The finest, however, of all the Spanish monuments is the corridor-tomb of Antequera in Andalusia.  It consists of a short passage leading into a long rectangular chamber roofed with four slabs.  Within it on its axial line are three stone pillars placed directly under the three meeting-points of the four slabs, but quite unnecessary for their support.  The whole tomb is covered with a low mound of earth.  In the great upright slab which forms the inner end of the chamber is a circular hole rather above the centre.

It is not the plan of this tomb, but the size, that compels the admiration of the beholder.  He stands, as it were, within a vast cave lighted only from its narrow end, the roof far above his head.  The rough surface of the blocks lends colour to the feeling that this is the work of Nature and not of man.  Here, even if not in Stonehenge, he will pause to marvel at the patient energy of the men of old who put together such colossal masses of stone.

Among the corridor-tombs of Spain must be mentioned a wedge-shaped type which bears a close resemblance to those of Munster in Ireland (cf.  Fig. 7).  In Alemtejo, south of Cape de Sines, are several of these, usually about 6 feet in length, with a slight portico at one end.

A further point of similarity with the Irish monuments is seen in the corridor-tombs of Monte Abrahao in Portugal, where the chamber walls seem to have been reinforced by an outer lining of slabs.  Remains of eighty human bodies were found in this tomb, together with objects of stone and bone, including a small conical button similar to that of Carrowmore in Ireland.

The Spanish Peninsula also possesses rock-hewn tombs.  At Palmella, near Lisbon, is a circular example about 12 feet in diameter preceded by a bell-shaped passage which slopes slightly downwards.  Another circular chamber in the same group has a much longer passage, which bulges out into two small rounded antechambers.  These tombs have been excavated and yielded some pottery vases, together with objects of copper and beads of a peculiar precious stone called callais.  All the finds made in the megalithic remains of Spain and Portugal point to the period of transition from the age of stone to that of metal.

The Balearic Islands contain remarkable megalithic monuments.  Those known as the talayots are towers having a circular or rarely a square base and sloping slightly inwards as they rise.  The largest is 50 feet in diameter.  The stones, which are rather large and occasionally trimmed, are laid flat, not on edge.  A doorway just large enough to be entered with comfort leads through the thickness of the wall into a round chamber roofed by corbelling, with the assistance sometimes of one or more pillars.  From analogy with the nuraghi of Sardinia, which they resemble rather closely, it seems probable that the talayots are fortified dwellings, perhaps only used in time of danger (Fig. 15).