In addition, Mr. Balfour describes two small bronze models of celts from Benin which were found with a number of similar models, and were perforated for stringing; these are said to have formed a necklet, and in Mr. Balfour's opinion were probably symbolical of the god of lightning. But, if they were anything more than a necklace worn for mere ornament, may they not have been worn, more probably, for quasi-medical reasons?[1]
Dr. J. G. Frazer, in connection with this subject,[2] gives a number of references, all of which, if we take the African ones, are localized in the western portion of the continent, with a single exception, that of a keraunic belief similar to those we have been describing, which was recorded by the late Lieut. Boyd-Alexander from Central Africa (in the district named from the Welle, a tributary of the Congo). Of course this is not to say that occasional examples outside this area never occur; but we can at least safely say that the centre of distribution of such implements, as well as of the corresponding beliefs about them, so far as Africa is concerned, is the western part of the continent.
In respect to the distribution of the belief in India, where the Stone Age still survives side by side with the use of metal in various parts of the country, D'Alviella[3] quotes several references. Montelius states that gods with the symbolic double axe occur in various parts of ancient Greece, Syria, Asia, etc.[4] Tylor notes[5] that the Vedas "are full of Indra's glories," and gives several passages in which his thunderbolt,—the "heavenly stone" the primeval smiths had sharpened for him, a kind of stone axe, according to Montelius,—is referred to, and Mr.
- ↑ It is perhaps worth considering whether the double-headed axe-models once employed as votive offerings at shrines in ancient Crete may not be fairly compared to the god-axes offered in Ashanti.
- ↑ The Golden Bough (3rd ed.). Part I., vol. ii., p. 374.
- ↑ The Migration of Symbols, pp. 99-100.
- ↑ Folk-Lore, vol. xxi., pp. 62-6.
- ↑ Primitive Culture, vol. ii., p. 240.
