Origins of the Megaliths

Origins of the MegalithsSince the days of the earliest antiquarians, scholars have been puzzled by themany Neolithic (from 4000 B.C. to 2200 B.C.) communal tombs known asmegaliths along Europe's Atlantic seaboard. Although considerable variationsare found in the architectural form of these impressive monuments, there is ageneral overriding similarity in design and, particularly, in the use of massivestones.The construction of such large and architecturally complex tombs by Europeanbarbarians struck early prehistorians as unlikely. The Bronze Age seafaringcivilizations that lived in the region of the Aegean Sea (from 3000 B.C. to 1000B.C.), among whom (collective) burial and a diversity of stone-built tombswere known, seemed a probable source of inspiration. It was suggested thatAegean people had visited Iberia in southwestern Europe in search of metalores and had introduced the idea of collective burial in massive tombs, whichthen spread northward to Brittany, Britain, North Germany, and Scandinavia.The word “collective” in the passage is closest in meaning toA.abovegroundB.publicC.elaborateD.groupAccording to paragraph 2, early prehistorians thought the Aegean people ofthe Bronze Age might have influenced megalith building along the Atlanticseaboard because theyA.had established commercial routes along the Atlantic seaboardB.had been in Iberia, where they introduced the idea of burial in verylarge tombsC.were thought to have found megaliths in Iberia when searching formetalsD.were thought to have passed along the concept of burial inmonumental tombs as they explored Brittany, Britain, North Germany,and ScandinaviaRadiocarbon dates for a fortified settlement of megalith builders at Los Millaresin Spain appeared to confirm this picture, though dates for megaliths inBrittany seemed too early. When calibrated, however, it became clear thatradiocarbon dates were universally too early to support a Bronze Age Aegeanorigin. It is now clear that the megaliths are a western and northern Europeaninvention, not an introduced idea. Even so, they are still a subject ofspeculation and inquiry. What induced their builders to invest massive effortsin erecting such monumental tombs? How was the necessary labor forceassembled? What underlies their striking similarities?In paragraph 3, why does the author discuss the results of radiocarbon dates ?A.To support the idea that megaliths spread rapidly during the BronzeAgeB.To question the idea that megaliths have a religious originC.To provide evidence against the theory that Bronze Age Aegeansinspired the megalithsD.To argue that the megaliths in Brittany are older than the megaliths inLos MillaresOne answer to the last question was proposed by Professor Grahame Clark,one of Britain's greatest prehistorians. Investigating the megaliths of southernSweden, he noted that one group was concentrated in coastal locations fromw...