186 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



That the axe-heads and the shield are to be regarded as merely ornamen ts- 

 like the torque and the pin is scarcely credible. For those who deposited 

 them where they were found, they must have had additional value as amulets- 

 The use for such a purpose of forms of weapon which, though not superseded,, 

 were nevertheless archaic, would be just what we might expect. We are- 

 here in the presence of an almost world-wide cultus — that of the weapon 

 with which primitive man subdued his human and animal foes. The worship- 

 of the double axe in civilized Crete is now one of the most familiar instances. 

 In various parts of the Mediterranean Basin, amulets and pendants in the- 

 form of stone celts, often made of ornamental stones such as carnelian or 

 crystal, have come to light. The modern superstitions that centre in 

 " elf-shots " and the like ideas, or in the virtues of stone axes as protections- 

 against lightning, are but survivals of this aucient worship. 



Evans {Bronze Implements, p. 134) quotes a minute socketed celt of Bronze 

 found in the grave of a woman belonging to the La Tene period, discovered 

 at Arras, near Market Weigh ton, Yorkshire. This was again evidently 

 an amulet, and here again the older type of implement is used for the- 

 purpose. In the La Tene period the socketed celt was as antiquated as 

 was the flat celt in the time of the Strangford Loch interment, which we- 

 are now considering. Evans further quotes certain minute socketed celts 

 found in Ireland (which, however, may, as he says, have been chisels), and 

 also from Brittany ; the well-known small leaden celts found in that country 

 can hardly have served any practical purpose. Further he quotes from the 

 Barrow-diggers, 1839, p. 72, a reference to an object that was apparently 

 exactly parallel to the axes before us — a golden celt, found in Cornwall, and 

 once the property of a former Earl of Falmouth. Evans failed to trace this 

 object, and seems to have doubted its existence; but the Strangford Loch 

 discovery appears to confirm it. 



Before leaving these interesting objects a possibility may be suggested — 

 that the axes may form part of some rude system of currency, and that 

 there may be a relation between the number of the spirals impressed upon 

 them and their supposed value. I do not attach much importance at present 

 to the facts now to be noted ; but they are worth recording, and future 

 discoveries may tell us if there is any value in them. 



The three axe-heads with three spirals upon them weigh respectively 

 8 dwt. 1-1 grs. ; 11 dwt. 22 grs. ; and 1-4 dwt. 4 grs. The average of these- 

 three weights is 11 dwt. 13 grs. 



Supposing that the axe-heads stamped with three spirals were meant 

 to be three multiples of a certain unit, the unit thus indicated would be- 

 3 dwt, 20 grs. 



