come general until A.D. 700, This fact can be readily explained by its abundance in those districts in early times. Tacitus[1] writes that the natives in his days did not value it themselves, and wondered at the high price paid for it by the merchants. Its rarity therefore in tombs of the Bronze age in the north does not imply that it was not collected for purposes of sale to foreigners, and cannot be taken to negative the existence of a trade with the southern peoples at that remote period.
The paths taken by this commerce point unmistakably to the south, to the ancient civilisation of Italy and of Greece, and they imply the overlap of history, as will be seen in the thirteenth chapter.
The Duration of the Bronze Age North of the Alps.
It may be concluded, from the facts accumulated by various observers in different countries,[2] that the Bronze age lasted longer in some parts of Europe than in others. In Italy it is not so clearly marked off from the Iron age as in the region north of the Alps, and the designs which are clearly traceable to the Iron age of the south occur in Germany in the late Bronze age. And while it was being superseded by the higher civilisation in Germany, it still held its ground on the shores of the Baltic. It did not finally disappear from Scandinavia until the beginning of the Christian era, and the characteristic short swords and round targets of the tribes
