Page:Prehistoric Britain.djvu/191

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COMMEMORATIVE MONUMENTS
188

of these mountain ranges. Other writers, however, think they must be dated nearer our own time. Some of these rock figures, for example those at Alpera, in the south-east of Spain, represent nude men hunting deer with bows and arrows. These figures are interesting, as being the first evidence we have of the use of bows and arrows in the chase, for the so-called bone arrows represented among Magdalénien débris were only lance-points, propelled by the hand with the assistance of the apparatus known as dart-propeller (propulseur).

But it was not till the advent of Neolithic civilization that the disposal of the dead assumed archæological importance, in consequence of the number of sepulchral monuments then constructed. There can be no doubt, judging from the relics associated with these structural remains, that the Britons of that period believed in the existence of a supernatural world which, after death, became the home of the soul or ghost. When a prominent man died, his weapons, ornaments and other cherished objects were placed in the tomb, as well as suitable viands for the soul on its journey to the realm of the dead. These facts show that they did not regard life beyond the grave as differing widely from that on earth. The idea that death was a severance for ever of all social ties and friendships formed on earth, would, probably, be more repugnant to them than to some of the philosophical minds of the present day. To the