THE METALLURGY 



The weapons and ornaments of the Bronze Age are all 

 cast, and show considerable skill in metallurgy.* Three 

 modes of casting were employed. One was that in a mould, 

 either of stone or metal. Of course in this case the mould 

 was necessarily in two halves, and the line of junction was 

 generally visible, as in fig. 61, representing a celt, which has 

 evidently been cast in this manner. This specimen was found 

 in Kent, and presented to me by Sir George Dasent. It is 

 FIG - 61 - clear, however, that such an 



object as the knife in fig. 40 

 could not have been cast in 

 this manner. Neither were 

 the pins, figs. 51 54, for if 

 they had been, the line of 

 junction between the two 

 halves of the mould must 

 have been traceable. 



Indeed this mode of cast- 

 ing was evidently unusual. 

 This is proved by the con- 

 dition of the objects, by the 

 scarcity of moulds, and also 

 by the fact that we seldom 

 find any two bronze objects 

 exactly similar to one ano- 

 ther. Thus, out of the six 

 hundred and eighty -eight 

 Kentish ceit. specimens in the Dublin 



Museum, no two were cast in the same mould, clearly showing 

 that the moulds were not permanent. 



The second mode of casting was by making a model of 



* See Morlot's interesting me- 

 moir : " Sur le passage de Tage de 

 la pierre a 1'ft.gc du Bronze et sur 



les metaux employes dans 1'age du 

 Bronze/' Copenhague, 1866. 



