EARLY MAN 



at Brane Common, belong perhaps to the Bronze Age rather than the 

 Neolithic. The scraper, flint knife, lance-heads, and arrow-heads found at 

 Carn Brea, as well as the rough celts of greenstone from St. Just, and now in 

 Truro Museum, are probably of genuinely Neolithic Age. The minor 

 objects which call for no special remark will be found mentioned in the 

 topographical list of prehistoric antiquities at the end of this article. 



THE BRONZE AGE 



The abundance of both copper and tin in Cornwall, and the evidence 

 showing that the latter of these metals was worked at a very early period, might 

 naturally lead one to expect to find many remains of early bronze implements 

 and weapons within the county. As a matter of fact, several examples of these 

 interesting antiquities have been found, and if they are perhaps rather less in 

 numbers than one might anticipate, they are of very great interest for other 

 reasons, particularly on account of their association with personal ornaments 

 of gold, and enriched with purely Bronze-Age forms of ornamentation. 



Of the bronze antiquities those in the form of hoards, and consisting of 

 several articles placed together, should perhaps first be mentioned. Cornwall 

 has yielded six l of these hoards, of which the following are brief details : 



1. Kenidjack Cliff 2 (St. Just-in-Penwith). During the construction of 

 the butts for rifle practice here, some stones set on edge (probably the remains 

 of an ancient building) had to be removed, and below them were found two 

 socketed and looped celts, a palstave much broken towards the cutting end, 

 an oval piece of bronze, probably a 'jet,' resulting from casting a bronze 

 article, from twenty to thirty pieces of pure copper, and a single fragment of 

 well-baked pottery. The purity of the lumps of copper points to this hoard 

 having been the property of a founder of bronze tools or weapons. 



2. Lelant. s This hoard was discovered by a farmer. Two feet below 

 the surface he found amongst ashes many celts both perfect and broken. 

 In the bottom of one of the largest and most perfect of the celts were some 

 small bars of gold about the size of a straw. The hoard also contained a 

 socketed knife, a bronze ferrule, and a very symmetrical jet of metal, circular 

 in form, with four irregularly-conical runners proceeding from it. These 

 three last-named objects, which are now preserved in the rooms of the Society 

 of Antiquaries of London, are shown in the accompanying illustrations. 



3. Mawgan. 4 At a depth of 1 2 ft. under a bed of black mud were found 

 a fine rapier of bronze in excellent preservation, a rude bronze saw, also of 

 bronze, and socketed celts and a palstave. 



4. St. Hilary. 6 The most remarkable feature of this hoard, which 

 contained celts and spear-heads, was a number of lumps of bronze weighing 

 14 or 15 Ib. a piece, the total weight of the hoard being 80 Ib. 



5. Carn Brea. 8 -' In the year 1744 in the side of Karn Bre Hill were 

 dug up several hollow instruments of brass of different sizes, called celts.' 



1 Leland (1530) wrote : 'There was found of late yeres syns spere heddes, axis for warre and swerdes of 

 coper, wrappid up in lynin scant perished near the Mount in St. Hilaries paroch in tynne works.' This is 

 probably the same find as is mentioned in Camden, 1 88, and Norden, 37. 



' Journ. Ray. Imt. Cornto. vi, 191193. 



3 Arch, xv, 1 1 8. Evans, Bronze Imp. 285. Journ. Roy. Imt. Cornw. iii (1868), 48 ; Lysons, cczz. 



4 Arch, xvii, 337, 338 ; Lysons, ccxx. 



5 Arch, xv, 1 20. Journ. Roy. Imt. Corntv. iii (1868), 48; Lysons, ccxx. 



6 Borlase, Antiq., 281; Lysons, ccxx. 



355 



