186 



Froceedincjs of the Royal Irish Academj/. 



Teadily to snap, even in chipping. At the celt manufactory near 

 Cushendall, already referred to, this feature of accidental fracture 

 in course of manufacture Tvas not noticeable on the ronghed-out 

 pieces, the tendency to fracture appearing when the piece was 

 thinned down. The broken pieces collected were cutting ends, or 

 butt ends, of developed celt form; in one instance the two halves of a 

 partly-finished celt being found side by side. 



Looking at the so-called Larne celts from this point of view, we 

 can see that these rude pieces correspond closely to the Cushendall 

 quarry forms. They are, as a rule, more slender, but this is accounted 

 for by the difference of tbe material and of the form desired. Flint 

 celts of good form are rare in Ireland, and are very rarely polished 

 and finished in the typical manner. 



The Larne type must have been a stage in tbe manufacture of such 

 implements. These chisel forms have been found in the fields at 

 Island ITagee and other places along the coast. The final chipping 

 and dressing or grinding of the edge would not be done at the 

 quarry site ; and we can readily understand that only the roughed-out 

 pieces, or pieces discarded for some defect in working, would be found 

 in the Larne gravels. 



It has been suggested that at least some of the Larne celts 

 may have teen implements the purpose of which cannot now be 

 determined. When, however, we consider the vast accumulation of 

 waste flakes and cores, the absence of any indication that tlie gravels 

 were used as a dwelling-site — on the contrary, from the very nature 

 of the deposit, strong presumption that they were not — this view 

 will, I think, recede from the argument. The so-called celts show 

 us that the industry at Larne was not confined to flaking. If the 

 worked pieces are not for the most part wasters, where, we may ask, 

 is the waste of these pieces ? 



Tlie Larne celts, though wo cannot accept them as a primitive form 

 of stone implement, throw some light on the age of the gravels. As 

 already stated, flint celts of good form and finish are rare in Ireland, 

 that is, the sub-triangular polished celt, which may be taken a& 

 representing an advanced stage of IS'eolithic culture. But, as men- 

 tioned, the rough chisel type, narrow, with somewhat straight sides, 

 is fairly common. In some the edge is of the kitchen-midden type ; 

 others, which seem to be more advanced, have the edge ground,^ as 

 will be seen in fig. 10. Here jS'os. 1-3 (found, respectively, on 



\For English examples, see Evans, op. cif., figs. 12, 13, 15. 



