Page:Prehistoric Britain.djvu/157

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ARTS AND INDUSTRIES
149

were hafted either by a tang or socket, unless, as it sometimes happened, the blade and handle were cast as one piece.

Chisels and gouges are generally socketed or tanged, and differ from the axes only in being more slender. A few specimens of bronze hammers have been recorded from England and Ireland, all of which have a socket at one end. On the site of the lake-dwelling of Wollishofen, near Zurich, six hammers of this type were among the remains dredged up.

One of the most noteworthy facts in connection with the Bronze Age in Britain is, that neither knives, in the proper sense of the word, nor saws of bronze have as yet been discovered among its antiquarian remains. The small hand-dagger with riveted handle, found occasionally in graves, may have served the purposes of a knife.

I am not aware that a bronze saw has yet been discovered within the British Isles, but flint saws are abundantly met with in the Bronze Age and even in the early Iron Age.

Sickles have been collected in considerable numbers both in Britain and Ireland. They are all socketed, with the exception of one or two specimens from Somersetshire, which appear to have been imported, as they belong to continental types.

A series of implements supposed to be razors have also been discovered within the British area, generally associated with burials. They are roughly oval, often highly orna-