CHAP, x.] THE AXE IN CULTURE. 349 



palstave, 1 and one socketed celt, 2 have been recorded 

 from burial-places of the Bronze age in Britain. 



"We must also remark that bronze has been used in 

 all ages since the Neolithic, and that many of the more 

 beautiful bronze ornaments, and the shields and armour, 

 found in this country, probably belong to the age of 

 Iron. In cases of the discovery of isolated articles, the 

 age can only be ascertained by the forms and the style 

 of ornamentation, and these are by no means certain 

 guides, since frequently, under exceptional conditions, 

 an ancient type may survive into an age very far remote 

 from that in which it was normal. 



In dealing with the Bronze age in Britain and 

 Ireland, I shall not attempt to distinguish between the 

 early and the late stages, which cannot be treated in 

 the limits of this work. 



The Axe in Culture. 



It is difficult to over-estimate the work done by the 

 axe in advancing civilisation. The stone axes, easily 

 blunted and broken, could have made but little impres- 

 sion on the vast forests of pine, oak, and beech, 

 covering the greater part of Britain and the Continent 

 in the Neolithic age. Clearings necessary for pasture 

 and agriculture must unquestionably, then, have been 

 produced principally by the aid of fire. Under the edge 

 of the bronze axe, clearings would be rapidly produced, 

 pasture and arable land would begin to spread over the 

 surface of the country. With the disappearance of the 

 forest the wild animals would become scarce, hunting 



1 Bryn Crug, Carnarvon, Archceol. Journ. xxv. 246. 

 2 Farway, Devon, Trans. Devon. Ass. iv. p. 300. 



