A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK 



The following are brief particulars of these Bronze-Age hoards found in 

 Suffolk : — 



Clare, Poslingford Hall. — This hoard,' which was discovered by labourers in or about 

 1 845, comprised 1 9 bronze flanged celts of various sizes, the largest weighing i ^ lb. and the smallest 

 rather less than i lb. Several of them were ornamented with engraved lines, punctures, and 

 zigzag patterns. Some of these interesting objects were subsequently presented to the British 

 Museum. 



Felixstowe. — This hoard, which subsequently passed into the collection of the late Sir 

 John Evans, contained the following objects, 24 in all : — 



Rough metal .......... i 



Fragments of tools and weapons ....... 6 



Heads and runners .......... 3 



Knives or daggers ......■••• 3 



Socketed celts 6 



Gouge ........••••! 



Spear-heads ........... 2 



Saw .........•■• I 



Scabbard end ........... I 



Thorndon. — The hoard of Bronze Age antiquities found at this place comprised a spear- 

 head, hammer, knife, gouge, awl, and one or two socketed celts. The hammer, as the late Sir 

 A. Wollaston Franks ' pointed out, is of a curious and rare type. It resembles a socketed 

 celt, but instead of tapering off at the point, the lower end is cut off square and is of solid character. 

 The knife is provided with a socket into which the handle was fixed by two pins. The gouge 

 is of the ordinary type. 



The hoard must have been made late in the Bronze Age, all the articles having reached 

 their highest, or at any rate, latest stage of development. The socketed hammer is suggestive 

 of the type having been derived from a much worn-down celt. The objects are now preserved 

 in the British Museum. 



Exning. — An interesting hoard, probably of Roman date, but containing several objects 

 of purely Bronze-Age character, was discovered in Exning in the year 1832. Mr. (afterwards 

 Sir) A. W. Franks exhibited the objects at a meeting of the Royal Archaeological Institute * 

 in 1852, and drew attention to the more important points of tiie antiquities. The articles 

 included a bronze pendant object bearing some resemblance to 2^ bulla, formed of thin metal filled 

 with baked clay ; socketed celts ; spear-heads ; a gouge ; and a curious pin with a chain, all 

 of bronze. Near this hoard were two urns the form of which was very similar to Roman 

 vessels, but the material was coarse and badly baked, suggestive of a rather earlier period. 



The art of the Bronze Age in Britain is traceable, to a large extent, to 

 a Mycenaean origin.' The forms it takes throughout Europe, comprise (i) 

 the swastika, (2) the triskele, (3) the cup and ring, (4) the ship, (5) the axe, 

 and (6) the wheel. In England we have only a few of these forms, among 

 which the swastika is rare, and cups and rings fairly abundant, particularly in 

 the north of England. 



One of the chief forms employed on the pottery of the Bronze Age in this 

 country is the cheveron in various combinations. Parallel horizontal lines 

 sre largely used, singly or otherwise, so as to cut up the body of the vessel 

 into zones, which as a general rule, are alternately plain and ornamented. 



An urn of the ' drinking-cup ' type round at Lakenheath, and now 

 preserved in the British Museum, illustrates this kind of Bronze-Age orna- 

 ment in an admirable manner. In this urn the whole of the external surface 

 is covered with ornament, the general effect of which is distinctly pleasing, 

 although the forms employed are quite simple and elementary. 



' Proc. Soc. Antiq. (Ser. l), 1, 83. ' Arch. Journ. x, 3. 



* Arch. Journ. ix, 303 ; x, 3. ' J. Romilly Allen, Celtic Art, 21. 



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