CHAPTER VI.POLISHED CELTS.

The last of the three classes into which, for the sake of convenience of arrangement, I have divided these instruments, viz., that comprising the celts ground or polished, not only at the edge, but over a great portion, or the whole, of their surface, is also that which is usually most numerously represented in collections of antiquities. Whether this excess in number over the other classes arises from the greater original abundance of these polished implements, or from their being better calculated to attract observation, and, therefore, more likely to be collected and preserved than those of a less finished character, is a difficult question. From my own experience it appears that, so far as relates to the implements of this character formed of flint, and still lying unnoticed on the surface of the soil, the proportions which usually obtain in collections are as nearly as may be reversed, and the chipped, or but partially polished, celts are in a large majority.

Among the polished celts there is a great range in size, and much variation in form, though the general character is in the main, uniform. The readiest method of classification is, I think, in accordance with the section presented by the middle of the blade, and I, therefore, propose to arrange them as follows:—

1. Those sharp or but slightly rounded at the sides, and presenting a pointed oval orvesica piscisin section.

2. Those with flat sides.

3. Those with an oval section.

4. Those presenting abnormal peculiarities.

In each subdivision there will, of course, be several varieties, according as the sides are more or less parallel, the blade thicker or thinner, the butt-end more or less pointed, and the edge flat, segmental, or oblique. There are also intermediate forms between these merely arbitrary classes.{99}

Fig. 43.—Santon Downham, Suffolk.1⁄2

I commence with those of the first sub-division, in flint. The first specimen I have engraved, Fig. 43, is a representative of a common type, and was found at Santon Downham, between Brandon and Thetford, on the borders of Norfolk and Suffolk, where, also, implements belonging to the Palæolithic Period have been discovered. The sides were originally sharp, but have been slightly rounded by grinding. The faces still show, in many places, the surface originally produced by chipping, but all projections have been ground away.{100}I have also a larger specimen,91⁄2inches long, from the same spot, and found, I believe, at the same time.This form is of common occurrence in the Eastern Counties. I have specimens from Hilgay Fen, Norfolk(81⁄2inches), and Botesdale (7 inches), Hepworth (61⁄4inches), Undley Hall, near Lakenheath(53⁄4inches), in Suffolk. Some of these are ground over almost the entire face. A fine specimen (10 inches) is in the Woodwardian Museum, at Cambridge. In the Fitch Collection is a fine series of them. One of these,93⁄4inches long,31⁄2inches broad, and21⁄2inches thick, weighing 3 lbs.61⁄2ozs., was found at Narborough, near Swaffham. Another(91⁄2inches), weighing33⁄4lbs., was found near Ipswich. A third(83⁄4inches) was discovered at Bolton, near Great Yarmouth. Others from53⁄4inches to71⁄4inches long, are from Beachamwell, Elsing, Grundisburgh, Aylsham, and Breccles, in the counties of Suffolk and Norfolk. That from the last-named locality has one face flatter than the other.There are others in the Norwich Museum, including one from Blofield,81⁄2inches long.There are numerous specimens of this type in the British Museum. One from Barton Bendish, Norfolk, is73⁄4inches long; another from Oxburgh, in the same county,63⁄4inches. Others,61⁄2inches and51⁄2inches long, are from Market Weston and Kesgrave, Suffolk. The former is semicircular at both ends.Mr. A. C. Savin has a well-finished example(61⁄2inches) from Trimingham, five miles south of Cromer.The Rev. S. Banks, of Cottenham, had a fine specimen, of white flint,81⁄2inches long, found at Stow Heath, Suffolk.Several celts of this form found in the Fen district are in the Museum of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society. I have some from the same neighbourhood, of which two are unusually wide in proportion to their length, and in outline much resemble Fig. 48, though the edge is more semicircular. One of these is 7 inches long,31⁄4inches wide, and13⁄4inches thick; the other51⁄2inches long,23⁄4inches wide, and13⁄8inches thick.I have seen a celt presenting a narrow variety of this form, which was found at Albury, near Bishop’s Stortford. It is63⁄4inches long, and15⁄8inches wide, and polished all over.The ordinary form, though apparently of most frequent occurrence in the East Anglian counties, is not by any means confined to that district. One,81⁄2inches long, the sides very slightly flattened; and three others, 6 inches and 5 inches long, with the sides more rounded, all found in the Thames, at London, are in the British Museum. I have one from the Thames, at Teddington (6 inches), and three,51⁄4to 6 inches long, found together in[329]Temple Mills Lane, Stratford, Essex, in 1882. In the Greenwell Collection is one71⁄2inches long, found at Holme, on Spalding Moor, Yorkshire.A flint celt of this form(61⁄2inches), from Reigate,[330]is in the British Museum, as well as another(61⁄4inches), rather oblique at the edge, found in a barrow in Hampshire, engraved in theArchæologia.[331]{101}Another, 7 inches long, was found near Egham,[332]Surrey. Two from Ash[333]near Farnham, and Wisley in the same county have been figured. I have a short, thick specimen(41⁄2inches) found at Eynsham, Oxfordshire. It sometimes happens that celts of this general character have one side much curved while the other is nearly straight, so that in outline they resemble Fig. 86. One such, 5 inches long and 2 inches broad in the middle, found at Bishopstow, is in the Blackmore Museum. Another(61⁄2inches) with the sides less curved, from Stanton Fitzwarren, Wilts, has been engraved by the Archæological Institute.[334]Two,71⁄4and51⁄4inches long, were found at Jarrow.[335]Fig. 44.—Coton, Cambridge.1⁄2The same type as Fig. 43 occasionally occurs in other materials than flint. The late Mr. James Wyatt, F.G.S., had a celt of greenstone93⁄4inches long,31⁄2inches wide at the edge, which is slightly oblique, found many years ago in Miller’s Bog, Pavenham, Beds. There is an engraving of it, on which it is described as of flint, but such is not the fact. The form is also sometimes found in France and Belgium. I have specimens from both countries; and one from Périgord, 8 inches long, is in the Museum at Le Puy.Allied to this form, but usually more rounded at the sides, and flatter on the faces, are the implements of which an example is given in Fig. 44. The original was found at Coton, Cambridgeshire, in 1863. The type is the same as that of Fig. 35; but in this case the celt is polished all over. The butt-end is ground to a semicircular outline, but is, like the sides, rounded. The same is the case with some of the thicker celts of the form last described. A celt of much the same character, but with the sides apparently rather flatter(71⁄3inches), was found at Panshanger, Herts.[336]One (5 inches), from the Isle of Wight, is in the British Museum. The edge is oblique, as is that of another of the same length found on the South Downs, and now in the Museum at Lewes. Another of grey flint, 7 inches long, tapering from 2 inches at edge to 1 inch at butt,7⁄8inch thick, semicircular at the butt and edge, the faces polished nearly all over, but the sides sharp and left unground, was found during the Main Drainage Works for London, and is also in the British Museum. Others have been described from Playford,[337]Suffolk(67⁄8inches) and Chalvey Grove,[338]Eton Wick, Bucks(73⁄8inches), and part of one from Croydon.[339]{102}I have seen specimens of the same kind, with the sides straight and sharp though slightly rounded, tapering towards the butt which is semicircular, and varying in length from51⁄4inches to71⁄4inches, found at Alderton, Suffolk; Thorn Marsh, Yorkshire; Norton, near Malton; Westacre Hall, Norfolk; and elsewhere. The late Mr. J. Brent, F.S.A., showed me a drawing of one about 7 inches long, found at Bigborough Wood, Tunford, Canterbury.Fig. 45.—Reach Fen, Cambridge.1⁄2Fig. 46—Great Bedwin, Wilts.1⁄2The celt shown in Fig. 45 belongs to the same class, though it is rather flatter at the sides. It is polished over the greater part of its surface, but is on one face quite unpolished at the edge. I have engraved it as an example of the manner in which, after the edge of a hatchet of this kind had become damaged by use, a fresh edge was obtained by chipping, which, in some instances, the owner of the implement was not at the pains to sharpen by grinding.Fig. 46 gives another variety of the flint celts with sharp or slightly rounded sides. It is slightly ridged along each face, and the faces instead of being uniformly convex to the edge have at the lower part a nearly flat facet of triangular form, the base of which forms the edge. This specimen was found at Great Bedwin, Wilts, and is in the Greenwell Collection.I have a nearly similar specimen(61⁄4inches) from Northwood, Harefield, Middlesex, and another of the same length, found at Hepworth,{103}Suffolk, but the facet at the edge is not quite so distinct. A third from Abingdon is only41⁄2inches long.A long narrow chisel-like celt of this pointed oval section (8 inches) from Aberdeenshire[340]has been figured. A flint celt from Chiriqui,[341]found with a sort of flint punch and some burnishing pebbles in a grave, presumed to be that of one of the native workers in gold, is remarkably like Fig. 46 in form.Fig. 47.—Burradon, Northumberland.1⁄2In the Fitch Collection is a large thick specimen(95⁄8inches) found at Heckingham Common, Norfolk, and a shorter, broader one with a faceted edge, from Pentney. Another of flint(61⁄2inches) with the sides much rounded, but with a similar facet at the edge, was found at Histon, Cambs, and belonged to the late Rev. S. Banks.It seems probable that these instruments when first made did not exhibit the facet at the edge, but that it has resulted from repeated grinding as the edge became injured by wear.A celt, apparently of this section, but more truncated at the butt, and with a narrow facet running along the centre of the face, was found in Llangwyllog,[342]Anglesey. It is not of flint but of “white magnesian stone.”Fig. 47 exhibits a beautiful implement of a different character, and of a very rare form, inasmuch as it expands towards the edge. It is of ochreous-coloured flint polished all over, and is in the Greenwell Collection. It was found at Burradon, Northumberland, and in outline much resembles that from Gilmerton, Fig. 76, but this latter has the sides flat and a cutting edge at each end.A celt of similar form, but only61⁄2inches long, found at Cliff Hill, is in the Museum at Leicester. Four flint hatchets, found at Bexley, Kent, seem from the description given of them to be nearly of this type.[343]{104}A few specimens of this form, both unground and ground merely at the edge, have already been mentioned, and specimens engraved, as Figs. 21 and 36. Hatchets expanding towards the edge are of more common occurrence in Denmark than in this country, though even there they are rather rare when the expansion is well-defined.In the British Museum is a magnificent celt of this section, but in outline like Fig. 77. It is ground over nearly the whole of its surface, but the edge at each end has only been chipped out. It is made of some felspathic rock, and is no less than145⁄8inches in length. It was found near Conishead Priory, Lancashire.The next specimens that I shall describe are also principally made of other materials than flint.Fig. 48.—Coton, Cambridge.1⁄2Fig. 48, in my own collection, is of porphyritic greenstone, and was found at Coton, Cambridgeshire. It is polished all over, equally convex on both faces, and has the sides rather more rounded than most of those of nearly similar section in flint. The butt is rather sharper than the sides. I have an analogous implement, found at Nunnington, Yorkshire, but with the sides straighter and rather more converging towards the butt. Others have been found in the same district.Other specimens made of greenstone have been found in the Fens, some of which are in the Museum of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society.Some “stone” celts from Kate’s Bridge[344]and Digby Fen have been figured in Miller and Skertchly’s “Fenland.” One (7 inches) of greenstone, and apparently of this type, was found at Hartford,[345]Hunts, and is now in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford.In the Newcastle Museum is a compact greenstone celt of this character(53⁄4inches) with the edge slightly oblique, found at Penrith Beacon, Cumberland. Some celts of the same general character have been found in Anglesea.Implements of this class are frequently more tapering at the butt than the one shown in the figure. I have several such from the Cambridge Fens, and have seen an example from Towcester. One of flint (4 inches), so much rounded at the edge as to be almost oval in outline, found near Mildenhall, is in the Christy Collection. One of greenstone(41⁄4inches) was found at Wormhill, Buxton, Derbyshire.Fig. 49, of dark-grey whin-stone, is of much the same character, but has an oblique cutting edge. The butt-end is ground to a blunted{105}curve. The original is in the Greenwell Collection, and was dug up in draining at Ponteland, Northumberland. Another, in the same collection, similar, but much rougher (6 inches) was found at Halton Chesters, in the same county. I have one of the same kind(65⁄8inches) found near Raby Castle, Durham.A flint hatchet of nearly the same form,41⁄2inches long, was found at Kempston, near Bedford. The Earl of Ducie, F.R.S., has another of flint (5 inches) from Bembridge, Isle of Wight. A celt, from Andalusia, of this character, but with the edge straighter, has been figured.[346]Fig. 49.—Ponteland, Northumberland.1⁄2Fig. 50.—Fridaythorpe, Yorkshire.1⁄2The celt engraved in Fig. 50 is likewise in the Greenwell Collection, and was found at Fridaythorpe, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. It is formed of green hone-stone. Another, similar but thicker, and having the sides more convergent and the edge less oblique, was found at the same place and is in the same collection, in which also is the fragment of a larger implement of the same class from Amotherby, near Malton, Yorkshire. With these is another(43⁄4inches) which was found in a barrow with a burnt interment on Seamer Moor, Yorkshire. It is apparently of clay-slate which has become red by burning with the body.Messrs. Mortimer have one of this form in greenstone(53⁄8inches) found near Malton, and also one in flint(41⁄8inches) found near Fimber.{106}I have a well-finished celt of hone-stone, rather thicker proportionally than that figured(55⁄8inches), probably found in Cumberland, it having formed part of the Crosthwaite Collection at Keswick. In the Greenwell Collection is another of basalt, with straight sides, tapering from23⁄4inches at edge to13⁄4at butt,91⁄2in length, and13⁄4thick, from a peat moss at Cowshill-in-Weardale, Durham.A thin, flat form of celt, still presenting the same character of section, is represented in Fig. 51. The original is formed of a hard, nearly black clay-slate, and was found at Oulston, in the North Riding of Yorkshire. Like many others which I have described, it is in the Greenwell Collection.Fig. 51.—Oulston.1⁄2One of flint like Fig. 51 (5 inches) was found at Shelley,[347]Suffolk.A celt of greenstone(43⁄4inches), of the same character but thicker and with straighter sides, from Newton, Aberdeenshire, is in the National Museum at Edinburgh, where is also another, in outline more like the figure, but broader at the butt-end, and with one side somewhat flattened. It is43⁄8long, and was found at Redhall, near Edinburgh.Some Irish celts, formed of different metamorphic rocks, present the same forms as those of Figs. 48 to 51. As a rule, however, the sides of Irish specimens are more rounded.Fig. 52 represents an exquisitely polished celt, of a mottled, pale{107}green colour, found in Burwell Fen, Cambridge, and, through the kindness of Mr. Marlborough Pryor, now in my own collection. The material appears to be a very hard diorite; and as both faces are highly polished all over, the labour bestowed in the manufacture of such an instrument must have been immense. It is somewhat curved lengthways, and on the inner face is a slight depression, as if, in chipping it out, one of the lines of fracture had run in too far; but even this depression is polished, and no trace of the original chipped surface remains. The point is quite sharp, and the sides are only in the slightest degree rounded.Fig. 52.—Burwell Fen.1⁄2A beautiful example of the kind is said to have been found in a barrow near Stonehenge.[348]Another of a green-grey colour(61⁄2inches) was found at Lopham Ford, near the source of the Waveney, and was submitted to me in 1884, by the late Mr. T. E. Amyot, of Diss.The late Mr. J. W. Flower, F.G.S., bequeathed to me a somewhat larger specimen of the same character, found at Daviot, Inverness. It is slightly broken at the pointed butt, but must have been about 8 inches long and35⁄8broad. The material may be a diorite, but perhaps more nearly approaches what the French term jadeite. In the Truro Museum is another highly polished celt of the same form, and similar material, found near Falmouth.Mr. J. W. Brooke has a beautifully polished specimen, made of a green transparent stone, from Breamore, Salisbury. It has lost a small piece at the butt-end, but is still 8 inches long. It is only25⁄8inches broad at the cutting end.Another celt,73⁄4inches long, “the edges thin, rising gradually to about the thickness of half an inch in the middle,” was found in 1791 near Hopton, Derbyshire.[349]The material is described as appearing “to be marble, of a light colour tinged with yellow, and a mixture of pale red and green veins.”In the collection of the late Mr. J. F. Lucas was a celt of this type{108}51⁄2inches long, slightly unsymmetrical in outline, owing to the cleavage of the stone. It is said to have been found near Brierlow, Buxton. The material is a green jade-like stone, but so fibrous in appearance as to resemble fibrolite.Another, of “a fine granite stone, highly polished, 9 inches long,41⁄4broad at one end, tapering to the other, its thickness in the middle3⁄4of an inch, and quite sharp at the edges all round,” was found at Mains,[350]near Dumfries, in 1779. It was discovered in blowing up some large stones, possibly those of a dolmen, and is now in the possession of Sir R. S. Riddell, Bart., of Strontian.Fig.52A.—Berwickshire.1⁄2Several other specimens have been found in Scotland. A beautiful celt from Berwickshire[351]is, through the kindness of the Society of{109}Antiquaries of Scotland, shown in Fig.52A.It is made of green quartz and has the edge intentionally blunted. A smaller celt(71⁄2inches) was found at Cunzierton near Jedburgh[352]; another (8 inches) at Rattray,[353]Perthshire; another(81⁄4inches), only3⁄4inch thick at most, near Glenluce,[354]Wigtownshire; and others (8 inches) at Aberfeldy,[355]Perthshire, and Dunfermline.[356]Several of these highly polished jadeite celts have been found in dolmens in Brittany and there are some fine specimens in the museum at Vannes. Some of them[357]have small holes bored through them. The various types of Brittany celts have been classified by the Société Polymathique du Morbihan.[358]In the Musée de St. Germain is a specimen (unbored) 9 inches long, found near Paris,[359]as also a hoard of fifteen, originally seventeen, mostly of jadeite and fibrolite, some perforated, found at Bernon,[360]near Arzon, Morbihan, in 1893. I have one71⁄2inches long from St. Jean, Châteaudun, and others53⁄8to 7 inches in length, of beautiful varieties of jade-like stone, found at Eu (Seine Inférieure), Miannay, near Abbeville (Somme), and Breteuil (Oise). The two latter are rounded and not sharp at the sides. One about61⁄2inches long, from the environs of Soissons, is in the museum at Lyons.One of jade, of analogous form to these, and found near Brussels, is engraved by Le Hon.[361]Another was found at Maffles.[362]Five specimens of the same character, of different sizes, the longest about91⁄2inches in length, and the shortest about 4 inches, are said to have been found with Roman remains at Kästrich, near Gonsenheim,[363]and are preserved in the museum at Mainz. The smallest is of greenstone, and the others of chloritic albite. They are said to have been buried in a sort of leather case, arranged alternately with the pointed and broad ends downwards, and in accordance with their size.Eight specimens from museums at Weimar, Rudolstadt, and Leipzig were exhibited at Berlin.[364]in 1880. One from Wesseling,[365]on the Rhine (8 inches), is thought to have been associated with Roman remains.Both with the English and Continental specimens, there appears to be considerable doubt as to the exact localities whence the materials were derived from which these celts are formed.Instruments for which such beautiful and intractable materials were selected, can hardly have been in common use; but we have not sufficient ground for arriving at any trustworthy conclusion as to the purpose for which they were intended. I have, however, a short celt,31⁄2inches long, from Burwell Fen, and made of this jade-like material, which has evidently been much in use, and was once considerably longer. It appears, indeed, to be the butt-end of an instrument like Fig. 52.A detailed account of the jade and jadeite celts in the British Museum is given in theZeitschrift für Ethnologie.[366]{110}It was formerly supposed that the jade of which many hatchets found in Switzerland and other European countries are made, came of necessity from the East, and theories as to the early migrations of mankind have been based upon this supposition. As a fact, jade has now been found in Europe, and notably in Styria[367]and Silesia.[368]Below[369]are given some references to comments on the sources of jade. An account of the method of working jade in Western Yun-nan is given in Anderson’s Report[370]on the Expedition to that country; and a complete and well-illustrated catalogue of objects in jade and nephrite, by Dr. A. B. Meyer, forms part of the publications of the Royal Ethnographical Museum, at Dresden, for 1883.

I have also a larger specimen,91⁄2inches long, from the same spot, and found, I believe, at the same time.

This form is of common occurrence in the Eastern Counties. I have specimens from Hilgay Fen, Norfolk(81⁄2inches), and Botesdale (7 inches), Hepworth (61⁄4inches), Undley Hall, near Lakenheath(53⁄4inches), in Suffolk. Some of these are ground over almost the entire face. A fine specimen (10 inches) is in the Woodwardian Museum, at Cambridge. In the Fitch Collection is a fine series of them. One of these,93⁄4inches long,31⁄2inches broad, and21⁄2inches thick, weighing 3 lbs.61⁄2ozs., was found at Narborough, near Swaffham. Another(91⁄2inches), weighing33⁄4lbs., was found near Ipswich. A third(83⁄4inches) was discovered at Bolton, near Great Yarmouth. Others from53⁄4inches to71⁄4inches long, are from Beachamwell, Elsing, Grundisburgh, Aylsham, and Breccles, in the counties of Suffolk and Norfolk. That from the last-named locality has one face flatter than the other.

There are others in the Norwich Museum, including one from Blofield,81⁄2inches long.

There are numerous specimens of this type in the British Museum. One from Barton Bendish, Norfolk, is73⁄4inches long; another from Oxburgh, in the same county,63⁄4inches. Others,61⁄2inches and51⁄2inches long, are from Market Weston and Kesgrave, Suffolk. The former is semicircular at both ends.

Mr. A. C. Savin has a well-finished example(61⁄2inches) from Trimingham, five miles south of Cromer.

The Rev. S. Banks, of Cottenham, had a fine specimen, of white flint,81⁄2inches long, found at Stow Heath, Suffolk.

Several celts of this form found in the Fen district are in the Museum of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society. I have some from the same neighbourhood, of which two are unusually wide in proportion to their length, and in outline much resemble Fig. 48, though the edge is more semicircular. One of these is 7 inches long,31⁄4inches wide, and13⁄4inches thick; the other51⁄2inches long,23⁄4inches wide, and13⁄8inches thick.

I have seen a celt presenting a narrow variety of this form, which was found at Albury, near Bishop’s Stortford. It is63⁄4inches long, and15⁄8inches wide, and polished all over.

The ordinary form, though apparently of most frequent occurrence in the East Anglian counties, is not by any means confined to that district. One,81⁄2inches long, the sides very slightly flattened; and three others, 6 inches and 5 inches long, with the sides more rounded, all found in the Thames, at London, are in the British Museum. I have one from the Thames, at Teddington (6 inches), and three,51⁄4to 6 inches long, found together in[329]Temple Mills Lane, Stratford, Essex, in 1882. In the Greenwell Collection is one71⁄2inches long, found at Holme, on Spalding Moor, Yorkshire.

A flint celt of this form(61⁄2inches), from Reigate,[330]is in the British Museum, as well as another(61⁄4inches), rather oblique at the edge, found in a barrow in Hampshire, engraved in theArchæologia.[331]{101}Another, 7 inches long, was found near Egham,[332]Surrey. Two from Ash[333]near Farnham, and Wisley in the same county have been figured. I have a short, thick specimen(41⁄2inches) found at Eynsham, Oxfordshire. It sometimes happens that celts of this general character have one side much curved while the other is nearly straight, so that in outline they resemble Fig. 86. One such, 5 inches long and 2 inches broad in the middle, found at Bishopstow, is in the Blackmore Museum. Another(61⁄2inches) with the sides less curved, from Stanton Fitzwarren, Wilts, has been engraved by the Archæological Institute.[334]Two,71⁄4and51⁄4inches long, were found at Jarrow.[335]

Fig. 44.—Coton, Cambridge.1⁄2

The same type as Fig. 43 occasionally occurs in other materials than flint. The late Mr. James Wyatt, F.G.S., had a celt of greenstone93⁄4inches long,31⁄2inches wide at the edge, which is slightly oblique, found many years ago in Miller’s Bog, Pavenham, Beds. There is an engraving of it, on which it is described as of flint, but such is not the fact. The form is also sometimes found in France and Belgium. I have specimens from both countries; and one from Périgord, 8 inches long, is in the Museum at Le Puy.

Allied to this form, but usually more rounded at the sides, and flatter on the faces, are the implements of which an example is given in Fig. 44. The original was found at Coton, Cambridgeshire, in 1863. The type is the same as that of Fig. 35; but in this case the celt is polished all over. The butt-end is ground to a semicircular outline, but is, like the sides, rounded. The same is the case with some of the thicker celts of the form last described. A celt of much the same character, but with the sides apparently rather flatter(71⁄3inches), was found at Panshanger, Herts.[336]One (5 inches), from the Isle of Wight, is in the British Museum. The edge is oblique, as is that of another of the same length found on the South Downs, and now in the Museum at Lewes. Another of grey flint, 7 inches long, tapering from 2 inches at edge to 1 inch at butt,7⁄8inch thick, semicircular at the butt and edge, the faces polished nearly all over, but the sides sharp and left unground, was found during the Main Drainage Works for London, and is also in the British Museum. Others have been described from Playford,[337]Suffolk(67⁄8inches) and Chalvey Grove,[338]Eton Wick, Bucks(73⁄8inches), and part of one from Croydon.[339]{102}

I have seen specimens of the same kind, with the sides straight and sharp though slightly rounded, tapering towards the butt which is semicircular, and varying in length from51⁄4inches to71⁄4inches, found at Alderton, Suffolk; Thorn Marsh, Yorkshire; Norton, near Malton; Westacre Hall, Norfolk; and elsewhere. The late Mr. J. Brent, F.S.A., showed me a drawing of one about 7 inches long, found at Bigborough Wood, Tunford, Canterbury.

Fig. 45.—Reach Fen, Cambridge.1⁄2Fig. 46—Great Bedwin, Wilts.1⁄2

Fig. 45.—Reach Fen, Cambridge.1⁄2

Fig. 46—Great Bedwin, Wilts.1⁄2

The celt shown in Fig. 45 belongs to the same class, though it is rather flatter at the sides. It is polished over the greater part of its surface, but is on one face quite unpolished at the edge. I have engraved it as an example of the manner in which, after the edge of a hatchet of this kind had become damaged by use, a fresh edge was obtained by chipping, which, in some instances, the owner of the implement was not at the pains to sharpen by grinding.

Fig. 46 gives another variety of the flint celts with sharp or slightly rounded sides. It is slightly ridged along each face, and the faces instead of being uniformly convex to the edge have at the lower part a nearly flat facet of triangular form, the base of which forms the edge. This specimen was found at Great Bedwin, Wilts, and is in the Greenwell Collection.

I have a nearly similar specimen(61⁄4inches) from Northwood, Harefield, Middlesex, and another of the same length, found at Hepworth,{103}Suffolk, but the facet at the edge is not quite so distinct. A third from Abingdon is only41⁄2inches long.

A long narrow chisel-like celt of this pointed oval section (8 inches) from Aberdeenshire[340]has been figured. A flint celt from Chiriqui,[341]found with a sort of flint punch and some burnishing pebbles in a grave, presumed to be that of one of the native workers in gold, is remarkably like Fig. 46 in form.

Fig. 47.—Burradon, Northumberland.1⁄2

In the Fitch Collection is a large thick specimen(95⁄8inches) found at Heckingham Common, Norfolk, and a shorter, broader one with a faceted edge, from Pentney. Another of flint(61⁄2inches) with the sides much rounded, but with a similar facet at the edge, was found at Histon, Cambs, and belonged to the late Rev. S. Banks.

It seems probable that these instruments when first made did not exhibit the facet at the edge, but that it has resulted from repeated grinding as the edge became injured by wear.

A celt, apparently of this section, but more truncated at the butt, and with a narrow facet running along the centre of the face, was found in Llangwyllog,[342]Anglesey. It is not of flint but of “white magnesian stone.”

Fig. 47 exhibits a beautiful implement of a different character, and of a very rare form, inasmuch as it expands towards the edge. It is of ochreous-coloured flint polished all over, and is in the Greenwell Collection. It was found at Burradon, Northumberland, and in outline much resembles that from Gilmerton, Fig. 76, but this latter has the sides flat and a cutting edge at each end.

A celt of similar form, but only61⁄2inches long, found at Cliff Hill, is in the Museum at Leicester. Four flint hatchets, found at Bexley, Kent, seem from the description given of them to be nearly of this type.[343]{104}

A few specimens of this form, both unground and ground merely at the edge, have already been mentioned, and specimens engraved, as Figs. 21 and 36. Hatchets expanding towards the edge are of more common occurrence in Denmark than in this country, though even there they are rather rare when the expansion is well-defined.

In the British Museum is a magnificent celt of this section, but in outline like Fig. 77. It is ground over nearly the whole of its surface, but the edge at each end has only been chipped out. It is made of some felspathic rock, and is no less than145⁄8inches in length. It was found near Conishead Priory, Lancashire.

The next specimens that I shall describe are also principally made of other materials than flint.

Fig. 48.—Coton, Cambridge.1⁄2

Fig. 48, in my own collection, is of porphyritic greenstone, and was found at Coton, Cambridgeshire. It is polished all over, equally convex on both faces, and has the sides rather more rounded than most of those of nearly similar section in flint. The butt is rather sharper than the sides. I have an analogous implement, found at Nunnington, Yorkshire, but with the sides straighter and rather more converging towards the butt. Others have been found in the same district.

Other specimens made of greenstone have been found in the Fens, some of which are in the Museum of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society.

Some “stone” celts from Kate’s Bridge[344]and Digby Fen have been figured in Miller and Skertchly’s “Fenland.” One (7 inches) of greenstone, and apparently of this type, was found at Hartford,[345]Hunts, and is now in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford.

In the Newcastle Museum is a compact greenstone celt of this character(53⁄4inches) with the edge slightly oblique, found at Penrith Beacon, Cumberland. Some celts of the same general character have been found in Anglesea.

Implements of this class are frequently more tapering at the butt than the one shown in the figure. I have several such from the Cambridge Fens, and have seen an example from Towcester. One of flint (4 inches), so much rounded at the edge as to be almost oval in outline, found near Mildenhall, is in the Christy Collection. One of greenstone(41⁄4inches) was found at Wormhill, Buxton, Derbyshire.

Fig. 49, of dark-grey whin-stone, is of much the same character, but has an oblique cutting edge. The butt-end is ground to a blunted{105}curve. The original is in the Greenwell Collection, and was dug up in draining at Ponteland, Northumberland. Another, in the same collection, similar, but much rougher (6 inches) was found at Halton Chesters, in the same county. I have one of the same kind(65⁄8inches) found near Raby Castle, Durham.

A flint hatchet of nearly the same form,41⁄2inches long, was found at Kempston, near Bedford. The Earl of Ducie, F.R.S., has another of flint (5 inches) from Bembridge, Isle of Wight. A celt, from Andalusia, of this character, but with the edge straighter, has been figured.[346]

Fig. 49.—Ponteland, Northumberland.1⁄2Fig. 50.—Fridaythorpe, Yorkshire.1⁄2

Fig. 49.—Ponteland, Northumberland.1⁄2

Fig. 50.—Fridaythorpe, Yorkshire.1⁄2

The celt engraved in Fig. 50 is likewise in the Greenwell Collection, and was found at Fridaythorpe, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. It is formed of green hone-stone. Another, similar but thicker, and having the sides more convergent and the edge less oblique, was found at the same place and is in the same collection, in which also is the fragment of a larger implement of the same class from Amotherby, near Malton, Yorkshire. With these is another(43⁄4inches) which was found in a barrow with a burnt interment on Seamer Moor, Yorkshire. It is apparently of clay-slate which has become red by burning with the body.

Messrs. Mortimer have one of this form in greenstone(53⁄8inches) found near Malton, and also one in flint(41⁄8inches) found near Fimber.{106}

I have a well-finished celt of hone-stone, rather thicker proportionally than that figured(55⁄8inches), probably found in Cumberland, it having formed part of the Crosthwaite Collection at Keswick. In the Greenwell Collection is another of basalt, with straight sides, tapering from23⁄4inches at edge to13⁄4at butt,91⁄2in length, and13⁄4thick, from a peat moss at Cowshill-in-Weardale, Durham.

A thin, flat form of celt, still presenting the same character of section, is represented in Fig. 51. The original is formed of a hard, nearly black clay-slate, and was found at Oulston, in the North Riding of Yorkshire. Like many others which I have described, it is in the Greenwell Collection.

Fig. 51.—Oulston.1⁄2

One of flint like Fig. 51 (5 inches) was found at Shelley,[347]Suffolk.

A celt of greenstone(43⁄4inches), of the same character but thicker and with straighter sides, from Newton, Aberdeenshire, is in the National Museum at Edinburgh, where is also another, in outline more like the figure, but broader at the butt-end, and with one side somewhat flattened. It is43⁄8long, and was found at Redhall, near Edinburgh.

Some Irish celts, formed of different metamorphic rocks, present the same forms as those of Figs. 48 to 51. As a rule, however, the sides of Irish specimens are more rounded.

Fig. 52 represents an exquisitely polished celt, of a mottled, pale{107}green colour, found in Burwell Fen, Cambridge, and, through the kindness of Mr. Marlborough Pryor, now in my own collection. The material appears to be a very hard diorite; and as both faces are highly polished all over, the labour bestowed in the manufacture of such an instrument must have been immense. It is somewhat curved lengthways, and on the inner face is a slight depression, as if, in chipping it out, one of the lines of fracture had run in too far; but even this depression is polished, and no trace of the original chipped surface remains. The point is quite sharp, and the sides are only in the slightest degree rounded.

Fig. 52.—Burwell Fen.1⁄2

A beautiful example of the kind is said to have been found in a barrow near Stonehenge.[348]Another of a green-grey colour(61⁄2inches) was found at Lopham Ford, near the source of the Waveney, and was submitted to me in 1884, by the late Mr. T. E. Amyot, of Diss.

The late Mr. J. W. Flower, F.G.S., bequeathed to me a somewhat larger specimen of the same character, found at Daviot, Inverness. It is slightly broken at the pointed butt, but must have been about 8 inches long and35⁄8broad. The material may be a diorite, but perhaps more nearly approaches what the French term jadeite. In the Truro Museum is another highly polished celt of the same form, and similar material, found near Falmouth.

Mr. J. W. Brooke has a beautifully polished specimen, made of a green transparent stone, from Breamore, Salisbury. It has lost a small piece at the butt-end, but is still 8 inches long. It is only25⁄8inches broad at the cutting end.

Another celt,73⁄4inches long, “the edges thin, rising gradually to about the thickness of half an inch in the middle,” was found in 1791 near Hopton, Derbyshire.[349]The material is described as appearing “to be marble, of a light colour tinged with yellow, and a mixture of pale red and green veins.”

In the collection of the late Mr. J. F. Lucas was a celt of this type{108}51⁄2inches long, slightly unsymmetrical in outline, owing to the cleavage of the stone. It is said to have been found near Brierlow, Buxton. The material is a green jade-like stone, but so fibrous in appearance as to resemble fibrolite.

Another, of “a fine granite stone, highly polished, 9 inches long,41⁄4broad at one end, tapering to the other, its thickness in the middle3⁄4of an inch, and quite sharp at the edges all round,” was found at Mains,[350]near Dumfries, in 1779. It was discovered in blowing up some large stones, possibly those of a dolmen, and is now in the possession of Sir R. S. Riddell, Bart., of Strontian.

Fig.52A.—Berwickshire.1⁄2

Several other specimens have been found in Scotland. A beautiful celt from Berwickshire[351]is, through the kindness of the Society of{109}Antiquaries of Scotland, shown in Fig.52A.It is made of green quartz and has the edge intentionally blunted. A smaller celt(71⁄2inches) was found at Cunzierton near Jedburgh[352]; another (8 inches) at Rattray,[353]Perthshire; another(81⁄4inches), only3⁄4inch thick at most, near Glenluce,[354]Wigtownshire; and others (8 inches) at Aberfeldy,[355]Perthshire, and Dunfermline.[356]

Several of these highly polished jadeite celts have been found in dolmens in Brittany and there are some fine specimens in the museum at Vannes. Some of them[357]have small holes bored through them. The various types of Brittany celts have been classified by the Société Polymathique du Morbihan.[358]In the Musée de St. Germain is a specimen (unbored) 9 inches long, found near Paris,[359]as also a hoard of fifteen, originally seventeen, mostly of jadeite and fibrolite, some perforated, found at Bernon,[360]near Arzon, Morbihan, in 1893. I have one71⁄2inches long from St. Jean, Châteaudun, and others53⁄8to 7 inches in length, of beautiful varieties of jade-like stone, found at Eu (Seine Inférieure), Miannay, near Abbeville (Somme), and Breteuil (Oise). The two latter are rounded and not sharp at the sides. One about61⁄2inches long, from the environs of Soissons, is in the museum at Lyons.

One of jade, of analogous form to these, and found near Brussels, is engraved by Le Hon.[361]Another was found at Maffles.[362]

Five specimens of the same character, of different sizes, the longest about91⁄2inches in length, and the shortest about 4 inches, are said to have been found with Roman remains at Kästrich, near Gonsenheim,[363]and are preserved in the museum at Mainz. The smallest is of greenstone, and the others of chloritic albite. They are said to have been buried in a sort of leather case, arranged alternately with the pointed and broad ends downwards, and in accordance with their size.

Eight specimens from museums at Weimar, Rudolstadt, and Leipzig were exhibited at Berlin.[364]in 1880. One from Wesseling,[365]on the Rhine (8 inches), is thought to have been associated with Roman remains.

Both with the English and Continental specimens, there appears to be considerable doubt as to the exact localities whence the materials were derived from which these celts are formed.

Instruments for which such beautiful and intractable materials were selected, can hardly have been in common use; but we have not sufficient ground for arriving at any trustworthy conclusion as to the purpose for which they were intended. I have, however, a short celt,31⁄2inches long, from Burwell Fen, and made of this jade-like material, which has evidently been much in use, and was once considerably longer. It appears, indeed, to be the butt-end of an instrument like Fig. 52.

A detailed account of the jade and jadeite celts in the British Museum is given in theZeitschrift für Ethnologie.[366]{110}

It was formerly supposed that the jade of which many hatchets found in Switzerland and other European countries are made, came of necessity from the East, and theories as to the early migrations of mankind have been based upon this supposition. As a fact, jade has now been found in Europe, and notably in Styria[367]and Silesia.[368]Below[369]are given some references to comments on the sources of jade. An account of the method of working jade in Western Yun-nan is given in Anderson’s Report[370]on the Expedition to that country; and a complete and well-illustrated catalogue of objects in jade and nephrite, by Dr. A. B. Meyer, forms part of the publications of the Royal Ethnographical Museum, at Dresden, for 1883.

I now come to the second of the subdivisions under which I have arranged this class of implements, viz., those having the sides flattened. The flat sides, of course, taper away to a point at the cutting edge of the celts, and usually diminish much in width toward the butt-end, which is commonly ground to a semicircular blunted edge. The implements of this kind are generally very symmetrical in form.

I have selected a large specimen for engraving in Fig. 53. It is of grey mottled flint, ground all over to such an extent, that hardly any traces of the original chipping remain. It was found at Botesdale, Suffolk, and was formerly in the collection of Mr. Warren, of Ixworth, but is now in my own. I have another(43⁄4inches) from Redgrave, Suffolk, and a third(51⁄2inches) from Bottisham Lode, Cambs.One of the same form, found near Stowmarket, is engraved in theArchæologia.[371]If the account there given be correct, it was123⁄4inches long. A specimen from Cardiff, now in the British Museum(41⁄2inches), has lost a considerable portion of its original length by use, and is ground so that the edge bounds a facet on the face. The sides at the butt-end are somewhat rounded, but near the edge they are flat and1⁄4inch wide.A fine specimen of this character, formed of ochreous flint (9 inches), found in Swaffham Fen, Cambridgeshire, is in the Christy Collection, as well as one from Mildenhall(51⁄2inches), the butt-end of which is sharper than is usual.In the Fitch Collection is a flint celt of this type,71⁄2inches long and21⁄2broad at the edge, which however, has been broken off. It is said to have been found in a tumulus at Swannington, Norfolk, in 1855. In the Northampton Museum is a specimen (6 inches) of ochreous flint, found at Gilsborough, Northamptonshire. The late Mr. James Wyatt, F.G.S., had a beautiful implement of this type, but narrower in proportion to its length, being 7 inches long and only13⁄4wide at the edge, found in the Thames at Coway Stakes, near Egham. I have one (6 inches) from the Thames at Hampton Court. A fine specimen,91⁄2inches long, and 3 wide at the edge, with the sides quite flat, but{111}less than1⁄4inch wide, of ochreous flint, polished all over, was found at Crudwell, Wilts.Fig. 53.—Botesdale, Suffolk.1⁄2Others, in flint, have been found at Sutton, Suffolk (8 inches); Wishford, Great Bedwin, Wilts[372](7 inches); Portsmouth;[373]Cherbury Camp, Pusey, Faringdon[374](51⁄2inches long, edge faceted), and Rampton, Cambridge.[375]I have seen one(51⁄2inches) that was found near Loughborough. Mr. G. F. Lawrence has a fine specimen(75⁄8inches) from the Lea Marshes.{112}In the National Museum at Edinburgh is one of white flint (10 inches) from Fochabers,[376]Elginshire, and another from the same place(71⁄4inches). They are in shape much like Fig. 61. There is another of grey flint, from Skye(71⁄2inches). One51⁄2inches long, in the same museum, from Roxburghshire, has the middle part of the faces ground flat, so that the section is a sort of compressed octagon; the edge is nearly straight.Fig. 54.—Lackford, Suffolk.1⁄2Much the same form occurs in other materials than flint. I have a specimen, formed of flinty clay-slate, with one side less flat than the other,101⁄4inches long, 3 wide, and15⁄8thick, said to have been found with four others in a cairn on Druim-a-shi, Culloden, Inverness. I have another of whin-stone(91⁄4inches) from Kirkcaldy, Fife.The fine celt from Gilmerton, Fig. 76, is of the same class, but has a cutting edge at each end. Some Cumberland and Westmorland specimens partake much of this character.{113}Implements of nearly similar form to that last described, but having the edge oblique, are also met with. That engraved in Fig. 54 was found at Lackford, Suffolk, and was formerly in the collection of Mr. Warren, of Ixworth, but is now in mine. It is of grey flint. I have another, of white flint, of the same length but a trifle narrower, and with the grinding for the edge forming more of a facet with the body of the celt. It was found in the Isle of Portland. The obliquity of the edge was no doubt intentional, and may have originated in the manner in which these hatchets were mounted with hafts. Professor Nilsson[377]has suggested that the obliquity is due to the front part of the blade being worn away in use more quickly than the back.Fig. 55.—Dalmeny, Linlithgow.1⁄2To this class, though very different in appearance, belongs a beautifully made celt of grey flint, in the British Museum. It is probably of English origin, though the place of finding is unknown. The sides are straight and flat, but only about1⁄16of an inch wide, the faces equally convex and polished all over. It is 9 inches long, and tapers from11⁄2inches wide at the edge, which is broken, to5⁄8at the butt. Its greatest thickness is1⁄2an inch. It is engraved in theArchæological Journal.[378]Flint celts of the type of both Fig. 53 and 54 are not uncommon in France and Belgium. They are also found, though rarely, in Ireland.The cutting end of one formed of nearly transparent quartz, and found in Egypt, is in the Museum at Geneva.Celts with the sides flattened are of not unfrequent occurrence in other materials than flint. That figured as No. 55 is of ochreous-coloured quartzite, and was found at Dalmeny, Linlithgow. It is preserved in the National Museum at Edinburgh. The form is remarkable, as being so broad in proportion to the length. The sides are flat, but the angles they make with the faces are slightly rounded. The butt-end is rounded in both directions, and appears to have been worked with a pointed tool or pick.Another celt, of greenstone, of much the same form but with the{114}sides more tapering, 6 inches long and31⁄4wide, which was found in Lochleven[379]in 1860, is in the same museum. This latter more nearly resembles Fig. 51 in outline. A small highly-polished celt of flinty slate(25⁄8inches), found near Dundee,[380]has been figured. Another, more triangular in outline,61⁄2inches long, was found at Barugh, Yorkshire, and is in the Greenwell Collection. I have a celt of rather narrower proportions that was found between Hitchin and Pirton, Herts. It is made of a kind oflapis lydius.Many of the Danish greenstone celts, which are perforated at the butt, present much the same outline and section.Fig. 56.—Sprouston, near Kelso.1⁄2Stone hatchets of this character occur, though rarely, in France. I have seen one in the collection of the late M. Aymard, at Le Puy. Dr. Finlay, of Athens, had a thin, flat hatchet of this form made of heliotrope,31⁄2inches long, with flat sides, found in Greece. The form occurs also in Sicily.[381]Several celts of this type have been brought from different parts of Asia. One, of basalt, 2 inches long, wedge-shaped, found at Muquier,[382]in Southern Babylonia, is in the British Museum; and several of jade, 3 to 4 inches long, procured by Major Sladen from the province of Yun-nan in Southern China, are in the Christy Collection. By Major Sladen’s kindness, I have also a specimen. Mr. Joseph Edkins has published some notes on “Stone Hatchets in China.”[383]Others from Perak[384]have also been described.The same form, also in jade, has been found in Assam.[385]Some from Java, in the museum at Leyden, formed of flint, present the same section, but the sides expand towards the edge. A nearly similar form occurs in Japan.[386]Fig. 56 is of the same character as Fig. 55, but narrower at the{115}butt-end. The original is in the Greenwell Collection, and is formed of Lydian stone. It was found at Sprouston, near Kelso, Roxburghshire. Though flat at the sides along most of the blade, the section becomes oval near the butt-end.I have a smaller example of this type in clay-slate,31⁄2inches long and13⁄4wide at the edge, found at Carnaby, near Bridlington. The butt-end is in this case rectangular in section. It closely resembles the flat-sided hatchets so commonly found in France. I have an Irish celt of the same form found near Armagh, and made of clay-slate. Flat-sided celts are, however, rare in Ireland.Fig. 57.—Nunnington, Yorkshire.1⁄2A celt of grey flint,41⁄2inches long, of much the same outline, but having the sides rounded and not flat, and the butt brought to a straight sharp edge, was found in Burwell Fen, and is now in the Christy Collection.A celt of the same section, but of peculiar form, with the sides curved slightly inwards, and tapering considerably to the butt, is shown in Fig. 57. The sides are flat, but have the angles slightly rounded; a narrow flattened face is carried round the butt-end. It would appear to have been made from a calcareous nodule found in some argillaceous bed, like the septaria in the London clay. Both of{116}its faces present a series of diverging cracks, of slight depth, apparently resulting from the dissolution of calcareous veins in the stone. It was found at Nunnington, Yorkshire, and now forms part of the Greenwell Collection.The original of Fig. 58 was discovered at Burradon, Northumberland, where also the fine flint celt, Fig. 47, was found. This likewise is in the Greenwell Collection. It is of porphyritic stone, and has the angles of the flat sides slightly rounded. Another, in the same collection, 4 inches long, from Doddington, in the same county, is of similar character. Celts of much the same shape and size have been found in the Shetland Isles; one of these,51⁄2inches long, from West Burrafirth, is in the British Museum. A similar form is found in Japan.[387]Fig. 58.—Burradon, Northumberland.1⁄2Fig. 59.—Livermere, Suffolk.1⁄2Fig. 59 shows a celt of much the same kind, found at Livermere, near Bury St. Edmunds. It is formed of a close-grained greenstone, and is in my own collection. The angles at the sides are slightly rounded. I have others of nearly the same size and of similar material, found near Cirencester, and at Soham and Bottisham, Cambs. Greenstone celts of about this size, and with the sides more or less flat, so as to range between Figs. 48 and 58, are of not uncommon occurrence in the Fen country. Mr. Fisher, of Ely, has one, found near Manea, and several from Bottisham. I have one, of felstone,31⁄2inches long, found at Coton, Cambs., one side of which presents a flat surface3⁄8inch wide, while the other is but slightly flattened. One(43⁄10inches) was found near Torquay, Devon.[388]A still more triangular form, more convex on the faces, and having{117}the flat sides much narrower, is shown in Fig. 60, from a specimen in the Greenwell Collection, found at Ilderton, Northumberland. It is formed of a hard, slaty rock or hone-stone. The angles of the sides are rounded.In the National Museum at Edinburgh are two implements of greenstone(23⁄4and 3 inches) of nearly similar form to Fig. 60, but having the sides sharp. They were found in the Isle of Skye.[389]Fig. 60.—Ilderton, Northumberland.A smaller celt of the same character,21⁄2inches long, found in a cairn at Brindy Hill, Aberdeenshire,[390]is in the British Museum.One25⁄8inches long, from Sardis,[391]in Lydia, and in the same collection, is of much the same form, but rounder at the sides and less pointed at the butt.Implements of the form represented in Fig. 61 occur most frequently in the northern part of Britain, especially in Cumberland and Westmorland, in consequence, it may be supposed, of the felspathic rocks, of which they are usually formed, being there found in the greatest abundance. That here figured is in the British Museum. It is of mottled close-grained stone, beautifully finished, and was found in a turf pit on Windy Harbour Farm, near Pendle, Lancashire.[392]It is more slender than the generality of the implements of this class, which in outline usually more closely resemble Fig. 77, which, however, has a cutting edge at each end. They sometimes slightly expand towards the butt-end.I have a more roughly-finished implement of this class, with the two faces faceted longitudinally, found near Wigton, Cumberland, and formerly in the Crosthwaite Museum, at Keswick. It is of felspathic ash, much decomposed on the surface, and 9 inches long. I have also a small example of the type(71⁄2inches) made of whin-stone, and found by Mr. W. Whitaker, F.R.S., near Sudbury, Suffolk, in 1873. Some larger specimens of similar character are in the Christy Collection. One of them is133⁄4inches in length.In the Greenwell Collection is an implement of this type, but with the sides straighter, and the angles rounded, found at Holme, on Spalding Moor, Yorkshire. It is of hone-stone, 7 inches long,21⁄2inches broad at the edge, but tapering to11⁄4inches at the butt. There is also another of felstone,123⁄4long, found at Great Salkeld, Cumberland.There is a celt of this type in the Blackmore Museum(131⁄8inches), the butt-end round and sharpened, though the edge has been removed by grinding. It is said to have been found, 5 or 6 feet deep in gravel,{118}at Shaw Hall,[393]near Flixton, Lancashire. Another, in the same collection (8 inches), was found near Keswick.Fig. 61.—Near Pendle, Lancashire.1⁄2What from the engraving would appear to be a large implement of this kind, has been described by Mr. Cuming[394]as a club. “It is wrought of fawn-coloured hone-slate, much like that obtained in the neighbourhood of Snowdon. It weighs61⁄4pounds, and measures175⁄8inches in length, nearly33⁄4inches across its greatest breadth, and nearly21⁄8inches in its greatest thickness. The faces are convex, the edges blunt and thinning off at both of the rounded extremities.” It was found near Newton, Lancashire. Another so-called club is mentioned as having been found near Keswick.[395]Clumsy and unwieldy as implements of such a length appear to be if mounted as axes, there can be no doubt of their having been intended for use as cutting tools; and though, from their size, they might be considered to be clubs, yet their form is but ill-adapted for such a weapon, even if we assume that, as is said to be the case with the New Zealandmere, they were sometimes employed for thrusting as well as for striking, and, therefore, had the broad end sharpened. The Stirlingshire specimen, Fig. 77, which is131⁄4inches long, is, however, sharp at both ends. There have been, moreover, discovered in Denmark what are indubitably celts, longer than the Newton so-called club. They are sometimes more than 18 inches long, and I have myself such an implement from Jutland, of ochreous flint, 16 inches long and 3 inches broad at the edge, which is carefully sharpened. I have another roughly-chipped Danish celt of flint,141⁄2inches long, which weighs 6 lbs. 14 oz., or more than that from Newton.{119}The celt found in Solway Moss, with its handle still preserved, as will subsequently be mentioned, is of the form of Fig. 61. It is of felspathic rock,91⁄2inches long and21⁄4inches broad, the edge slightly oblique.Fig. 62.—Ness.1⁄2One of felstone(151⁄2inches), was found at Drumour,[396]in Glenshee, Forfarshire, with another 13 inches long. This latter widens out suddenly at the butt. The larger of these two presents on its surface a transverse mark, not unlike that on the Solway Moss specimen, such as may have resulted from that portion of the surface having been protected for a time by a wooden handle, which eventually decayed and perished.Another from Lempitlaw, in the Kelso Museum, is 13 inches long.The flattening of the sides and faces of celts is sometimes, though rarely, carried to such an extent that they become almost rectangular in section.That shown in Fig. 62 was found near the Rye bank, at Ness,[397]in the North Riding of Yorkshire, and is formed of a dark, much altered slaty rock, containing a good deal of iron. The butt-end, though brought to an edge, is not so sharp as the broader or cutting end. The surface is somewhat decomposed. It is in the Greenwell Collection, in which also is the somewhat analogous implement shown in Fig. 63.This also is from the same part of Yorkshire, having been found, in 1868, at Gilling,[398]in the Vale of Mowbray, 4 ft. deep in peaty clay. It{120}is formed of clay iron-stone, and has the angles somewhat rounded. The edge is oblique and slightly chipped away. Another celt of close-grained schist(53⁄4inches), found in the same parish, and preserved in the same collection, more resembles in outline that from Ness, though not sharp at the butt, and having an oblique edge. In the Greenwell Collection is a thinner celt of the same type, found at Heslerton Carr.Fig. 63.—Gilling.1⁄2I have a specimen(51⁄4inches) of hone-stone, rather flatter on one face than the other, from Kirkcaldy, Fife.An Italian celt, of much the same character as Fig. 62, but of greenstone, has been figured by Gastaldi.[399]The next celt which I have to describe is even more chisel-like in{121}appearance, both the faces and sides being almost flat and nearly parallel. This peculiarity of form is no doubt mainly due to the schistose character of the rock from which the implement is made; which, in the case of the original of Fig. 64, is a close-grained slate or hone-stone. It was found at Swinton, near Malton, Yorkshire, and was given to me by the late Mr. C. Monkman. The angles are slightly rounded, and the butt-end is tapered off as if to an edge, which, however, is now broken away.Long, narrow celts of this rectangular section are of very rare occurrence both in Britain and Ireland, and, so far as I am aware, have never been found of flint. In Denmark, on the contrary, they are common in flint, but generally of a larger size than the specimen here engraved. The faces also are usually rather more convex.Fig. 64.—Swinton, near Malton.1⁄2Fig. 65.—Scamridge Dykes, Yorkshire.1⁄2They are to be found among the North American[400]forms, sometimes with a hole towards the butt-end, as if for suspension.Somewhat the same form occurs in Siam and in the Malay Peninsula.The next specimen, shown in Fig. 65, is of the same material as the last, and was found in the same neighbourhood, at the Dykes, Scamridge, in the North Riding of Yorkshire. Owing to the irregular fissure of the stone, it is considerably thicker at one side than the other. The broader side is flat with the angles chamfered, and the narrower side is rounded. The faces taper at the butt-end, which is ground to a{122}regular curve and blunted. This also was given to me by the late Mr. C. Monkman, of Malton.Fig. 66.—Whitwell, Yorkshire.1⁄2A curious variety of celt is shown in Fig. 66, the original of which was found at Whitwell, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, and forms part of the Greenwell Collection. It is made of a hard, shelly limestone, apparently of Oolitic age, the surface of which has been partially eroded. It is nearly flat on one face, and seems to have been intended for mounting as an adze. Other celts of similar material have been found in the same district, and Canon Greenwell has kindly presented me with one of much the same character as this, though far broader in proportion to its thickness. This specimen, which was found at Osgodby, closely resembles in section that from Truro, Fig. 84.A specimen of the type of Fig. 66(71⁄4inches) is in the British Museum. It was found at Creekmoor, near Poole, Dorset.Some of the large celts from the Shetland Isles present the same peculiarity of being flat on one face, but, as the sides are much rounded, I shall include them among those of oval section.

One of the same form, found near Stowmarket, is engraved in theArchæologia.[371]If the account there given be correct, it was123⁄4inches long. A specimen from Cardiff, now in the British Museum(41⁄2inches), has lost a considerable portion of its original length by use, and is ground so that the edge bounds a facet on the face. The sides at the butt-end are somewhat rounded, but near the edge they are flat and1⁄4inch wide.

A fine specimen of this character, formed of ochreous flint (9 inches), found in Swaffham Fen, Cambridgeshire, is in the Christy Collection, as well as one from Mildenhall(51⁄2inches), the butt-end of which is sharper than is usual.

In the Fitch Collection is a flint celt of this type,71⁄2inches long and21⁄2broad at the edge, which however, has been broken off. It is said to have been found in a tumulus at Swannington, Norfolk, in 1855. In the Northampton Museum is a specimen (6 inches) of ochreous flint, found at Gilsborough, Northamptonshire. The late Mr. James Wyatt, F.G.S., had a beautiful implement of this type, but narrower in proportion to its length, being 7 inches long and only13⁄4wide at the edge, found in the Thames at Coway Stakes, near Egham. I have one (6 inches) from the Thames at Hampton Court. A fine specimen,91⁄2inches long, and 3 wide at the edge, with the sides quite flat, but{111}less than1⁄4inch wide, of ochreous flint, polished all over, was found at Crudwell, Wilts.

Fig. 53.—Botesdale, Suffolk.1⁄2

Others, in flint, have been found at Sutton, Suffolk (8 inches); Wishford, Great Bedwin, Wilts[372](7 inches); Portsmouth;[373]Cherbury Camp, Pusey, Faringdon[374](51⁄2inches long, edge faceted), and Rampton, Cambridge.[375]I have seen one(51⁄2inches) that was found near Loughborough. Mr. G. F. Lawrence has a fine specimen(75⁄8inches) from the Lea Marshes.{112}

In the National Museum at Edinburgh is one of white flint (10 inches) from Fochabers,[376]Elginshire, and another from the same place(71⁄4inches). They are in shape much like Fig. 61. There is another of grey flint, from Skye(71⁄2inches). One51⁄2inches long, in the same museum, from Roxburghshire, has the middle part of the faces ground flat, so that the section is a sort of compressed octagon; the edge is nearly straight.

Fig. 54.—Lackford, Suffolk.1⁄2

Much the same form occurs in other materials than flint. I have a specimen, formed of flinty clay-slate, with one side less flat than the other,101⁄4inches long, 3 wide, and15⁄8thick, said to have been found with four others in a cairn on Druim-a-shi, Culloden, Inverness. I have another of whin-stone(91⁄4inches) from Kirkcaldy, Fife.

The fine celt from Gilmerton, Fig. 76, is of the same class, but has a cutting edge at each end. Some Cumberland and Westmorland specimens partake much of this character.{113}

Implements of nearly similar form to that last described, but having the edge oblique, are also met with. That engraved in Fig. 54 was found at Lackford, Suffolk, and was formerly in the collection of Mr. Warren, of Ixworth, but is now in mine. It is of grey flint. I have another, of white flint, of the same length but a trifle narrower, and with the grinding for the edge forming more of a facet with the body of the celt. It was found in the Isle of Portland. The obliquity of the edge was no doubt intentional, and may have originated in the manner in which these hatchets were mounted with hafts. Professor Nilsson[377]has suggested that the obliquity is due to the front part of the blade being worn away in use more quickly than the back.

Fig. 55.—Dalmeny, Linlithgow.1⁄2

To this class, though very different in appearance, belongs a beautifully made celt of grey flint, in the British Museum. It is probably of English origin, though the place of finding is unknown. The sides are straight and flat, but only about1⁄16of an inch wide, the faces equally convex and polished all over. It is 9 inches long, and tapers from11⁄2inches wide at the edge, which is broken, to5⁄8at the butt. Its greatest thickness is1⁄2an inch. It is engraved in theArchæological Journal.[378]

Flint celts of the type of both Fig. 53 and 54 are not uncommon in France and Belgium. They are also found, though rarely, in Ireland.

The cutting end of one formed of nearly transparent quartz, and found in Egypt, is in the Museum at Geneva.

Celts with the sides flattened are of not unfrequent occurrence in other materials than flint. That figured as No. 55 is of ochreous-coloured quartzite, and was found at Dalmeny, Linlithgow. It is preserved in the National Museum at Edinburgh. The form is remarkable, as being so broad in proportion to the length. The sides are flat, but the angles they make with the faces are slightly rounded. The butt-end is rounded in both directions, and appears to have been worked with a pointed tool or pick.

Another celt, of greenstone, of much the same form but with the{114}sides more tapering, 6 inches long and31⁄4wide, which was found in Lochleven[379]in 1860, is in the same museum. This latter more nearly resembles Fig. 51 in outline. A small highly-polished celt of flinty slate(25⁄8inches), found near Dundee,[380]has been figured. Another, more triangular in outline,61⁄2inches long, was found at Barugh, Yorkshire, and is in the Greenwell Collection. I have a celt of rather narrower proportions that was found between Hitchin and Pirton, Herts. It is made of a kind oflapis lydius.

Many of the Danish greenstone celts, which are perforated at the butt, present much the same outline and section.

Fig. 56.—Sprouston, near Kelso.1⁄2

Stone hatchets of this character occur, though rarely, in France. I have seen one in the collection of the late M. Aymard, at Le Puy. Dr. Finlay, of Athens, had a thin, flat hatchet of this form made of heliotrope,31⁄2inches long, with flat sides, found in Greece. The form occurs also in Sicily.[381]

Several celts of this type have been brought from different parts of Asia. One, of basalt, 2 inches long, wedge-shaped, found at Muquier,[382]in Southern Babylonia, is in the British Museum; and several of jade, 3 to 4 inches long, procured by Major Sladen from the province of Yun-nan in Southern China, are in the Christy Collection. By Major Sladen’s kindness, I have also a specimen. Mr. Joseph Edkins has published some notes on “Stone Hatchets in China.”[383]Others from Perak[384]have also been described.

The same form, also in jade, has been found in Assam.[385]Some from Java, in the museum at Leyden, formed of flint, present the same section, but the sides expand towards the edge. A nearly similar form occurs in Japan.[386]

Fig. 56 is of the same character as Fig. 55, but narrower at the{115}butt-end. The original is in the Greenwell Collection, and is formed of Lydian stone. It was found at Sprouston, near Kelso, Roxburghshire. Though flat at the sides along most of the blade, the section becomes oval near the butt-end.

I have a smaller example of this type in clay-slate,31⁄2inches long and13⁄4wide at the edge, found at Carnaby, near Bridlington. The butt-end is in this case rectangular in section. It closely resembles the flat-sided hatchets so commonly found in France. I have an Irish celt of the same form found near Armagh, and made of clay-slate. Flat-sided celts are, however, rare in Ireland.

Fig. 57.—Nunnington, Yorkshire.1⁄2

A celt of grey flint,41⁄2inches long, of much the same outline, but having the sides rounded and not flat, and the butt brought to a straight sharp edge, was found in Burwell Fen, and is now in the Christy Collection.

A celt of the same section, but of peculiar form, with the sides curved slightly inwards, and tapering considerably to the butt, is shown in Fig. 57. The sides are flat, but have the angles slightly rounded; a narrow flattened face is carried round the butt-end. It would appear to have been made from a calcareous nodule found in some argillaceous bed, like the septaria in the London clay. Both of{116}its faces present a series of diverging cracks, of slight depth, apparently resulting from the dissolution of calcareous veins in the stone. It was found at Nunnington, Yorkshire, and now forms part of the Greenwell Collection.

The original of Fig. 58 was discovered at Burradon, Northumberland, where also the fine flint celt, Fig. 47, was found. This likewise is in the Greenwell Collection. It is of porphyritic stone, and has the angles of the flat sides slightly rounded. Another, in the same collection, 4 inches long, from Doddington, in the same county, is of similar character. Celts of much the same shape and size have been found in the Shetland Isles; one of these,51⁄2inches long, from West Burrafirth, is in the British Museum. A similar form is found in Japan.[387]

Fig. 58.—Burradon, Northumberland.1⁄2Fig. 59.—Livermere, Suffolk.1⁄2

Fig. 58.—Burradon, Northumberland.1⁄2

Fig. 59.—Livermere, Suffolk.1⁄2

Fig. 59 shows a celt of much the same kind, found at Livermere, near Bury St. Edmunds. It is formed of a close-grained greenstone, and is in my own collection. The angles at the sides are slightly rounded. I have others of nearly the same size and of similar material, found near Cirencester, and at Soham and Bottisham, Cambs. Greenstone celts of about this size, and with the sides more or less flat, so as to range between Figs. 48 and 58, are of not uncommon occurrence in the Fen country. Mr. Fisher, of Ely, has one, found near Manea, and several from Bottisham. I have one, of felstone,31⁄2inches long, found at Coton, Cambs., one side of which presents a flat surface3⁄8inch wide, while the other is but slightly flattened. One(43⁄10inches) was found near Torquay, Devon.[388]

A still more triangular form, more convex on the faces, and having{117}the flat sides much narrower, is shown in Fig. 60, from a specimen in the Greenwell Collection, found at Ilderton, Northumberland. It is formed of a hard, slaty rock or hone-stone. The angles of the sides are rounded.

In the National Museum at Edinburgh are two implements of greenstone(23⁄4and 3 inches) of nearly similar form to Fig. 60, but having the sides sharp. They were found in the Isle of Skye.[389]

Fig. 60.—Ilderton, Northumberland.

A smaller celt of the same character,21⁄2inches long, found in a cairn at Brindy Hill, Aberdeenshire,[390]is in the British Museum.

One25⁄8inches long, from Sardis,[391]in Lydia, and in the same collection, is of much the same form, but rounder at the sides and less pointed at the butt.

Implements of the form represented in Fig. 61 occur most frequently in the northern part of Britain, especially in Cumberland and Westmorland, in consequence, it may be supposed, of the felspathic rocks, of which they are usually formed, being there found in the greatest abundance. That here figured is in the British Museum. It is of mottled close-grained stone, beautifully finished, and was found in a turf pit on Windy Harbour Farm, near Pendle, Lancashire.[392]It is more slender than the generality of the implements of this class, which in outline usually more closely resemble Fig. 77, which, however, has a cutting edge at each end. They sometimes slightly expand towards the butt-end.

I have a more roughly-finished implement of this class, with the two faces faceted longitudinally, found near Wigton, Cumberland, and formerly in the Crosthwaite Museum, at Keswick. It is of felspathic ash, much decomposed on the surface, and 9 inches long. I have also a small example of the type(71⁄2inches) made of whin-stone, and found by Mr. W. Whitaker, F.R.S., near Sudbury, Suffolk, in 1873. Some larger specimens of similar character are in the Christy Collection. One of them is133⁄4inches in length.

In the Greenwell Collection is an implement of this type, but with the sides straighter, and the angles rounded, found at Holme, on Spalding Moor, Yorkshire. It is of hone-stone, 7 inches long,21⁄2inches broad at the edge, but tapering to11⁄4inches at the butt. There is also another of felstone,123⁄4long, found at Great Salkeld, Cumberland.

There is a celt of this type in the Blackmore Museum(131⁄8inches), the butt-end round and sharpened, though the edge has been removed by grinding. It is said to have been found, 5 or 6 feet deep in gravel,{118}at Shaw Hall,[393]near Flixton, Lancashire. Another, in the same collection (8 inches), was found near Keswick.

Fig. 61.—Near Pendle, Lancashire.1⁄2

What from the engraving would appear to be a large implement of this kind, has been described by Mr. Cuming[394]as a club. “It is wrought of fawn-coloured hone-slate, much like that obtained in the neighbourhood of Snowdon. It weighs61⁄4pounds, and measures175⁄8inches in length, nearly33⁄4inches across its greatest breadth, and nearly21⁄8inches in its greatest thickness. The faces are convex, the edges blunt and thinning off at both of the rounded extremities.” It was found near Newton, Lancashire. Another so-called club is mentioned as having been found near Keswick.[395]

Clumsy and unwieldy as implements of such a length appear to be if mounted as axes, there can be no doubt of their having been intended for use as cutting tools; and though, from their size, they might be considered to be clubs, yet their form is but ill-adapted for such a weapon, even if we assume that, as is said to be the case with the New Zealandmere, they were sometimes employed for thrusting as well as for striking, and, therefore, had the broad end sharpened. The Stirlingshire specimen, Fig. 77, which is131⁄4inches long, is, however, sharp at both ends. There have been, moreover, discovered in Denmark what are indubitably celts, longer than the Newton so-called club. They are sometimes more than 18 inches long, and I have myself such an implement from Jutland, of ochreous flint, 16 inches long and 3 inches broad at the edge, which is carefully sharpened. I have another roughly-chipped Danish celt of flint,141⁄2inches long, which weighs 6 lbs. 14 oz., or more than that from Newton.{119}

The celt found in Solway Moss, with its handle still preserved, as will subsequently be mentioned, is of the form of Fig. 61. It is of felspathic rock,91⁄2inches long and21⁄4inches broad, the edge slightly oblique.

Fig. 62.—Ness.1⁄2

One of felstone(151⁄2inches), was found at Drumour,[396]in Glenshee, Forfarshire, with another 13 inches long. This latter widens out suddenly at the butt. The larger of these two presents on its surface a transverse mark, not unlike that on the Solway Moss specimen, such as may have resulted from that portion of the surface having been protected for a time by a wooden handle, which eventually decayed and perished.

Another from Lempitlaw, in the Kelso Museum, is 13 inches long.

The flattening of the sides and faces of celts is sometimes, though rarely, carried to such an extent that they become almost rectangular in section.

That shown in Fig. 62 was found near the Rye bank, at Ness,[397]in the North Riding of Yorkshire, and is formed of a dark, much altered slaty rock, containing a good deal of iron. The butt-end, though brought to an edge, is not so sharp as the broader or cutting end. The surface is somewhat decomposed. It is in the Greenwell Collection, in which also is the somewhat analogous implement shown in Fig. 63.

This also is from the same part of Yorkshire, having been found, in 1868, at Gilling,[398]in the Vale of Mowbray, 4 ft. deep in peaty clay. It{120}is formed of clay iron-stone, and has the angles somewhat rounded. The edge is oblique and slightly chipped away. Another celt of close-grained schist(53⁄4inches), found in the same parish, and preserved in the same collection, more resembles in outline that from Ness, though not sharp at the butt, and having an oblique edge. In the Greenwell Collection is a thinner celt of the same type, found at Heslerton Carr.

Fig. 63.—Gilling.1⁄2

I have a specimen(51⁄4inches) of hone-stone, rather flatter on one face than the other, from Kirkcaldy, Fife.

An Italian celt, of much the same character as Fig. 62, but of greenstone, has been figured by Gastaldi.[399]

The next celt which I have to describe is even more chisel-like in{121}appearance, both the faces and sides being almost flat and nearly parallel. This peculiarity of form is no doubt mainly due to the schistose character of the rock from which the implement is made; which, in the case of the original of Fig. 64, is a close-grained slate or hone-stone. It was found at Swinton, near Malton, Yorkshire, and was given to me by the late Mr. C. Monkman. The angles are slightly rounded, and the butt-end is tapered off as if to an edge, which, however, is now broken away.

Long, narrow celts of this rectangular section are of very rare occurrence both in Britain and Ireland, and, so far as I am aware, have never been found of flint. In Denmark, on the contrary, they are common in flint, but generally of a larger size than the specimen here engraved. The faces also are usually rather more convex.

Fig. 64.—Swinton, near Malton.1⁄2Fig. 65.—Scamridge Dykes, Yorkshire.1⁄2

Fig. 64.—Swinton, near Malton.1⁄2

Fig. 65.—Scamridge Dykes, Yorkshire.1⁄2

They are to be found among the North American[400]forms, sometimes with a hole towards the butt-end, as if for suspension.

Somewhat the same form occurs in Siam and in the Malay Peninsula.

The next specimen, shown in Fig. 65, is of the same material as the last, and was found in the same neighbourhood, at the Dykes, Scamridge, in the North Riding of Yorkshire. Owing to the irregular fissure of the stone, it is considerably thicker at one side than the other. The broader side is flat with the angles chamfered, and the narrower side is rounded. The faces taper at the butt-end, which is ground to a{122}regular curve and blunted. This also was given to me by the late Mr. C. Monkman, of Malton.

Fig. 66.—Whitwell, Yorkshire.1⁄2

A curious variety of celt is shown in Fig. 66, the original of which was found at Whitwell, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, and forms part of the Greenwell Collection. It is made of a hard, shelly limestone, apparently of Oolitic age, the surface of which has been partially eroded. It is nearly flat on one face, and seems to have been intended for mounting as an adze. Other celts of similar material have been found in the same district, and Canon Greenwell has kindly presented me with one of much the same character as this, though far broader in proportion to its thickness. This specimen, which was found at Osgodby, closely resembles in section that from Truro, Fig. 84.

A specimen of the type of Fig. 66(71⁄4inches) is in the British Museum. It was found at Creekmoor, near Poole, Dorset.

Some of the large celts from the Shetland Isles present the same peculiarity of being flat on one face, but, as the sides are much rounded, I shall include them among those of oval section.

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