EARLY MAN 



erected on the top of this hill, a natural eminence about 450 feet above 

 the level of the sea. 



The hoard contained no less than 58 pieces of bronze, which may 

 thus be classified : 



Flat celt i 



Fragments of palstaves .... 3 



Socketed celt and fragment ... 2 



Socketed gouges 6 



Socketed knives 2 



Tanged knives and fragment . . 3 



Tanged chisels 3 



Fragments of swords 4 



Scabbard-end I 



Spear-heads and fragments . . 28 



Flat pieces of bronze .... 3 



Conical piece i 



Perforated disc I 



Total 



It may be noted that the flat celt which heads the above list, and 

 which belongs to quite the beginning of the Bronze Age, had been 

 considerably used, and the edge had been frequently flattened out by 

 hammering. One of the palstaves again was remarkable 

 for its very small size, and Sir John Evans suggests that it 

 was intended to be used as a chisel rather than as a hatchet. 

 Of the socketed celts, six in number, four were of the same 

 pattern. Four fragments of swords were found, but they 

 probably belonged only to two swords. The spear-heads 

 and fragments of spear-heads, of which there were found 

 no less than twenty-eight pieces, represented probably 

 twenty-four complete weapons. Of these eighteen were of 

 the plain leaf-shape type, without ornament, and varying 

 in length from 5 to 7 inches. Nearly every one of these 

 spear-heads had been injured before being buried in the 

 earth. Several of the other articles are of much interest, 

 and some, such as the three flat pieces of bronze and the 

 conical piece, are of unknown use. 



This Yattendon hoard, like many others found at vari- 

 ous times in different parts of England, represents apparently 

 the stock-in-trade of some ancient bronze-founder. The 

 fact that so many of the articles had been injured by long-continued use 

 or accident, points to this being a deposit of old metal intended to be 

 melted down for fresh castings. The large proportion of spear-heads, 

 gouges and tanged chisels indicates that the hoard belongs to a late period 

 in the Bronze Age. Indeed, there is some reason to believe, as Sir John 

 Evans points out, that the hoard may really belong to the Early Iron 

 Age, ' when arms and tools of iron were superseding those of bronze, 

 while the latter metal for some ornamental and useful purposes still 

 retained its pre-eminence.' 



The other Berkshire hoard, that at Wallingford, contained a looped 

 and socketed celt, a socketed gouge, a socketed knife, and a cutting 

 tool, possibly a razor. All these objects are now in the possession of 

 Sir John Evans, K.C.B., who suggests that the hoard is a good 

 example of a private deposit. 



183 



BRONZE CHISEL 



FROM 

 YATTENDON. 



