NOTES ON BRONZE. 47 



the very slow process of rusting transferred to the surface." 

 Now these words of Petrie's are strongly confirmed by specimens 

 in the Dorset Museum. In particular, a dagger, Br. 32. in 

 Case xiii. a, is in great part loaded with oxide, yet its surface 

 seems uninjured. Observe that Petrie says " usually." So it is, 

 for some bronzes, for instance, Br. 33. in Case xiii. a., have the 

 surface greatly pitted by oxidization. 



Notes on ancient bronze must perforce contain a word on 

 the " Bronze age." Of course, the bronze age of one European 

 country was a very different epoch from that of another. Greece 

 was emerging from her bronze age 800 or 900 B.C. Homer 

 speaks of both bronze and iron weapons, iron being still scarce, 

 however. It seems to have come into use much later in Britain. 

 Indeed, the opinion has prevailed, and still exists, that it was 

 unknown here before the coming of the Romans. There are, 

 however, archaeologists, for instance Canon Greenwell, who do 

 not think so. They put back the date to from 300 to 200 B.C. 

 Certain it is that about 50 B.C., Julius Caesar found the Gauls 

 fully iron-age folk, almost in advance of the Romans. At least 

 it was clearly a novelty to him to find the Gallic Veneti using 

 iron chain cables. When Gaul was so far advanced it is difficult 

 to believe that imported iron, if not home smelted iron, was not 

 used in Britain then and long before. Canon Greenwell says of 

 the bronze plated iron things from Belbury above named : " I 

 think you may, without any hesitation, say that they are of a date 

 about B.C. TOO, with a rider that they may be a little later." 



Here end these notes on bronze, imperfectly compiled from 

 several authorities, old and new. These are, chiefly, Pliny, Sir 

 J. Evans, Canon Greenwell, Professor Flinders Petrie, Dr. W. H. 

 Smith, and the Encyclopaedia Britannica ; Aristotle is not 

 accessible. 



There is a strange spell about ancient bronze. The ancients 

 loved it, and some archaeological moderns there are who " go in " 

 for bronzes and only bronzes. Bronze has a magic drawing 

 power on the mind, or imagination rather, like that exerted by 

 another and widely different link with grey antiquity. The Wall 



