BT THE PRESIDENT. 191 



are traces of the use of bronze before that of iron. In the time 

 when the Homeric poems were written, iron was extremely rare, 

 and the weapons were of copper or bronze ; and it will be very in- 

 teresting, when we see the results of Dr. Schliemann's explorations 

 at Mycenae, to observe how far the weapons and other ornaments 

 which have been found there correspond with what may be 

 supposed to have been the arms and ornaments in use when the 

 scenes of the Homeric poems were laid. It is a remarkable fact 

 that in these tombs of Agamemnon, or other royal personages at 

 ^[ycenge, no traces of iron have been found, but the swords and 

 other weapons are of bronze. There are also found ornaments of 

 gold, and pottery, some of very fine manufactiu'e, and some stones 

 or gems which have been admirably worked — showing that the 

 absence of the knowledge of iron is not incompatible with a certain 

 high degree of civilization. As further evidence of the succession 

 of iron to bronze, we find traces of the use of bronze surviving in 

 religious rites, where the earlier form of sacrificial instruments was 

 preserved after iron had come into use for other purposes, and for 

 some religious rites stone instruments have also prevailed even into 

 the Iron Period. "We know, also, that during the Bronze Period 

 in this country, while bronze was in use for knives and other 

 articles, arrow-heads were still made of flint, probably because they 

 were liable to be lost, and flint was cheaper than metal. We find, 

 too, that stone battle-axes were in use after the period when bronze 

 was introduced for the formation of daggers. In a similar manner 

 we find bronze overlapping beyond the introduction of iron ; so 

 that generally we have the three divisions shading off one into the 

 other, as I have elsewhere remarked, like the principal colours of 

 the rainbow. 



It must never be forgotten that these so-called ages are simply 

 indicative of different stages of civilization, and are not of any 

 chronological value. It does not by any means follow that when the 

 inhabitants of this country were in their Stone Age, the inhabitants 

 of Greece were also in it at the same time. In all probability, while 

 the inhabitants of the south of Europe were using bronze and even 

 iron, the inhabitants of the north still used stone for their cutting 

 tools and other weapons. At the present time we find many 

 savages who — although we are thoroughly in our Iron Age, in 

 almost too full development — are still in their Stone Period ; and I 

 have brought some specimens to show the kind of tools in use 

 among savages of the present day, by way of illustration of those 

 of ancient date which we find in this country. Here, for instance, 

 is a stone axe from Polynesia, bound to its haft by a piece of cord, 



