not known. Based on a stylistic analysis of their architectural designs, the archaeologist Stuart Piggott thought that the plan behind the Medway Megaliths had originated in the area around the Low Countries, while fellow archaeologist Glyn Daniel believed that the same evidence showed an influence from Scandinavia. John H. Evans instead suggested an origin in Germany, and Ronald F. Jessup thought that their origins could be seen in the Cotswold-Severn megalithic group. Alexander thought their closest similarities were with long barrows along the Atlantic coast, perhaps imitating those of either Ireland or Brittany. The archaeologist 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. Design and construction Rectangular in shape, Addington Long Barrow is on a northeast to southwest alignment. In 1950, Evans described the monument as having twenty-two sarsen stones, eight of which, at the northeast end, would have originally formed the burial chamber. In 1981, investigators from Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit expanded that number, identifying twenty-five sarsens in the monument. Given the dimensions of the chambered tomb, they suggested that it probably once included about fifty stones. Upon construction, the barrow would have been about long. The sides would have been straight but the monument tapered in width from at its eastern end to at its western end. It thus formed a "truncated wedge-shape". The earthen tumulus currently stands at about in height, although would have been much taller when first created. Evans described the tumulus as having been "of immense size", believing that the long barrow would have been "a most imposing structure" when built. No evidence has been found of ditches formed by quarrying for the earth to form the mound. A stone chamber was set within the northeastern end of the long barrow, although it had been pulled down at some point in the monument's history, while much of the mound was left standing. Jessup suggested that this chamber had been a false portal, an architectural feature resembling a doorway but which does not allow entry to the tomb, an idea supported by Daniel. Meaning and purpose Britain's Early Neolithic communities placed greater emphasis on the ritual