A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 



surface of the ploughed fields ; and, indeed, there is reason to believe 

 that they occur pretty generally throughout the county. 



Sir John Evans 1 mentions Pulpit Wood, near Princes Risborough, 

 as a place where neolithic flakes and scrapers are abundant. 



Two ground flint celts, or axes, have also been found in Bucking- 

 hamshire. One, a specimen made of cherty flint, measuring j~ inches 

 in length, the whole surface of which had been smoothed by grinding, 

 was found at Chalvey Grove, Eton Wick, and was exhibited by Mr. C. 

 D. E. Fortnum, F.S.A., at a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries of 

 London, 2 in 1873. A fragment of another was found in connection 

 with the Hitcham hut-floors already referred to as possibly of the 

 neolithic age. Celts of chipped stone have been discovered at Hamble- 

 den and Great Marlow. 



If the whole surface of the county were carefully examined it is 

 probable that traces of neolithic man would be discovered in some 

 abundance, and judging by what has been observed in neighbouring coun- 

 ties it would probably be found that the population was mainly dis- 

 tributed along the banks of the rivers and in other fertile situations. 



THE BRONZE AGE 



The bronze age, which commences with the introduction of metal 

 arms and tools into these islands, synchronizes with the appearance of 

 the Goidels or Gaels, a branch of the great Celtic race, of which many 

 traces remain in this country to the present time. 



The substitution of metal for stone gave an immense advantage to 

 the warrior, the hunter, and the husbandman ; and it is certain that the 

 beginning of the age of bronze marks the commencement of an import- 

 ant epoch in human civilization and advancement. 



The clearest and most trustworthy information we possess as to the 

 age of bronze in Britain is that which is derived from a careful and 

 comparative study of hoards or secret underground deposits of imple- 

 ments, etc. Many such hoards have been found in England and else- 

 where. M. Gabriel de Mortillet has shown that, generally speaking, 

 they are capable of classification in the following way : 



1. The treasured property of some individual, who may have 

 buried his bronze possessions during troublous times and never recovered 

 them. 



2. The hoard of a trader in bronze, the objects being numerous 

 and generally unused. 



3. The hoard of a founder in bronze, the bronze articles consisting 

 of old and broken implements, rough lumps of metal, and also new, un- 

 used implements. 



Many useful deductions may be drawn from an examination of the 

 contents of hoards of bronze, the following being some of the most 

 obvious : 



1 Ancient Stone Implements, 2nd edit. pp. 281, 310. 



2 Proceedings, 2nd series, vol. vi. p. 13. 



1 80 



