420 EARLY MAN IN BRITAIN. [CHAP. xi. 



come general until A.D. 700. This fact can be readily 

 explained by its abundance in those districts in early 

 times. Tacitus l writes that the natives in his days did 

 not value it themselves, and wondered at the high price 

 paid for it by the merchants. Its rarity therefore in 

 tombs of the Bronze age in the north does not imply 

 that it was not collected for purposes of sale to foreigners, 

 and cannot be taken to negative the existence of a trade 

 with the southern peoples at that remote period. 



The paths taken by this commerce point unmistak- 

 ably to the south, to the ancient civilisation of Italy 

 and of Greece, and they imply the overlap of history, as 

 will be seen in the thirteenth chapter. 



The Duration of the Bronze Age North of the Alps. 



It may be concluded, from the facts accumulated by 

 various observers in different countries, 2 that the Bronze 

 age lasted longer in some parts of Europe than in others. 

 In Italy it is not so clearly marked off from the Iron 

 age as in the region north of the Alps, and the designs 

 which are clearly traceable to the Iron age of the south 

 occur in Germany in the late Bronze age. And while 

 it was being superseded by the higher civilisation in 

 Germany, it still held its ground on the shores of the 

 Baltic. It did not finally disappear from Scandinavia 

 until the beginning of the Christian era, and the cha- 

 racteristic short swords and round targets of the tribes 



1 Germania, cxlv. "Diu inter csetera ejecta maris jacebat, donee luxuria 

 nostra dedit nomen. Ipsis in nullo usu : rude legitur, informe perpetua, 

 pretiumque mirantea accipiunt." 



2 Wiberg, Worsaae, Hildebrand, Montelius, Waldemar, Schmidt, Virchow, 

 Bonstettin, Lindenschmidt, Chantre. 



