EARLY MAN 



after that form had ceased to be of use. The flanges common in earlier 

 forms are there represented by somewhat hollowed oval projections on 

 each side of the blade. A bronze celt-mould was found in Unthanks 

 Road near Norwich.' 



Of the buildings erected by man during the Bronze age not much 

 is certainly known. His domestic buildings were probably constructed 

 upon practically the same lines as those of the Neolithic tribes ; and it is 

 not improbable that a certain proportion of the hut-circles attributed to 

 the Neolithic age really belong to that of Bronze. The possession of 

 improved tools for working timber, such as bronze axes, gouges, chisels, 

 etc. would suggest however that the dwellings of the later age were 

 more commodious and more perfectly constructed than those of Neolithic 

 times. In the Bronze age moreover advantage was taken of lakes and 

 rivers by building crannoges or artificial islands, which although damp 

 and unhealthy furnished some compensating advantages in the way of 

 protection from unwelcome visitors. The art of dressing stone and 

 rearing gigantic structures of massive rocks was possessed by this race, 

 as is clearly shown by the marvellous works at Stonehenge, which there 

 is good reason to believe were constructed towards the end of the 

 Bronze age. 



In various departments of human advancement and civilization the 

 people who used bronze exhibit a distinct advance upon those who, at 

 an earlier period, had been furnished only with implements of stone. In 

 husbandry this advance is indicated by the use of bronze reaping-hooks, 

 by the employment of oxen in ploughing, and by the cultivation of 

 several plants, such as beans and oats, which had not previously been 

 made to minister to the wants of man. Bronze age man seems to have 

 possessed the knowledge of working the lathe and of shaping vessels of 

 amber and of gold. Spinning, weaving and pottery-making were well- 

 known arts. The costume of Bronze age man comprised articles of linen 

 and woollen homespun in the form of cloaks, caps, leggings and sandals. 

 Personal ornaments of this age consisted of beads, earrings, necklaces, 

 bracelets, collars and coronets made of gold, stone, glass, bronze or bone. 

 Examples of personal ornaments in gold of this period have been found 

 at Ashill,^ Downham,^ and Foulsham.* The objects, consisting of two 

 torques or collars and one armilla, are of the usual twisted pattern. 



The graves or sepulchral barrows of this age, generally speaking, 

 were circular in form and intended for the interment of the cremated 

 remains of only one person, whilst the oval barrows of the Neolithic age 

 were constructed for several interments and sometimes furnished with a 

 central chamber of stone. 



Men of the Bronze age appear to have worshipped the heavenly 

 bodies, and the temples of Avebury and Stonehenge are considered 

 by some archasologists to have been associated with the religious rites 

 in connection therewith. 



' Archaeological Institute, Noruilch Volume, xxvi. 



2 Norfolk Architology, v. 193. ^ Qp f-i/_ ; 2j,_ 4 qj, „-^ ; 231. 



271 



