EARLY MAN 



Two bronze armlets were found in association with a spindle 

 whorl at Reigate. 1 



The form of bronze implement most frequently found in Surrey is 

 the socketed celt, an object which was probably put to a great variety of 

 uses. The idea as expressed by many writers seems to be that bronze 

 celts, whether of the flat, flanged, or socketed forms, were employed for 

 warlike uses. This however seems extremely unlikely for several 

 reasons. It is improbable that the use of metal would be confined to 

 implements of war. It seems much more likely that it would, soon 

 after its discovery, be applied to other purposes for which a hard sharp 

 edge was required. Indeed, the discovery of celts in association with 

 chisels and gouges, as for example in the Wickham Park (Croydon) 

 hoard, suggests that they were used as carpenters' tools. 



The manner in which celts have been worn, re-sharpened and frac- 

 tured is instructive, and points to the same conclusion. The fact that 

 the fracture has occurred near the termination of the wooden handle 

 within the socket leads to the inference that the implement was used in 

 such a way as to produce considerable strain on the side ; and it is, in 

 fact, just such as would be produced by splitting or cleaving wood. 



The methods employed in casting articles in bronze in this early 

 age were ingenious. In some cases it appears that when a mould of a 

 good pattern was obtained care was taken not to wear it out with too 

 much use, and in order to preserve it as a good pattern a model of it 

 was sometimes cast in lead, which was then made to serve as the 

 pattern of a clay mould, which of course was made in two pieces. 



Little is definitely known about the ordinary buildings of the 

 bronze age, but it may be inferred, from the existence of metallic tools, 

 that the domestic dwellings probably constructed upon the same lines 

 as those of the neolithic age were more commodious and more ela- 

 borate than any which had existed at an earlier period. 



In the bronze age, moreover, crannoges, or artificial islands, were 

 constructed as sites for dwellings, and, although damp and unhealthy, 

 the surrounding water furnished some compensating advantages in the 

 way of protection from unwelcome visitors. 



In various departments of 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 progress 

 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. 



The bronze age man seems to have possessed also the knowledge 

 of spinning, weaving and pottery-making. Pottery of this period was 

 often ornamented by a series of impressed lines arranged in zigzag 

 fashion. 



The costume of bronze age man comprised articles of linen and 



1 Arck<eokgical Journal, x. 723. 

 I 245 R 2 



