336 EARLY MAN IN BRITAIN. [CHAP. ix. 



viggar). In Greece the smaller ones were used as 

 amulets, and imitations of them were made in sar- 

 donyx and carnelian. Some even of the larger ones 

 have been perforated for suspension. 



Flint arrow-heads also had a superstitious value. In 

 this country they are known as elf-darts, and their form 

 is still preserved in carnelian necklaces used by the 

 Bosnian peasantry. 1 They also sometimes form the 

 central pendant of the magnificent necklaces found in 

 the Etruskan tombs. The flint flake, universally used 

 as a knife in the Neolithic age, was preserved by 

 the superstition of succeeding ages, and long survived 

 in ceremonials. It was used by the Egyptians for 

 making the first incision in the body of the dead for 

 purposes of embalming, and by the Israelites in circum- 

 cision. It was, however, more closely associated with 

 the rites of burial. Those used in the circumcising of 

 the Children of Israel were buried in Joshua's tomb. 2 

 Nor was this custom of burying flint flakes unknown 

 in the West. In the Komano- British cemetery at 

 Hardham 3 in Sussex, they were placed in an oaken 

 chest containing the cinerary urn, the sandals, and the 

 various other articles belonging to the dead. They have 

 also been discovered in association with Romano- 

 British remains in the camp at Worle Hill near 

 "Weston-super-Mare, and in the Isle of Thanet. 4 The 

 latest instance of their having been used in this manner 

 in Western Europe is that offered by the Merovingian 



1 One of these obtained by Mr. Arthur Evans is in Mr. John Evans' 

 collection at Nash Mills. 



2 For a criticism on Exodus xxiv. 30 (Septuaginf), see Evans, Ancient 

 Stone Implements, p. 8. Sussex Archceol Coll., 1863. 



4 Journ. Ethnol. Soc. Lond. i. p. 8. 



