24 The Seventeenth General Meeting. 
It is highly probable that many copper implements were re-cast 
during the Bronze Period with the -addition of tin, and that the 
comparative scarcity of ancient copper tools is, in part, due to this 
circumstance. 
Then there is the Iron Period, during which the art of reducing 
iron from its ores was discovered, and this metal superseded the use 
of both stone and bronze for cutting instruments and for many 
other purposes. It is probable that no absolute uniformity has 
prevailed with regard to the sequence of these culture-stages, in 
some counties the Stone Period may have lingered on much longer 
than in others, and in some counties perhaps neither a Copper nor 
Bronze Period may have existed. But in every country there appears 
to have been a Stone Period, although it by no means follows that 
the ancestors of the present occupants of the soil were the stone- 
using people. Indeed, in dealing with these culture-periods, no 
general rules can be applied to the remains found in various counties 
and districts, each series of facts has to be separately and cautiously 
investigated before we can venture to pronounce an opinion upon it. 
It is natural that every young science should have to pass through 
a stage in which its teachings are misunderstood, and, not unfre- 
quently, are misrepresented. Pre-historie Archeology appears to 
be still in this phase of its existence, and in particular, these typical 
stages of human culture-——The Stone Period, the Bronze Period, 
and the Iron Period,—have provoked the criticism of some who have, 
and many who have not, made themselves sufficiently acquainted 
with the published views of archxologists upon the subject. For 
instance, in an article which has recently appeared in the “‘ Quarterly 
Review ” under the title of “ Non-Historic Times,” allusion is thus 
made to the classification of pre-historic remains by the Danish 
antiquaries :— First came an age when the country was inhabited 
by savages, ignorant of the use of metals, and only employing 
stone and bone for all the purposes for which tools were necessary.” 
So far well, but then follows :—% And as a corollary to this, every 
monument which contained no metal, or in which any flint imple- 
ments were found, was at once relegated to these remote ages.” 
The writer then adds :—“There was a delightful simplicity about 
