Mounds at St. Andrews. 331 



one side, round on the other, and has both edges concave. 

 Fig. 9 appears to be part of an axe ; it is of a triangular shape, 

 and is 3| inches broad at the cutting edge, and at the point 

 where it is broken across (about 3J inches from the edge) it is 

 1^ inch broad by 1| inch thick. Fig. 10 represents one of the 

 thin disks of stone with a small hole pierced in the centre. 



There are two or three objects made of greenstone; one of 

 these has been broken to a conical point, and may have been 

 used as a mallet, fixed into a handle. Another of these green- 

 stone articles has been chipped into a round form, and in size is 

 not unlike the handle of a modern knife. 



That the Ancient Britons possessed some other and better 

 implements than those under consideration, is, I think, possible 

 enough. Steenstrup is of opinion, according to Lubbock*, that 

 the mound-builders of Denmark had likewise better implements 

 than those generally found in their middens, and that it is 

 only those things which art could not make available and which 

 were thrown away as useless, or accidentally lost, that we can 

 expect to meet with in these deposits. At the same time, it 

 must be borne in mind that if the people who lived here at the 

 period in question possessed neither flint nor metallic weapons 

 — and there has not been a vestige of any such found, — they 

 must have laboured under difficulties to a great extent unknowu 

 to the Ancient Danes or any other people living in a flint-pro- 

 ducing country. Clay ironstone, or any other kind of stone in 

 this district, is not nearly so easily made into useful implements 

 as flint is ; and they must have been very inferior in their cutting- 

 properties after they were made. The nearest place from which 

 flint could be obtained in any abundance is on some parts of the 

 coast of Yorkshire, a distance too great perhaps for the limited 

 resources of the ancient people to surmount; and under the 

 circumstances it would appear that they endeavoured to do the 

 best they could with the unpromising material at their disposal. 



All the pottery was in fragments when found, with the excep- 

 tion of one vessel, which occurred in digging the foundation of 

 one of the houses; and this example, unfortunately, was broken in 

 pieces by the workmen before it was removed from the ground. 

 The specimen (see woodcut) has since been restored to its original 

 form, so far at least as the fragments will admit. It is 9 inches in 

 height by 8 inches at the greatest horizontal diameter; it is of 

 a yellowish or cream colour, easily scratched with a knife ; and 

 what remains of the bottom shows clearly enough that that part 

 had been round on the outside, so that it would be impossible to 

 make the vessel when entire stand upright on a level surface. It 



* Prehistoric Times. 



