EARLY MAN 



The Prehistoric Iron Age 



As the use of stone implements overlapped the period when bronze 

 came into use, so objects of bronze continued in use in what is known as the 

 Prehistoric Iron Age. 



The knowledge of the preparation of iron was either brought to Britain 

 through the peaceful channels of improved communication with the Continent 

 and adopted by the Britons, or, as some think, 

 the new metal (i.e. new to this country) formed 

 portions of the equipment of another wave 

 of Celtic invaders who swarmed into Britain 

 somewhere about 400 to 500 b.c. 



Finds of early iron are rare, for iron 

 oxidizes rapidly, leaving but traces of rust in 

 the soil. But notwithstanding this perishable 

 nature of the metal, it is curious that so far 

 none of the Dartmoor hut circles have ren- 

 dered signs either of the remains of iron 

 objects or of pottery characteristic of the 

 Prehistoric Iron Age. The later hut circles, 

 if such exist, may yet disclose such evidence, 

 for it is not quite reasonable to suppose that 

 all the numerous hut circles on Dartmoor 

 were occupied only during the Bronze Age, 

 or that people of a later period did not resort 

 to the moors for the summering of their 

 flocks and herds. We do not know when the circular form of dwelling 

 was superseded by the rectangular, but we do know that what are known 

 as the ' ancient tenements ' have been fixed abodes for many centuries, and it 

 is possible that in the sites of these homesteads we have the very early 

 moorland farms, which followed the earlier settlements. If this be the case 

 there is little wonder that relics of the Prehistoric Iron Age are so rare, for 

 objects of iron have long since gone to complete decay, and potsherds in 

 and about a place in continuous occupation have broken up and disappeared. 

 Kitchen middens on farms are not likely to exist, for their contents would 

 be a fertile aid to the cultivator. 



This paucity of relics of the Prehistoric Iron Age is general over Devon- 

 shire, and but for a cemetery of the period discovered on Stamford Hill near 

 Plymouth in 1864 the county would be almost barren in this respect. 



Stamford Hill. — In cut- 



FiG. 20 — Bronze Mirror, Stamford 

 Hill 



D D o Cr n a D D D O D D a D D D D n O D D D D 



m 



I 



to 



14.7 footd 



V 



I 



so 



c 



A 



o 



I 



A- ttiQ greit flone 9 fool 5 mchea 



B the other great ftonc ^-foot Cinclies 



CCC the row of Zg^fbonea 



Fig. 21. — Stone Row and MgNHiR at Maddocks Down 



367 



ting away the slope of the hill 

 so that the guns on the new 

 fort which was being erected 

 here might have no interference 

 with their range seawards an 

 ancient burying-place was dis- 

 closed. The relics were found 

 in pits, generally about 4 or 

 4^ ft. deep, I ft. of which con- 

 sisted of soil, the remaining 3 

 having been excavated in the 



