EARLY MAN 



been called, not very happily, a rapier. This weapon has the same form as the blade 

 of the spear-head before us, although usually with a different form of mid-rib, but if 

 the socket be taken away it will be found that in outline it exactly resembles some of 

 the many rapiers figured in Sir John Evans's and other works, and that the two gold 

 studs on either face are the survival of the rivet-heads which fixed the handle to the 

 weapon. 



The presence of highly finished metal weapons of this character in 

 the county unquestionably points to a high state of bronze-age culture. 

 The worker in bronze who produced weapons of such high finish and 

 so enriched with ornament had elevated his calling almost to a high art. 

 Indeed, the latter part of the bronze age, to which period the Taplow 

 spear-head may be unhesitatingly referred, was clearly marked by a high 

 standard of civilization. The River Thames was utilized as a navigable 

 stream, and two timber boats which have been found in its vicinity, at 

 Bourne End and Great Marlow respectively, have been assigned to the 

 period of the bronze age. Both boats were constructed, or rather shaped, 

 in the most primitive manner, having been simply hollowed-out tree- 

 trunks. The Bourne End example measured 25 feet 3 inches long and 

 3 feet 4 inches wide. It was purchased by Mr. A. H. Cocks and sent 

 to the Buckland Collection at South Kensington Museum, now known 

 as the Victoria and Albert Museum. The Great Marlow boat was 

 found in the River Thames in 1871. 



As far as one can judge from the distribution of the antiquities of 

 this very interesting period, it seems probable that the bronze-age 

 population of the area we now know as Buckinghamshire was mainly 

 along the banks of the rivers. 



PREHISTORIC AGE OF IRON 



The last great change in the condition of prehistoric man anterior 

 to the Roman period is that which commenced with the introduction 

 of the art of working iron, a discovery brought to these shores by the 

 Brythons who, like the Goidelic race, formed a part of the great Celtic 

 family. The bronze age may be called the early Celtic period, whilst 

 the prehistoric iron age may be considered the late Celtic period. 



It need hardly be pointed out that the introduction of iron marked 

 a very important advance in culture. Not only did iron provide an 

 excellent material for the manufacture of weapons and tools requiring a 

 hard, keen, and tough edge or point, but the extraction of the metal 

 from the ore and the working and fashioning of it demanded a high 

 degree of skill. The possession of this knowledge and skill, therefore, 

 proclaims a cultured and civilized people. 



An important sword and scabbard of late Celtic character, and 

 doubtless of the late Celtic period found at Amerden on the banks of 

 the Thames, one mile south of Taplow, is now preserved in the British 

 Museum, to which institution it was presented by Dr. (afterwards Sir) 

 A. W. Franks in 1893. I* was dredged up from the bed of the Thames 

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