Page:VCH Bedfordshire 1.djvu/205

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EARLY MAN ordnance maps. Other places of the same sort occur between the base of Dunstable Downs and the Icknield Way. The celt, so named from its chisel-like cutting edge, is one of the best known of neolithic implements. It occurs in an unground, partly ground, or wholly ground state, and was used mounted in a handle or unmounted. One out of several known methods of mounting a celt is Fig. 39. illustrated in fig. 39, where a wholly polished specimen is shown mounted as an axe. When the cutting edge is mounted in a horizontal position, the stone forms an adze. A common, wholly chipped form of celt from Mount Pleasant near Dunstable is illustrated in fig. 40. An unfinished specimen from Dunstable Downs is illustrated in fig. W a perfectly 41, where the left edge is finished and the untouched state. An almost wholly polished specimen from Dunstable is shown in fig. 42. A wholly polished example, found on a heap of stones in a field at Bedford, is illustrated in fig. 43. This specimen both from its peculiar form and material is evidently of Irish origin. It is made of dolerite and is now in the collection of Sir John Evans. A fine example of a partially ground celt, 8 inches long, has been 1 161 21