ARCHAEOLOGY INTO FOUR PERIODS. 6 



of flint and other kinds of stone, in which, however, we 

 find no trace of the knowledge of any metal, excepting gold, 

 which seems to have been sometimes used for ornaments. 

 This we may call the " Neolithic " period. 



Thirdly, The Bronze age, in which bronze was used for 

 arms and cutting instruments of all kinds. 



Fourthly, The Iron age, in which that metal had super- 

 seded bronze for arms, axes, knives, etc. ; bronze, however, 

 still being in common use for ornaments, and frequently 

 also for the handles of swords and other arms, but never 

 for . the blades. Stone weapons, however, of many kinds 

 were still in use during the age of Bronze, and even during 

 that of Iron. So that the mere presence of a few stone im- 

 plements is not in itself sufficient evidence, that any given 

 "find" belongs to the Stone age. 



In order to prevent misapprehension, it may be well to 

 state, at once, that, for the present, I only apply this classifi- 

 cation to Europe, though, in all probability, it might be 

 extended also to the neighbouring parts of Asia and Africa. 

 As regards other civilized countries, China and Japan for 

 instance, we, as yet, know nothing of their pre-historic 

 archaeology. It is evident, also, that some nations, such as 

 the Fuegians, Andamaners, etc., are even now only in an 

 age of Stone. 



But even in this limited sense, the above classification has 

 not met with general acceptance ; there are still some archaeo- 

 logists who believe that the arms and implements of stone, 

 bronze, and iron were used contemporaneously. 



Leaving the consideration -of the Stone age for future 

 chapters, I shall endeavour in the present one to show that, 

 as regards Europe, the bronze arms and implements charac- 

 terise a particular period, and belong to a time anterior to 

 the discovery, or at least to the common use, of iron. In 

 support of this we may appeal, firstly, to the testimony of 



