8 Sm JOHN" EVANS — THE BEONZE AGE. 



of an anchor, whicli seem as if they would catch at once in any 

 brushwood the wearer had to march through. Possibly it misht 

 have been an advantage to catch them in something to enable the 

 sword to be withdrawn. 



After the swords come the spear-heads. These were usually 

 cast with sockets, so that they belong to a comparatively late 

 period, although possibly some of the tanged weapons like daggers 

 were used as spear-heads. They are usually leaf-shaped, and 

 secured to the shaft by rivets, as in the example given in Fig. 17. 

 Another form was provided with two eyes, through which strips 

 of leather could be passed to secure it to the shaft, like Fig. 1 8 ; 

 and lastly, there are some with apertures or perforations in the 

 blade, intended to serve the same purpose. I have a spear-head, 

 found in Ireland, no less than 24 inches in length, and in the blade, 

 17 inches from the point, are two orifices, which were probably 

 intended for the reception of a cord. I showed the blade to Mr. 

 Clibborn, the late Irish curator of the Royal Irish Academy, who 

 asked me if I could tell him the purpose of those orifices. In my 

 innocence I replied that I thought they were for the reception of 

 strings to hold it to the shaft, because there were no rivets. 

 " Nothing of the kind," said Mr. Clibborn. " What then are they 

 for ? " I asked. " They're for poison ! " he replied. To that I 

 remarked, "Is it not adding insult to injury to poison a man after 

 stabbing 17 inches into his body ? " 



Arrow-heads of bronze are hardly ever found, inasmuch as flint 

 arrow-heads survived into the days of bronze. There is one form 

 of bronze instrument, a vocal instrument, which occurs more 

 frequently in Ireland than in Britain — a trumpet. Curiously 

 enough in Csesar's time the ancient Britons still preserved a 

 trumpet, very much of the same kind. On a coin of Tasciovanus 

 struck at Verulam, there is an efiigy of a horseman wielding one 

 of these instruments, and they are frequently delineated on Roman 

 coins which commemorate victories over Gauls and Britons. Another 

 weapon of only occasional occuiTence in this country is the halberd. 

 It is more common in Ireland, but extremely rare in Western 

 Europe. One or more have been found in Spain, which gives 

 support to the idea that there was communication between Ireland 

 and Spain in these early times. 



Turning to weapons of defence, I may describe some shields 

 which certainly belong to the end of the Bronze Age. That shown 

 in the diagram is 14 inches in diameter, and made from a single 

 sheet of bronze, with large bosses stamped out in it. The most 

 common type in the British Isles is one having a series of con- 

 centric rings, from 12 to 30 in number, with rings of small studs 

 between them. 



Lastly I come to the ornaments, of which the chief were torques 

 or twisted necklaces. Bracelets and armlets are also abundant. 

 Several forms of ear-rings are found, of which one was made in the 

 form of half a tube, with a small projecting hook in the centre to 

 fasten it to the ear. In modern times it might have served to hold 



