surface of the ploughed fields; and, indeed, there is reason to believe that they occur pretty generally throughout the county.
Sir John Evans [1] mentions Pulpit Wood, near Princes Risborough, as a place where neolithic flakes and scrapers are abundant.
Two ground flint celts, or axes, have also been found in Buckinghamshire. One, a specimen made of cherty flint, measuring 738 inches in length, the whole surface of which had been smoothed by grinding, was found at Chalvey Grove, Eton Wick, and was exhibited by Mr. C. D. E. Fortnum, F.S.A., at a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries of London,[2] in 1873. A fragment of another was found in connection with the Hitcham hut-floors already referred to as possibly of the neolithic age. Celts of chipped stone have been discovered at Hambleden and Great Marlow.
If the whole surface of the county were carefully examined it is probable that traces of neolithic man would be discovered in some abundance, and judging by what has been observed in neighbouring counties it would probably be found that the population was mainly distributed along the banks of the rivers and in other fertile situations.
The Bronze Age
The bronze age, which commences with the introduction of metal arms and tools into these islands, synchronizes with the appearance of the Goidels or Gaels, a branch of the great Celtic race, of which many traces remain in this country to the present time.
The substitution of metal for stone gave an immense advantage to the warrior, the hunter, and the husbandman; and it is certain that the beginning of the age of bronze marks the commencement of an important epoch in human civilization and advancement.
The clearest and most trustworthy information we possess as to the age of bronze in Britain is that which is derived from a careful and comparative study of hoards or secret underground deposits of implements, etc. Many such hoards have been found in England and elsewhere. M. Gabriel de Mortillet has shown that, generally speaking, they are capable of classification in the following way:
1. The treasured property of some individual, who may have buried his bronze possessions during troublous times and never recovered them.
2. The hoard of a trader in bronze, the objects being numerous and generally unused.
3. The hoard of a founder in bronze, the bronze articles consisting of old and broken implements, rough lumps of metal, and also new, unused implements.
Many useful deductions may be drawn from an examination of the contents of hoards of bronze, the following being some of the most obvious:
- ↑ Ancient Stone Implements, 2nd edit. pp. 281, 310.
- ↑ Proceedings, 2nd series, vol. vi. p. 13.
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