164 INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF [lect. 



that of a considerable and extensive commerce, inasmuch 

 as there are only two places — namely, Cornwall and the 

 Island of Banca — whence tin can have been obtained in 

 large quantities. There are, indeed, some other places 

 where it occurs, as, for instance, Spain, Saxony, and 

 Brittany, but only (now at least) in small amounts, 

 though possibly it may once have been more abundant. 

 The earliest source of tin, was not, I think, any one of 

 those now known to us, but it is probable that for many 

 centuries before our era, the principal supply was derived 

 from Cornwall. The intercourse then existing between 

 different parts of Europe is also proved by the great, 

 not to say complete, similarity of the arms from very 

 different parts of Europe. 



16. Finally, as copper must have been in use before 

 bronze, and as arms and implements of that metal are 

 almost unknown in Western Europe, it is reasonable to 

 conclude that the knowledge of bronze was introduced 

 into, not discovered in, Europe. 



Archaeologists are, however, by no means agreed as to 

 the race by whom these bronze weapons were made, or 

 at least used. Mr. Wright, for instance, attributed them 

 to the Romans, Professor Nilsson to the Phoenicians. The 

 first of these theories I believe to be utterly untenable. 

 In addition to the facts already brought forward, there 

 are two which by themselves are almost sufficient to 

 disprove the hypothesis. Firstly, the word ferrum was 

 employed in Latin as a synonym for a sword. This 

 would scarcely have been the case if another metal had 

 been generally used for the purpose. Secondly, the 

 distribution of bronze weapons and implements does 

 not favour such a theory. The Romans never entered 



