Two material points are taken up in the matter of megalithic movement.

It is a truism to state that human evolution is a frighteningly complex subject. It is all too easy to yield to the temptation to construct ever more elaborate 'family trees' even though the fossil record is fragmentary and chronologically inexact. The supposed fate of Neanderthal man (Homo sapiens neanderthalensis) and the origin of modern man (Homo sapim sapim) have recently received a good deal of attention—most of which serves to emphasize the gaps in our knowledge without coming much nearer to a solution. This review presents some of the conflicting arguments which have been put forward, stressing a need to keep an open mind about the possibility of Neanderthal survival.

In a letter to Dr Mead in 1738, Francis Wise discussed the location of Alfred's famous battle-ground of Ashdown and described it as ‘containing large tracts of down and sheep pasture where the great Western road passes at this day, being called the Rudge or Ridgeway’ (Wise, 1738). Sir Richard Colt-Hoare rode along the Ridgeway in 1815 and wrote ‘these ridgeways were the roads made use of by the earliest inhabitants of Britain as lines of communication between their different towns and villages. They generally followed the highest ridges of land on which also we find their habitations: they were not paved with stone and gravel as in later times by the Romans but their basis was the firm and verdant turf’ (Colt-Hoare, 1819). His description is the first itinerary of the route now followed with delight by thousands. He passed Wayland's Smithy, and Uffington Castle, following then with a long and speculative account of the battle of Ashdown. He was not immune to the enjoyment of a view. ‘Hitherto the ridgeway had afforded no attraction with respect to country or view, its chief interest was from a recollection of the important historical events which had transpired on its borders, but on proceeding eastwards the eye was continually amused by an extensive prospect over a rich vale extending to Oxford on the left, with numerous church turrets peeping forth amidst the dense foliage with which the country is overspread. The scenery at the right exhibited an open and cultivated extent of land. A few barrows occurred occasionally alongside the trackway but I did not see any other marks of ancient population.’