Implements of nearly similar form to that last described, but having the edge oblique, are also met with. That engraved in Fig. 54 was found at Lackford, Suffolk, and was formerly in the collection of Mr. Warren, of Ixworth, but is now in mine. It is of grey flint. I have another, of white flint, of the same length but a trifle narrower, and with the grinding for the edge forming more of a facet with the body of the celt. It was found in the Isle of Portland. The obliquity of the edge was no doubt intentional, and may have originated in the manner in which these hatchets were mounted with hafts. Professor Nilsson[1] has suggested that the obliquity is due to the front part of the blade being worn away in use more quickly than the back.
To this class, though very different in appearance, belongs a beautifully made celt of grey flint, in the British Museum. It is probably of English origin, though the place of finding is unknown. The sides are straight and flat, but only about 116 of an inch wide, the faces equally convex and polished all over. It is 9 inches long, and tapers from 112 inches wide at the edge, which is broken, to 58 at the butt. Its greatest thickness is 12 an inch. It is engraved in the Archæological Journal.[2]
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Fig. 55.—Dalmeny, Linlithgow. 12
Flint celts of the type of both Fig. 53 and 54 are not uncommon in France and Belgium. They are also found, though rarely, in Ireland.
The cutting end of one formed of nearly transparent quartz, and found in Egypt, is in the Museum at Geneva.
Celts with the sides flattened are of not unfrequent occurrence in other materials than flint. That figured as No. 55 is of ochreous-coloured quartzite, and was found at Dalmeny, Linlithgow. It is preserved in the National Museum at Edinburgh. The form is remarkable, as being so broad in proportion to the length. The sides are flat, but the angles they make with the faces are slightly rounded. The butt-end is rounded in both directions, and appears to have been worked with a pointed tool or pick.
Another celt, of greenstone, of much the same form but with the- ↑ "Stone Age," p. 63.
- ↑ Vol. iv. p. 2.
