480 EARLY MAN IN BRITAIN. [CHAP. xm. 



carried on trade as far as the Baltic and the North Sea, 

 and Etruskan articles found their way into France and 

 Switzerland in the Bronze age, and into Britain and Ire- 

 land in the Iron age. This continued until the irruption 

 of the Gauls. Then the Greek trade arose, and Greek 

 articles and coins found their way to the Baltic as early 

 as the fifth century before Christ, and to our country in 

 the Iron age, in the second century before Christ. 



The Phoenicians may be assumed to have worked the 

 tin mines of Cornwall before the arrival of the Massilian 

 traders, since they knew of their existence in the time 

 of Himilco, and since several names of places are prob- 

 ably of Phoenician origin. They must also have used 

 bronze and glass in their trade, but their wares manu- 

 factured for the northern markets do not present any 

 characters by which they can be known. The Etruskan 

 influence appears to me to have been more powerfully 

 felt north of the Alps than any other, and it was prob- 

 ably exercised quite as long, if not longer, than that of 

 the Phoenicians. 



When we reflect that the history of Gaul begins in the 

 seventh, and that of Britain in the first century before 

 Christ, and when we consider further that the civilisa- 

 tion of Egypt dates back to more than 4000 B.C., it must 

 appear obvious that the historical overlap is very great. 

 It is very probable that a large portion of northern 

 Europe was in the Neolithic age while the scribes were 

 compiling their records in the great cities on the banks 

 of the Nile, and that the Neolithic civilisation lingered 

 in remote regions while the voice of Perikles was heard 

 in Athens, or the name of Hannibal was a terror in 

 Italy. 



