CHAP. XL] TIN MINES IN FRANCE AND SPAIN. 403 



memorial in the mountains of Saxony and Bohemia, and, 

 from the great number and variety of the bronze articles 

 found in the adjacent regions, it is very probable that it 

 was known in those districts in the Bronze age. On 

 this point, however, we must await the accumulation of 

 new evidence. It has been worked in Cornwall before 

 the history of Britain began, and, according to tradition, 

 by the Phoenicians. Cornwall was certainly known to 

 the Phoenician sailors, as we shall see presently, and 

 from it a brisk trade was carried on with the great 

 Greek mart of Massilia. 1 It is considered by some 

 high authorities, including Sir John Lubbock, 2 to have 

 been the chief source from which the ancients obtained 

 a necessary element in the manufacture of bronze. This 

 question will be dealt with subsequently. Tin has also 

 been worked in ancient times in the south of Ireland, 

 where it is found in the stream- works of the mountains 

 of Wicklow, along with gold. (See Fig. 168, T.) 



Tin Mines worked in France and Spain in the 

 Bronze Age. 



Tin is met with in Brittany, close to Ploermel 

 (Morbihan), and is proved to have been worked in the 

 Bronze age by the discovery of a bronze palstave (Fig. 

 155), along with a polished stone celt, in the old stream- 

 works near Villeder. 3 It was also known in ancient 

 times in the Upper Vienne, and old stream- works are 

 to be seen in La Creuse and La Correze, and as far 

 as Lizolle in the department of the Allier. 4 (See Fig. 



1 See Chapter XIII. 2 Prehistoric Times, 4th ed. p. 72. 



3 Simonin, La Vie Souterraine, Paris, 1867, p. 483. 



4 Daubree, Compt. Rend. Ixviii. p. 1137. Materiaux, 1869, p. 261. 



