34 BRONZE IMPLEMENTS NOT OF 



minor peculiarities. Neither the forms nor the ornaments 

 are exactly similar. In Denmark and Mecklenburgh, spiral 

 ornaments are most common ; farther south, these are 

 replaced by ring ornaments and lines. The Danish swords 

 generally have solid, and richly decorated handles, as in 

 figs. 17-23, while those found in Great Britain (fig. 14) 

 terminate in a plate which was riveted to pieces of wood 

 or bone. Again, the British lance-heads frequently have 

 loops at the side of the shaft-hole, as in fig. 27, which is 

 never the case with Danish specimens. 



The discovery of moulds in Ireland, Scotland, England, 

 Switzerland, Denmark, and elsewhere, shows that the art of 

 casting in bronze was known and practised in many countries. 

 Under these circumstances, it appears most probable that the 

 knowledge of metal is one of those great discoveries which 

 Europe owes to the East, and that the use of copper was not 

 introduced into our Continent, until it had been observed that 

 by the addition of a small quantity of tin it was rendered 

 harder and more valuable. 



I have already, in the first chapter, given the reasons 

 which render it evident to me that the bronze weapons are 

 not of Roman origin. These may be summed up as follows : 



Firstly. They have never been found in company with 

 Roman pottery, or other remains of the Roman period. 



Secondly. The ornamentation is not Roman in its character. 



Thirdly. The bronze swords do not resemble in form those 

 used by Roman soldiers. 



Fourthly. The Latin word "ferrum" was used as synony- 

 mous with a sword, showing that the Romans always used 

 iron. 



Fifthly. Bronze implements are very abundant in some 

 countries, as for instance in Denmark and Ireland, which 

 were never invaded by Roman armies. 



Moreover, the bronze used by the Romans contained, 



