The table below is a reproduction
of part of his statistics as provided in Fergusson's 'Rude Stone
Monuments'.
County Name |
Dolmens |
Terminations in 'Ac' |
Lot |
500 |
71 |
Finistre |
500 |
3 |
Mobihan |
250 |
26 |
Ardeche |
155 |
16 |
Aveyron |
125 |
35 |
Dordogne |
100 |
75 |
Vienne (Haute et Basse) |
82 |
41 |
Cotes du Nord |
56 |
8 |
Maine-et-Loire |
53 |
- |
Eure-et-Loire |
40 |
- |
Gard |
32 |
16 |
Aube |
28 |
1 |
Indre-et-Loire |
28 |
- |
Charente |
26 |
50 |
Creuse |
26 |
6 |
Charente-Inferieure |
24 |
21 |
Lozere |
19 |
16 |
Correze |
17 |
42 |
Vendee |
17 |
- |
Loire-Inferieure |
16 |
11 |
Sarthe |
15 |
- |
Ille-et-Vilaine |
15 |
18 |
Deux-Sevres |
15 |
- |
Orne |
14 |
- |
Indre |
13 |
3 |
Manche |
13 |
- |
Pyrenees-Orientales |
12 |
2 |
Puy-de-Dome |
10 |
3 |
Oise |
9 |
- |
Cantal |
8 |
37 |
Tarne-et-Garonne |
7 |
16 |
|
|
|
Fergusson himself admitted that 'The
information in this table must be received with great limitation. In the
first place, What is a dolmen?'...The value of the 'ac' distinction does not
come out clearly: first because of the imperfect mode in which it has been
contained, but more because it does not make it clear that there are in
France twenty-nine departments in which there are no dolmens, and no
ac-terminations; in fact, the negative evidence, which does not appear here
is stronger than the positive'.
(1)
Fergusson continues 'Referring to the
table...we find that thirty departments contain more than ten monuments.
Thirty others, according to M. Bertrand, contain from one to eight or nine;
and the remaining twenty-nine either contain none at all or these are so
insignificant as hardly to deserve attention'.
(1)
Note - Fergusson mentions that
although the termination 'ac' occurs in 'that part of Cornwall south of
Redruth and west of Falmouth' (at least 38 times, always spelt with an
additional k)...'it is not found anywhere else in Great Britain or
Ireland. Nor is it found in the Channel Islands, though dolmens abound there'.
He forgets to include those Irish, Welsh and Scottish place names that have
terminations of 'ach' etc.
(Prehistoric French Sites)