POLISHED CELTS AND THEIR MANUFACTURE. 



By T. H. POWELL. 



The polished celt or axe probably represents the 

 highest artistic and manipulative skill of prehistoric 

 and savage peoples ; its outline in fine specimens 

 being perfectly symmetrical, its poise and finish 

 perfection, the skill and patience necessary for its 

 flaking and polishing must have been the result 

 of long experience under conditions of life where 

 time was of little value. 



Whether used for cutting wood or as a weapon of 

 offence, a polished celt was necessarily subject to 

 great strain ; and it was, therefore, of primary import- 

 ance that a material should be selected which was 

 not only exceedingly hard, but without flaw, 

 otherwise the celt would fly to pieces directly it 

 was used. 



If a stone, such as diorite, were chosen, this would 

 be a matter of little difficulty ; but in countries 

 where flint was the only material available, great 

 care and knowledge were required in the selection of 

 a suitable block which would prove homogeneous 

 throughout. The first thing, therefore, was the 

 selection of a suitable mass, probably fresh from the 

 quarry, as it was then more easily worked ; and this 

 m^ss, somewhat larger than the implement to be 

 made, was flaked into a rough oblong with broad flat 

 surfaces with thinner sides and ends. The two 

 ends were then flaked longitudinally, the butt only 

 slightly, but at the opposite end the flaking was 

 continued, first on one side and then on the other, 

 till the edges along the plane of flaking met, and a 

 rough, slightly curved outline resulted (see Figure 

 225). One of the sides was then chipped from end to 

 end at right angles, the flakes struck off being 

 smaller than at the butt and cutting ends, and the 

 four edges were successively dressed in a similar way 

 till two wedge-shaped sides resulted (see Figure 219). 

 The two broad faces were then trimmed all over in 

 such a way that the celt was thicker along the centre 

 than at the edges (see Figure 224). The next process 

 was the production of the cutting edge, and it is at 

 first difficult to understand how this was done, as 

 the edge is often so true and sharp that no amount 

 of face orsidegrinding could possibly have produced it. 

 But a comparison of examples will show that it was 

 made much as follows. The roughly flaked mass was 

 held upright in the hand, with the narrow side 

 towards the workman, and the curved edge rubbed 

 backwards and forwards on a piece of quartzite or 

 sandstone, with a rotary movement, till perfectly 

 smooth and symmetrical, the outline aimed at 

 being exactly the same as in the finished article. 



The celt was then held obliquely, and rubbed back- 

 wards and forwards until the broad surface on both 

 sides extending for an inch or more from the cutting 

 edge became smooth and the edge was perfectly 

 thin and sharp (see Figure 217). In many cases 

 very little else was done, the butt end being left 

 in a rough state so that the haft would grip it more 

 firmly ; but in the finest examples the grinding and 

 polishing were extended over all the surface from 

 one end to the other both on the faces and sides 

 (see Figures 220 and 222). It is a curious fact that 

 although broken cutting ends of celts are compara- 

 tively common (see Figure 214) broken butts are 

 rare. The explanation probably is that the sharp 

 cutting end could often be remounted and used 

 again, or if only an inch or two in length it would 

 form a serviceable wedge. In the case of the butt, 

 however, it seems probable that the fragment, being 

 of fine quality and having cost so much time and 

 labour to produce, was regarded by its owner as a 

 treasured possession, and was used up again for a 

 variety of purposes. If the piece were large a smaller 

 celt could easily be made from it ; but if not of 

 sufficient size for that purpose it was made into 

 some other tool, and every good collection contains 

 examples of borers, scrapers, knives, and even 

 hammer stones showing old polished surfaces (see 

 Figures 212, 213, 215 and 216). 



It must often have happened that the sharp edge 

 became blunted or damaged in use, and resharpening 

 became necessary. This was easily done by striking 

 off small flakes from both sides, then grinding down 

 until the curved edge again became true and sharp, 

 and finally rubbing down, till all marks of flaking 

 were obliterated and repolishing was complete (see 

 Figure 223). 



The method employed in the case of diorite and 

 similar tough rocks was altogether different ; flaking 

 was out of the question, so the stone was struck or 

 pecked into the required shape and the rough 

 surface subsequently rubbed and polished (see 

 Figure 218). 



Flint and the many other materials made use of 

 in the manufacture of celts are necessarily of great 

 hardness. It must be evident, therefore, that the 

 grinding process was both slow and laborious, and as 

 in the finest examples all trace of flaking is com- 

 pletely rubbed away, a polished celt may be 

 regarded as evidence, not only of great skill, but also 

 of almost infinite perseverance and patience. 



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