A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK 



clear that the houses had been constructed on piles driven into the bottom of 

 the lake. Large blocks of stone were found round the piles, which from 

 the associated socketed bronze spear-heads were evidently the work of the 

 Bronze Age. 



The Early Iron Age 



The use of iron in prehistoric times succeeded the use of bronze. This 

 division of time, or rather stage of culture, as it may more conveniently be 

 considered, began with the first introduction of iron into Britain, and ended 

 with the coming of the Romans to our shores. The term Early Iron Age, 

 which is sufficiently descriptive for all practical purposes, must not, however, 

 be taken to mean that iron was the only metal in use, because during the 

 whole period, and indeed subsequently to it, bronze continued to be used 

 for the hilts and scabbards of swords, for horse-trappings, and a variety of other 

 articles in which durability and slow oxidation were more desirable qualities 

 than the capacity for receiving a keen edge or a sharp point. There was, in 

 fact, quite a long period of transition and overlapping, during which bronze 

 and iron were employed in the manufacture of weapons and domestic imple- 

 ments of all kinds. 



The employment of the exact admixture of metals to produce the hardest 

 bronze proves that both copper and tin were thoroughly well understood 

 during this period. To the metals iron, copper and tin, we may add gold, 

 the latter having been extensively employed for the making of personal 

 ornaments in the Bronze Age as well as the Early Iron Age. The extra- 

 ordinary skill displayed by the inhabitants of Britain at this early period in 

 the working of different metals is eclipsed by the artistic excellence of the 

 ornamental forms, and by the use of variously coloured enamelling, employed 

 especially on articles for personal wear, such as brooches, bracelets, collars, 

 &c. Suffolk has furnished a few metallic objects of this period which may 

 be placed amongst the very finest of their class. These will be described in 

 this article in due course. 



There are reasons for thinking that the first iron used in Britain was not 

 obtained from an indigenous source, but was imported, being brought probably 

 by the Brythons, a branch, like the Goidels or Bronze-Age people, of the 

 Celtic family. A point of very great interest about this subject is that the 

 chief of the British Islands received its name from that of the new race 

 which, at the beginning of the Early Iron Age, made its appearance on our 

 shores. To this race, therefore, Britain is indebted for the first knowledge 

 of iron, for her wonderful metallurgical skill, her name, and much of the 

 blood which has made her famous amongst the great nations of history. 



An Early Iron-Age burial deposit of great interest was discovered in 

 or about the year 1888 at Elveden. Dr. Arthur Evans,' who had an early 

 opportunity of examining the objects found, draws attention to the striking 

 resemblance of this Suffolk burial to those found at Aylesford, Kent. 



The objects found at Elveden comprised a two-handled bronze-plated 

 wooden tankard adorned with repousse medallions, and presenting the closest 

 parallel to a tankard made of bronze found in one of the Aylesford graves. 

 The Elveden tankard is remarkable on account of the purity of the Late 



^Jrci.Wi, 351, 359. 

 270 



