A HISTORY OF WARWICKSHIRE 



be found during such excavations of the soil as may be made from time 

 to time. 



The following bronze age antiquities which have been found in 

 Warwickshire are not very numerous, but they present several features 

 of interest. 



The first recorded discovery of this character to be mentioned was 

 that of a ' brass sword and battle-axe,' which, as Dugdale ' relates, were 

 found within his memory near Nadbury Camp in Ratley parish. As 

 Dugdale's account was written before the year 1656,* this is a rather 

 interesting record of an early discovery of bronze age objects. In the 

 ' brass sword ' and ' battle-axe ' it is not difficult to recognize a bronze 

 sword and bronze celt or possibly a palstave. 



Sir John Evans, in his book dealing with the subject, 3 records three 

 or four other discoveries of this age in Warwickshire. One, a winged 

 celt, 7^ inches long, was found at Wolvey, 4 and was preserved in the 

 collection of Mr. M. H. Bloxam, F.S.A. In form it was similar to the 

 specimen depicted in fig. 54 of Sir John Evans" book. A palstave, of 

 which no definite particulars were obtainable, was also discovered at 

 Wolvey. 6 



Mr. Bloxam records 6 the discovery of a 'British spearhead of 

 bronze, of a late type,' about the year 1825, near the site of a tumulus 

 called Pilgrim's Lowe, a little to the north-east of Rugby. 



A small bronze hammer was found at Rugby, 7 and was preserved 

 in the collection of the late Mr. Bloxam. Perhaps the most important 

 bronze age discovery in the county was that of a bronze dagger, 9! 

 inches in length, at New Bilton 8 near Rugby. The accompanying 

 illustration 9 shows the details admirably. The two rivets at the base of 

 the dagger are still in position, and ' the corroded surface of part of the 

 blade shows traces of hair, probably from the lining of a sheath of hide 

 having been in contact with it.' ' 



Among the archaeological collections in the museum at Warwick 

 are several bronze age objects which presumably have been found in 

 Warwickshire, but nothing seems to be known about the precise locali- 

 ties of the discoveries or any other circumstances connected therewith. 

 Under these circumstances it will be impossible to mark the discoveries 

 on the map of prehistoric remains. 



The objects consist of the following : 



(i) A flat celt, 6 inches long, with expanding cutting edge, and 

 ornamented with panels outlined with dashes and zig-zags. 



The Antiquities of Warwickshire, illustrated, 1656 ed. p. 420; 1730 ed. p. 541. 

 The date of the first edition of his book is 1656. 



The Ancient Bronze Implements, Weapons and Ornaments of Great Britain and Ireland. 

 Op. cit. p. 75. ' Op. cit. p. 86 ; Proc. Soc. Antiq. iii. 129, ser. 2. 



The Antiquities of Warwickshire (1875), p. 10. 



Evans' Ancient Bronze Implements, p. 179 ; Proc. Six. Antij. iii. 129, ser. 2. 

 Evans' Ancient Bronze Implements, p. 245 ; Proc. Soc. Antiq. iv. 49-50, ser. 2. 

 Reproduced by kind permission from an engraving published by the Society of Antiquaries of 

 London. 



10 Pro. Sof. Antiq. iv. 49, ser. 2. 



218 



