Rude Stone Monuments in all Countries: Their Age and Uses FERGUSSON, James.Published by John Murray, London, 1872 So great and so successful has been the industry recently applied to subjects of archæological research that few of the many problems in that science which fifty years ago seemed hopelessly mysterious now remain unsolved. Little more than forty years have elapsed since Champollion's discoveries enabled us to classify and understand the wonderful monuments of the Nile Valley. The deciphering of the cuneiform characters has in like manner enabled us to arrange and affix dates to the temples and palaces of Babylon and Nineveh. Everything that was built by the Greeks and the Romans has been surveyed and illustrated; and all the mediæval styles that arose out of them have been reduced to intelligible sequences. The rock-cut temples of India, and her still more mysterious dagobas, have been brought within the domain of history, and, like those of Burmah, Cambodia, or China, shown to be of comparatively modern date. The monuments of Mexico and Peru may be said still to defy those who are endeavouring to wrest their secrets from them; but even for these a fairly approximate date has been obtained. But amidst all these triumphs of well-directed research there still remains a great group of monuments at our own doors, regarding whose uses or dates opinions are nearly as much divided as they were in the days of rampant empiricism in the last century. It is true that men of science do not now pretend to see Druids sacrificing their bleeding victims on the altar at Stonehenge, nor to be able to trace the folds of the divine serpent through miles of upright stones at Carnac or at Avebury; but all they have yet achieved is simple unbelief in the popular fallacies, nor have they hitherto ventured to supply anything better to take their places. They still call the circles temples, but without being able to suggest to what god they were dedicated, or for what rites they were appropriate, and, when asked as to the age in which they were erected, can only reply in the words of the song, that it was "long long ago." This state of affairs is eminently unsatisfactory, but at the same time to a great extent excusable. Indeed it is not at first sight easy to see how it is to be remedied. The builders of the megalithic remains were utterly illiterate, and have left no written records of their erection; nor are there any legible inscriptions on the more important monuments which would afford any hints to the enquirer. What is even more disheartening is that in almost every instance they are composed of rough unhewn stones, not only without any chisel marks, but even without any architectural mouldings capable of being compared with those of other monuments, or, by their state of preservation, of giving a hint as to their relative age. While "megalith" is often used to describe a single piece of stone, it also can be used to denote one or more rocks hewn in definite shapes for special purposes.[5] It has been used to describe structures built by people from many parts of the world living in many different periods.[citation needed] The most widely known megaliths are not tombs.[6] Single stones Dolmen in Sumatra Liwa, Indonesia c. 2100 BC The largest megalith of the ancient world, found in Baalbek, Lebanon, was quarried during the Roman Empire[7]MenhirMenhir is the name used in Western Europe for a single upright stone erected in prehistoric times; sometimes called a "standing stone".[8]MonolithAny single standing stone erected in prehistoric times.[9]Capstone styleSingle megaliths placed horizontally, often over burial chambers, without the use of support stones.[10]Multiple stonesAlignmentsMultiple megaliths placed in relation to each other with intention. Often placed in rows or spirals. Some alignments, such as the Carnac Stones in Brittany, France consist of thousands of stones.Megalithic wallsAlso called Cyclopean walls[11]Stone circlesIn most languages stone circles are called "cromlechs" (a word in the Welsh language); the word "cromlech" is sometimes used with that meaning in English.DolmenA Dolmen is a stone table, consisting of a wide stone supported by several other stones[12]CistA Cist is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. Burials are megalithic forms very similar to dolmens in structure. These type of burials were completely underground.[citation needed] James Fergusson FRS (22 January 1808 – 9 January 1886) was a Scottish-born architectural historian, mainly remembered for his interest in Indian historical architecture and antiquities. He was an important figure in the 19th-century rediscovery of ancient India. He was originally a businessman, and though not formally trained as an architect, designed some buildings and decorative schemes. LifeEducation and IndiaFergusson was born in Ayr, the son of William Fergusson (1773–1846) an army surgeon. After being educated first at the Royal High School, Edinburgh, and then at a private school in Hounslow, he went to India to work as a trader at his family's mercantile house of Fairlie, Fergusson & Co. of Calcutta. Here he became interested in the remains of the ancient architecture of India, little known or understood at that time. The successful conduct of an indigo factory, as he states in his own account, enabled him to retire from business after about ten years and settle in London. His observations on Indian architecture were first published in his book on The Rock-cut Temples of India, published in 1845.[1] The task of analysing the historic and aesthetic relations of this type of ancient buildings led him further to undertake a historical and critical comparative survey of the whole subject of architecture in The Illustrated Handbook of Architecture, being a Concise and Popular Account of the different Styles of Architecture prevailing in all Ages and Countries, a work which first appeared in 1855 in two volumes. It was followed in 1862 by one entitled A History of the Modern Styles of Architecture, being a sequel to the Handbook of Architecture. The 1855 work was reissued ten years later in a much more extended form in three volumes, under the title of A History of Architecture in all Countries from the Earliest Times to the Present Day.[1] The chapters on Indian architecture, which had been considered at rather disproportionate length in the Handbook, were removed from the general History, and the whole of this subject treated more fully in a separate volume, The History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, which appeared in 1876, as the fourth volume to The History of Architecture. The 1876 work was later revised with additions by James Burgess and Richard Phené Spiers in 1910 and published in two volumes.[2] United KingdomJames Ferguson architect.jpgIn 1849 Fergusson published a metaphysical study, Historical Inquiry into the True Principles of Beauty in Art: More Especially with Reference to Architecture. Some of his essays on special points in archaeology, such as the treatise on The Mode in which Light was introduced into Greek Temples, included theories on Greek temples which did not receive general acceptance.[1] Like many of his contemporaries, Fergusson was concerned about British preparedness to resist a French invasion and he published An Essay on a Proposed New System of Fortification: with Hints for its Application to our National Defences (1849), The Peril of Portsmouth; or, French Fleets and English Forts (1852) and Portsmouth Protected: a Sequel to the Peril of Portsmouth (1856). In 1859, he was the only civilian appointed to the Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom,[3] which subsequently recommended a huge programme of coastal fortifications that became known as "Palmerston's Follies". He received the gold medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1871. Among his works, besides those already mentioned, are: Palaces of Nineveh and Persepolis restored (1851), Mausoleum at Halicarnassus restored (1862), Tree and Serpent Worship (1868), Rude Stone Monuments in all Countries (1872), and The Temples of the Jews and the other Buildings in the Haram Area at Jerusalem (1878). The sessional papers of the Institute of British Architects include papers by him on The History of the Pointed Arch, Architecture of Southern India, Architectural Splendour of the City of Beeja pore, on the Erechtheum and on the Temple of Diana at Ephesus.[1] Although not a prolific practising architect, a small number of examples of Fergusson's architecture remain in existence, the most notable of which are the parliament building of Jamaica,[citation needed] and the Marianne North Gallery in Kew Gardens.[4] Fergusson was adviser with Austen Henry Layard in the scheme of decoration for the Assyrian court at The Crystal Palace, and in 1856 assumed the duties of general manager to the Crystal Palace Company, a post which he held for two years. In 1866 he was a member of a committee to advise Henry Scott on design aspects of the Royal Albert Hall, along with architects William Tite and Matthew Digby Wyatt, and the engineers John Hawkshaw and John Fowler.[1] In 1847 Fergusson published an Essay on the Ancient Topography of Jerusalem, in which he contended that the Mosque of Omar was the identical church built by Constantine the Great over the tomb of our Lord at Jerusalem, and that it, and not the present church of the Holy Sepulchre, was the genuine burial-place of Jesus. The burden of this contention was further explained by the publication in 1860 of his Notes on the Site of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem; and The Temples of the Jews and the other Buildings in the Haram Area at Jerusalem, published in 1878, which was a further elaboration of these theories, which are said to have been the origin of the establishment of the Palestine Exploration Fund.[1] Grave of William and James Fergusson in Highgate CemeteryFergusson died in London on 9 January 1886[1] and is buried with his father on the west side of Highgate Cemetery. Selected publicationsFergusson, James. An historical inquiry into the true principles of beauty in art, more especially with reference to architecture (1849), London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans.Fergusson, James. An Essay on a Proposed New System of Fortification: with Hints for its Application to our National Defences (1849), London: John Weale.Fergusson, James. The Illustrated Handbook of Architecture (1855). London: John Murray. Vol. I and Vol II.Fergusson, James. Tree and Serpent Worship, or Illustrations of Mythology and Art in India, (1868) London: W H Allen & Co.Fergusson, James. Rude Stone Monuments in all countries, (1872) London: John Murray, Albemarle Street.Fergusson, James. History of the modern styles of architecture (1891). New York: Dodd, Mead. Vol. I and Vol. II.Fergusson, James, et al. 'History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, 2nd Edition (1910). London: J. Murray. Vol. I and Vol. II