v.] PREHISTORIC ARCHAEOLOGY. 169 



Iron Age, as in the Nydam and other similar finds, 

 silver was used to ornament shield -bosses, shield-rims, 

 sandals, brooches, breast-plates, sword-hilts, sword- 

 sheaths, girdles, harness, &c. ; and also for clasps, 

 pendants, boxes, and tweezers ; while in one case a 

 helmet was made of this comparatively rare material. 



The pottery also shows much improvement, the forms 

 of the weapons are quite different, and the character 

 of the ornamentation is very unlike, and much more 

 advanced than that of the Bronze Age. Moreover, the 

 bronze used in the Iron Age differs from that of the 

 Bronze Age, in that it frequently contains lead and zinc 

 in considerable quantities. These metals have never 

 been found, excepting as mere impurities, in the bronzes 

 of the true Bronze Age, nor even in those of Hallstadt. 



These . finds, moreover, clearly show that the inha- 

 bitants of Northern and Western Europe were by no 

 means such mere savages as we have been apt to 

 suppose. As far as our own ancestors are concerned, 

 this is rendered even more evident by the discoveries 

 of those ancient British coins which have been so well 

 described and figured by Mr. John Evans. 1 



In conclusion, I would venture to" suggest that some 

 steps ought to be taken to provide for the preservation 

 of our ancient National Antiquities. We cannot put 

 Stonehenge or the Wansdyke into a museum — all the 

 more reason why we should watch over them where they 

 are ; and even if the destruction of our ancient monu- 

 ments should, under any circumstances, become neces- 

 sary, careful drawings ought first to be made, and their 



1 The Coins of the Ancient Britons. 



