ABSTRACT
It is not necessary to describe here in detail the various typo-chronologies developed for the north European megalithic tombs from the mid-nineteenth century until the present day; the interested reader is referred to my earlier discussion of these schemes (Midgley 1992, Chapter 9). However, research in the past two decades has highlighted the problems that some well-entrenched concepts pose for a meaningful interpretation of the megaliths in their various regional and cultural contexts, and so we will briefly consider some of these issues before engaging in discussion of the archaeological evidence.
