THE PREHISTORIC PERIOD 



central rib, which was probably carried along the blade. The edges 

 seem to have been removed just above the hilt, and the general type of 

 the sword appears to have been more like a French form than any of 

 those usually found in Britain. 



Spear-heads, Lance-heads, etc. A plain socketed spear-head is en- 

 graved in Skelton's MeyricKs Ancient Armour l among ' Antient Britannic 

 arms of Bronze,' and described as ' the head of a hunting-spear dug up 

 in Hertfordshire.' The ' bronze spear-head, about 2 feet in length,' 

 described by Cussans* as having been found in 1874 in a trench at 

 Hoddesdon near Broxbourne, may have been a sword. 



That described by the late Rev. Thomas Hugo, F.S.A., 3 as having 

 been found in May, 1858, in the river Lea, a short distance above the 

 village of St. Margaret's in Herts, is now in my own collection. It is 

 7f inches long, in form like A.E.I., fig. 382, perfectly plain, and with a 

 rivet-hole through the socket to secure the shaft. 



The only other 

 bronze instrument that I 

 need mention is a small 

 curved knife, with the 

 handle and blade in one 



piece, the former ending FlG " 9 " 



in the head of an animal. It is about 3^ inches long, and is engraved 

 as fig. 259, A.B.I., and here in fig. 9. It was found at Wigginton 4 

 near Tring. It not improbably belongs to the late-Celtic period, rather 

 than to that of the Bronze. 



Two bracelets of gold probably belonging to the Bronze age, were 

 found at Little Amwell. 6 A plain gold torque, slightly expanding at the 

 ends, and weighing 13 oz. 15 dwt., was found about the year 1800 near 8 

 Mardox, about two and a half miles from Ware. Owing to the mis- 

 chievous operation of the law of treasure-trove it was melted down. 



THE LATE-CELTIC PERIOD 



This term was applied by the late Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks 

 as an equivalent to the ' Early Iron age ' of continental antiquaries, 

 inasmuch as in Britain it coincided in the main with the arrival of the 

 Celtic tribes from the north-west of Europe, who developed a peculiar 

 stage of civilization, of which more characteristic traces are to be found 

 in Britain than in Gaul and the north-western parts of Europe. The 

 peculiar style of decoration founded on segments of circles and on spiral 

 ornaments stands apart from that of earlier periods, though it subsequently 

 became more highly developed in the early Christian days of Ireland and 

 Britain, when, however, interlaced ornaments superseded the simpler 

 curves of former times. 



1 1830, pi. xlvii. 10 ; Ancient Bronze Implements, p. 314. * Hist. Herts, ii. p. 173. 



3 Proc. Soc. Ant., iv. 279 ; Ancient Bronze Implements, p. 315. 



4 Proc. Soc. Ant., iv. p. 254 ; Ancient Bronze Implements, p. 214. 



5 ArchteoL, xviii. p. 446. 8 Gents. Mag., 1800, vol. Ixx. 2, p. 817, pt. 3. 



235 



