CHAP, x.] THE BRONZE AGE IN SCANDINAVIA. 391 



Axes, however, of tins kind were not merely used in 

 battle, but as insignia of rank. The original, for 

 example, of Fig. 149 consists of a thin layer of bronze 

 east upon a nucleus of clay, sixteen inches long, and 



FIG. 150. Bronze Shield in repousse, Denmark. 



covered with a thin plating of gold. It obviously could 

 not have been used as a weapon. Shields also composed 

 of thin plates of bronze with the edge turned over a 

 thick bronze wire, such as Fig. 150, were used by the 

 warriors. 



Gold vessels and ornaments are met with, worked in 

 repousse, as in Fig. 151. The Bronze age in Scandinavia 

 is remarkable not merely for the beauty of the work- 

 manship, more especially of the hilts of the short leaf- 

 shaped swords, but for the variety of weapons and orna- 



