EARLY MAN several reliques, all of bronze.' The discovery of ' fragments of human bones, and a piece of decayed wood about the size of two hands,' by labourers employed in digging out sand, suggested to the discoverers that the deposit was of a sepulchral character ; indeed, the account communicated to the Society of Antiquaries of London expressly mentions ' a grave cut north and south in the sand-rock.' The explanation, apparently, is that a hoard of bronze objects was hidden during the Bronze Age on Greensborough Hill, a pleasant knoll overlooking an extensive tract of country. On the same natural hill, either before or after this period, a grave was cut into the ground, and some human remains were deposited therein. Hoards of bronze objects, of which this affords an instance, are among the most valuable of the traces of this remote age which we possess. We may regard them, in certain respects, as of even greater importance than sepulchral deposits, partly from the fact that the contents are of a practically indestructible character, but mainly because they represent the collected valuables belonging to a worker or dealer in bronze. The archaeological value of associated objects of one definite period is, of course, very great, proving the contemporaneity of forms of tools, weapons, &c., in the earliest age of metal. In addition to the Shenstone hoard there are several individual bronze objects worthy of note. Among them are : 1. A bronze armilla, made of a flat piece of metal, half an inch in breadth, having on the outside a lozengy pattern engraved, found at Castern, near Wetton. 2. Another armlet (imperfect), made of thick bronze wire, found in a barrow at Wetton. 3. Bronze knife-daggers found at Lett Low, near Warslow ; Musden ; Lady Low Barrow, near Blore ; and Stanshope. 4. Palstaves found at firewood ; Biddulph ; Bushbury ; and Stretton. 5. Bronze sword with seven rivet-holes found at Alton Castle. 6. A leaf-shaped spear-head found at Yarlet. THE EARLY IRON AGE Staffordshire has furnished only a few remains which can be with any certainty referred to this, the last period of prehistoric time. The intro- duction of iron as a material for making implements and weapons must have given an immense advantage to its possessors, and it marked a very distinct stage in the progress of human civilization. It is possible that the fewness of Early Iron Age discoveries in the county may be accounted for by the perish- able nature of the newly-discovered or imported metal, but it is perhaps more particularly due to the comparative shortness of the period between the introduction of iron and the beginning of the historic period which dates from the appearance of the Romans. Among the discoveries to be recorded is a leaf-shaped iron lance-head * found in 1895 at Stone, 6 in association with a flint flake, and bones of Bos 4 Mr. Reginald A. Smith, F.S.A., who has kindly favoured the writer with his opinion on this lance-head, considers that, whilst the form of the blade resembles Anglo-Saxon workmanship, the unsplit socket is sufficient and conclusive evidence that it belongs to the Early Iron Age. ' North Staffs. Nat. field Club and Arch. Soc. Tram, xxx, 108-1 5. I 79
