and then transported them to the site of the monument to be erected. Such common architectural features among these tomb-shrines indicate a strong regional cohesion with no direct parallels elsewhere in the British Isles. For instance, they would have been taller than most other tomb-shrines in Britain, with internal heights of up to 10 ft. Nevertheless, as with other regional groupings of Early Neolithic tomb-shrines (such as the Cotswold-Severn group), there are also various idiosyncrasies in the different monuments, such as Coldrum's rectilinear shape, the Chestnut long barrow's facade, and the long, thin mounds at Addington and Kit's Coty. This variation might have been caused by the tomb-shrines being altered and adapted over the course of their use; in this scenario, the monuments would represent composite structures. It seems apparent that the people who built these monuments were influenced by pre-existing tomb-shrines that they were already aware of. Whether those people had grown up locally, or moved into the Medway area from elsewhere is not known. Based on a stylistic analysis of their architectural designs, Stuart Piggott thought that they had originated in the area around the Low Countries, while Glyn Daniel instead believed that the same evidence showed an influence from Scandinavia. John H. Evans instead suggested an origin in Germany, and Ronald F. Jessop thought that their origins could be seen in the Cotswold-Severn megalithic group. Paul Ashbee noted that their close clustering in the same area was reminiscent of the megalithic tomb-shrine traditions of continental Northern Europe, and emphasised that the Medway Megaliths were a regional manifestation of a tradition widespread across Early Neolithic Europe. He nevertheless stressed that a precise place of origin was "impossible to indicate" with the available evidence. There is little evidence for deposition within the tomb-shrines, largely due to the damage that they have sustained. Human bone has been found in the Coldrum Long Barrow, Addington Long Barrow, and the Coffin Stone, burned bone from Chestnuts Long Barrow, and pot sherds from Chestnuts, Addington, and Kit's Coty. They have thus usually been interpreted as collective tombs for the interment of the physical remains of the dead. Ashbee believed that the area surrounding the megaliths might have been a "ritual landscape" that was believed to possess "especial qualities", thus explaining why Early Neolithic people decided to construct the monuments at this location. Killick suggested that the area was chosen because of the visually