres square. In a single afternoon's drive from Olstyke around by Roskilde Fiord to Roskilde, a distance of but a few miles, we examined fully a dozen of different types. Three of these will illustrate their character, (a) Dolmen: Near a long and narrow strip of water, on a little mound of earth; consisting of five great granite rocks; four stood upright on edge, set firmly in the ground, and inclosed a nearly rectangular space six feet or more in length, more than three feet wide, and some five feet high. Three of these stones are of equal height, and bear a great cap-stone; the fourth one is not so high, and serves as a sill or threshold to the chamber. The whole structure is now free and exposed, but it was probably originally covered with a mound of earth, (b) Giant's Chamber: Externally,
It is probable that all these structures were burial places.