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during which period the use of bronze implements 

 almost entirely superseded that of polished stone 

 weapons. 



Before the Bronze Age had fairly commenced the last 

 of the Pleistocene deposits had taken place, and the 

 recent layers of earth had begun to distribute themselves 

 upon the older strata ; but how long a time has actually 

 elapsed since the completion of the Pleistocene stratifica- 

 tion has not been accurately ascertained. A rough 

 approximation to the relative length of the Pleistocene 

 and Prehistoric periods may be obtained from the fact 

 that the valleys were cut down by streams flowing through 

 them as much as a hundred feet deep in the former 

 period, while the work done by the rivers during the 

 latter period is measured by the insignificant fluviatile 

 deposits close to the adjacent streams. We may, there- 

 fore, conclude that the Pleistocene era was, beyond all 

 calculation, of longer duration than the Prehistoric. It 

 must not be imagined from this that the Prehistoric 

 period was a short one, for there have been a series of 

 changes in the fauna, and a series of invasions of different 

 races of men into Europe, which must have required a 

 very long time to have been brought about, judging from 

 similar changes recorded in history. 



It is believed that, soon after the commencement 

 of the Bronze Age, an Aryan stream of life poured over 

 Europe from Central Asia, and finally invaded England, 

 driving out the old inhabitants and re-stocking the 

 country with a host of Aryan Celts, who brought with 

 them the knowledge of bronze manufacture. The defeated 

 natives retreated to Ireland and the west of England 

 and Scotland, and finally gave themselves up to their 

 conquerors, whom they in future served as slaves. Thus 

 were annihilated the Neolithic men of Britain, and thus 

 was the use of polished stone weapons superseded by 

 that of bronze implements. These Celtic invaders, like 

 their conquered predecessors, lived upon the flesh both 

 of wild and domestic animals, as is evident from the 

 discovery made in 1867 at Barton Mere, near Bury St. 

 Edmunds, where bronze spear-heads were found in and 

 around large piles and blocks of stone, together with 

 vast quantities of the broken bones of the stag, roe, wild 



