Prehistoric Britain/Chapter 6
CHAPTER VI
ARTS AND INDUSTRIES OF THE STONE AND BRONZE AGES
Systematic writers on Archæology generally describe the cultural phenomena dis- closed by the relics gathered on the inhabited sites and haunts of the prehistoric people of Europe under the three famous ages of Stone, Bronze and Iron. It must not, however, be forgotten that these so-called ages are but undated stages in the sequence of events, each representing a group of objects sufficiently differentiated to be recognized as well-defined phases in the progress of European civilization. This system of classification is founded on the fact that there was a time, in the history of mankind, when all industrial tools were made of stone, horn, bone, teeth, etc. After human organizations continued to exist for many ages with the assistance of such objects as could be manufactured from these limited resources, a discovery was made which ultimately revolutionized all mechanical appliances for cutting purposes, and thus raised the culture and civilization of the people to a higher degree than was previously possible. This discovery was the art of making bronze, which simply consisted of adding 10 per cent, of tin to copper, a process which has the effect of rendering the latter sufficiently hard to give to cutting implements made of this amalgam a sharp edge. Before this discovery cutting implements made of pure copper had been tried, but they were little better than those made of stone. This preliminary metallic stage—the so-called Copper Age—was not of long duration. It was otherwise with bronze, as its superior qualities for cutting and penetrating purposes became at once apparent. But its general application to the arts and industries was a somewhat slow process, especially in outlying districts, such as Britain, where the new tools and implements had, in the first instance, to be imported at heavy expense. The transition from a lower stage of culture to a higher one involves a series of minor innovations on old customs and mechanical usages, which vary in the course of time in different countries. Hence, the line of demarcation between the different ages is not sharply defined, the result of which is that many of the stone implements formerly in use survived in out-of-the-way districts long after the introduction of their analogues in metal.
Man is not unfrequently defined as a toolmaker, a definition which has the advantage of placing him in a category which excludes all other animals. In virtue of this monopoly he has practically discarded the natural means of self-preservation, with which Nature endowed him, and substituted in lieu of them all sorts of tools and appliances manufactured by his own hands. These mechanical inventions, or rather such of them as have reached our day, are now of inestimable value to archæologists, as they disclose the technical skill, the capacity of adapting special means to special ends, and the general intelligence of their respective makers.
Implements.—The objects classified as implements include—axes, adzes, chisels, hammers, knives, saws, gouges, scrapers, grinding and polishing stones, domestic appliances, etc.
Axes may be divided into two groups, according as they have, or have not, a hafthole. The former are rarely made of flint, even in districts where this material is abundant, owing to the difficulty of perforating such a hard substance. The non-perforated axes have a wedge shape with one cutting edge running parallel to the axis of the handle, the other being blunt or roughly pointed. Some, however, have both ends brought to a cutting edge. As a rule they have polished surfaces, with the exception of those made of flint, which are generally ground only at the cutting edge. The members of this group vary so much in composition, finish and dimensions that no two are exactly alike; but yet many of them have so many points of resemblance that certain types are recognized as peculiar to special areas—a fact no doubt due to prevailing local influences and customs. It is marvellous to what precision experts have carried the art of assorting these implements according to their provenance. In Scandinavia, owing to the abundance of flint in certain localities, we find specimens of very large dimensions made of this material, some being beautifully chipped and others finely polished, A few specimens found in Britain assume the form of a modern adze, notably one from Aberdeenshire. It is made of grey flint, finely polished, and finished to a curved adze-like edge at both ends. A few chisels are also to be noted, their characteristics being a short cutting edge and a long slender body.
The perforated axes are worked with care, being nearly all polished, and sometimes ornamented with linear grooves along the margins of the perforated surfaces. They are for the most part made of metamorphic or volcanic rocks, and vary in size from a few inches to ten or eleven inches. They may have a single or double cutting edge running parallel to the axis of the handle. In the former case the blunt end may be used as a hammer, and then the implement becomes an axe-hammer. When the cutting edge is at right angles to the handle the implement is called an adze—a very rare form in Britain.
Knives, saws and scrapers are all made of flint flakes by secondary chipping, and assume a great variety of forms, according to the shape of the flake. Originally the knife-flake and the saw were one and the same, but their specialization into separate tools dates as far back as Palæolithic times, as we find saws among the relics of the reindeer caves of France and the rock-shelter of the Schweizersbild in Switzerland.
Among remains of the prehistoric stone industry in this country the implement most largely represented is the scraper, or "thumb flint." It generally consists of a flake having the thick end worked into a semicircular edge and slanting to its flat face, while the body, or "neck," may be held between the fingers. But sometimes there is no neck, and the implement may be of a discoidal, circular or horseshoe shape. Some have a concave edge and are known as "hollow scrapers," a type of implement hitherto found more frequently in Ireland than in Britain. The tools used for boring have, of course, a sharp point, but otherwise they may be regarded as scrapers.
Of all the materials utilized in prehistoric times, flint was the most serviceable, on account of its hardness, and the facility with which it could be worked into any required shape by the process of chipping. Flint is only found in situ in chalk formations, but transported nodules of it are frequently met with in glacial drift deposits and other gravels. It has been proved that the prehistoric people were in the habit of procuring a better quality by mining operations. At Grime's Graves, near Brandon, in Suffolk, and at Cissbury, near Worthing, in Sussex, the disused mines have been discovered and investigated. It appears that shafts had been driven down to the requisite depth from which narrow galleries were run in all directions. In the former, the actual deer-horn picks were found in the face of the cutting, just as the miners left them, and the marks of the stone axes were seen on the walls of the gallery.
Some sensation was recently created at a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries (May 9, 1912), by Mr. Reginald Smith's paper on "The Date of Grime's Graves and Cissbury Flint-mines," in which he assigns the Cissbury group to the Palæolithic period, chiefly on the following grounds: "Certain finds in stratified deposits both here and abroad serve to link the typical Cissbury celt with the late river-gravel forms, and analogies between other types and those found in French caves suggest placing the Cissbury group in the Aurignac division of the Palæolithic cave period, which, at any rate abroad, was followed by a deposit of loess. Recent finds in France show that 'domesticated' animals existed at that period; and the absence of cold- loving animals such as the mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, and reindeer may perhaps be accounted for by the Gulf Stream; but these animals are also unrepresented on several important French sites. If the above view can be maintained there can be no hiatus question." But this conclusion would follow if Mr. Smith had assigned the Cissbury implements to the transition period to which they clearly belong.
Another class of implement, the use of which is unknown, is the so-called Shetland knife. A mere glance at these objects shows that they possess certain characteristics which place them in a special category among ancient stone implements. They are large, thin blades, made of volcanic rock known as rock-porphyry, irregularly oval or subquadrangular in form, and highly polished on both surfaces, with the entire margin ground to what may be called a cutting edge. Though no two specimens are precisely alike, there is a general, indeed a striking, resemblance between them all; and only in one instance does the rates between their long and short diameters go beyond six to four inches. Summarizing the details of the various discoveries of these implements, I find that 10 were hoards, each containing 4 to 16 specimens—79 in all. The total number at present known may be stated in round numbers at 100, thus accounted for: 62 in National Museum, Edinburgh; 30 in Mr. Cursiter's private collection; and 8 preserved in museums in London and Copenhagen.
Weapons.—Objects classified under the category of weapons, such as daggers, spears, javelins, arrows, etc., being intended to pierce the body of an animal, resemble each other in having a sharp point; but otherwise they only differ in size, material and the manner in which they were used. The penetrating portion was most frequently made of flint, but sometimes short daggers were made of bone or horn.
Arrow-points may be divided into two classes, according as they have, or have not, a tang for insertion into the shaft, the latter being further subdivided according as the form resembles a leaf, a lozenge or a triangle—a division which is also applicable to spear-heads. The workmanship on some of these flint objects displays marvellous skill, especially in the execution of what is known as ripple-flaking. Having secured the tip, the warrior, or sportsman, had next to consider how it could be best attached to the shaft or handle. This was generally effected in the case of the arrow by inserting the lower end of the flint into a slit in the wood, and then tying it with a string. Among the lake-dwellers of Switzerland a kind of asphalt was used to keep the head firmly in position. It is perhaps unnecessary to say that the presence of arrow-points implies the other equipments of the archer, viz. the bow, the arrow-shaft, the quiver and the wrist-bracer. Of the three former articles almost nothing has survived in this country, owing no doubt to their decay, but in the Swiss lake-dwellings several specimens of the bow have been found. One from Rohenhausen was made of yew, about five feet in length, and showed the notch for the string at both ends. The wrist-bracer, being made of stone, and therefore not liable to decay, has been found in several localities in this country, generally among the contents of graves The few objects that may be classified as spear- or javelin-heads differ from arrow-heads only in being a little larger, but seldom exceeding three inches in length. Among weapoiis may be noticed the so-called sling-stone, which may be a smooth pebble from the brook, or a flint nodule roughly chipped into a lenticular, discoidal, or globular shape. Hundreds of ovate pellets of clay, generally of the size of a pigeon's egg, burnt and unburnt, have been found on the site of the lake-village of Glastonbury, and are regarded as sling-bolts, or perhaps fire-bolts. Similar clay pellets have been dug up on the site of Ardoch Camp associated with Roman pottery and other Roman remains.
In summing up a critical review of the different theories held in regard to the remarkable series of ornamental stone balls found in Scotland—and only in Scotland—I came to the conclusion that their chronological range extended from the end of the Stone Age down to the end of Paganism in Britain. Their geographical distribution seems to me to have an ethnographical significance. Thus of 111 specimens dealt with, no fewer than 56 were traced to Aberdeenshire, and the rest to the eastern districts of Scotland, chiefly north of the Firth of Forth—the exceptions being three from Lanarkshire, two from the counties of Dumfries, Argyll and Wigtown, one from Islay, and one from Ireland. Now the Scottish area thus defined strikingly coincides with what we know of the home of that most obscure of all the people who formerly inhabited North Britain, viz. the Picts or Caledonians.
Dress and Ornament.—We have no knowledge of any phase of humanity in which the love of personal ornament does not play an important part in the life of the individual. The savage of the present day, who paints, or tattoos, his body and adorns it with shells, feathers, teeth and trinkets made of the more gaudy materials at his disposal, may be accepted as on a parallel with the Neolithic people of Europe. The ornaments of the latter consisted chiefly of beads, pendants, rings, bracelets, necklaces, etc., made of jet, amber, bone, horn, teeth, etc. Few of such relics have, however, been found in Britain that can be identified as belonging exclusively to them. Teeth are often perforated and used as pendants, especially the canines of carnivorous animals, but such ornaments are not peculiar to Neolithic times, as they were equally prevalent among the later Palæolithic races of Europe. Buttons made of jet, amber, ivory or stone are not uncommon among the contents of ancient graves. They are more or less conical on the upper surface and flat beneath, with a curved V-shaped tunnel, both ends of which open on the under surface. But perhaps the earliest of all methods of fastening garments was the simple bone pin. Then came an elongated piece of wood, bone or horn, with a groove cut round its middle for retaining the string which fastened it to the cloth or skin garment.
Of the more perishable works of the early inhabitants of Britain very little has reached our day. Of the spinning industry the spindle-whorl alone remains as evidence, but as it has also been used in all subsequent ages, even up to the present time, it possesses no chronological value. Portions of woollen cloth of four or five different textures are said to have been found in a cist at Greenigoe, parish of Ophir, Orkney, along with two beads, one of amber and the other of an opaque vitreous paste. Also Canon Greenwell has recorded the occasional finding of remains of woollen and leather garments in British barrows, as, for example, in a coffin made out of a hollow oak trunk, found in a barrow at Scale House, Craven. For a notice of this coffin, and similar tree-coffins recorded from England and Denmark, I would refer readers to British Barrows, pp. 375–7.
Of the pottery used for domestic purposes we know very little. According to Canon Greenwell, "the pottery which has been discovered on the site of dwelling-places is a dark-coloured, hard-baked, perfectly plain ware, without ornament of any kind, is, in fact, just what we would expect domestic pottery to be, and has nothing in which it resembles the sepulchral vessels. And more than this, as far as I know of my own experience or can learn from that of others, no whole vessel, or even fragments, of the ordinary sepulchral pottery of the barrows or other places of sepulchre has ever been met with in connection with places of habitation." Sepulchral pottery will be discussed later on in the chapter dealing with memorials of the dead.
The Bronze Age
The introduction of bronze into the arts and industries of the Stone Age people of Europe speedily revolutionized their whole system of social economy. Not only had all the primitive implements and weapons to be remodelled in accordance with the principles of a metallic régime, but new industries and higher artistic aspirations were engendered which, by degrees, greatly modified the commercial and social aspects of life.
That bronze objects first found their way into Britain in the form of cutting implements and weapons imported from abroad there can be little doubt, as the oldest metallic specimens found in graves were made of the best quality of bronze, viz. 10 per cent, of tin to 90 per cent, of copper. Now, since a knowledge of this compound implies a previous acquaintance with its component elements, it follows that progress in metallurgy had already reached the stage of knowing the best combination of these metals for the manufacture of cutting tools before bronze was practically known in Britain. That this skill in the working of metals had not been acquired by the ancient nations on the shores of the Mediterranean without long experience of the qualities of copper and tin, and of the various methods of hardening the former, was demonstrated by the late Dr. Gladstone, F.R.S., at the meeting of the British Association held at Liverpool in 1896.
In a paper on "The Transition from Pure Copper to Bronze made with Tin," he writes as follows: "The use of copper in Egypt can be traced from the Fourth Dynasty, when King Seneferu captured the copper and turquoise mines of the Sinaitic peninsula. Tools made of this metal have been found not only in Egypt, belonging to the Fourth, Sixth and Twelfth Dynasties, but also in Assyria, at Lachish in Palestine, Hissarlick in Asia Minor, and Naqada. Attempts were made to render this copper harder and stronger, and that in three ways. First, the admixture of a large quantity of suboxide of copper or of its formation in the process of smelting, as seen in adzes from Egypt and Palestine, and perhaps Naqada. Second, the presence of a little arsenic or antimony, as shown in many tools from Kahun dating from the Twelfth Dynasty, and from the Sinaitic mines, as shown in a communication to the French Academy by Berthelot a few weeks since. Third, the admixture of a little tin, as at Kahun, the Sinaitic mines, and Cyprus, perhaps not exceeding one per cent. When, however, the superiority of tin, as the hardening material, came to be acknowledged, it was added in larger quantities and formed the alloy known as bronze. Such proportions as 4 and 6 per cent, occur in early specimens, as at Hissarlick, but subsequently about 10 per cent, was usually employed. Tools of this composition are found not only in Egypt during the Eighteenth Dynasty, but in most countries, and for an immense variety of purposes."
As soon as the metallurgic art had taken root among the prehistoric people of Europe each country began to manufacture its own bronze objects, modelling them, in the first instance, after their analogues in stone, or imported metal specimens. Such a derivative connection can be traced not only between the flat bronze axe and the stone celt, but also between most of the other bronze implements and weapons and their prototypes in non-metallic materials. The original safety-pin occupies an intermediate stage between the primitive bone or bronze pin and the highly ornamented brooches, which were in use among the Celts, Saxons and Scandinavians. Such evolutionary connections are often obscure, until all the intermediate links of a series are exhibited side by side.
In describing briefly the Bronze Age relics we must not fall into the common error of supposing that we are dealing with a brand new civilization. The social organizations already founded by the Stone Age people are simply continued, but carried out with greater efficiency, in consequence of the substitution of bronze in their cutting and penetrating tools for the less effective materials formerly used.
Implements.—The division of axes into flat, flanged, winged and socketed, not only sufficiently defines these forms, so far as any classification is necessary, but also indicates the chronological order of their development. The flat celt, a mere copy of the stone axes, was the first to spread over Europe, and it is the type of implement most commonly met with in the British Isles. The first alteration made was to raise a flange on each side, probably to improve the manner of hafting; then these flanges became larger and curved inwards until the two nearly met, thus forming two imperfect sockets, one on each side. Coincident with these changes a stop-ridge appears between the flanges, and a loop on the outside margin on one side, the object of which was to fasten it to the handle more securely. Finally we have the single socket, but still retaining the outside loop, which is the culmination of all previous efforts for the better adjustment of the implement to its handle.
The objects described by Sir John Evans under the category of knives are dagger-like blades, with a socket for the insertion of a handle. Specimens of these implements are rare in Scotland, more frequently met with in England, and fairly abundant in Ireland. The almost entire absence of the typical knife-blade within the British Isles is in striking contrast to what we find on the Continent, especially among the relics of the Swiss lake-dwellings. There the knives are large one-edged blades and extremely elegant in form, being always more or less curved, and frequently ornamented with parallel or wavy lines, concentric circles, dots, etc. They 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 ornamented with geometrical patterns, and present either a single or double cutting edge. All the Scottish examples are tanged, with the exception of one which has a loop at the end of a stem and semicircular edges. The British specimens have all a strong family likeness, but do not differ materially from the continental specimens, as represented in the lake-dwellings and Terremare of Italy. (For continental forms see Prehistoric Scotland, Pl. I, p. 190.)
Weapons.—Bronze daggers are usually of two kinds: (1) those with a thin, flat, tri- angular or oval blade, generally known as knife-daggers; and (2) those with a blade larger and heavier than the former and having a thick midrib. As a rule both varieties are hafted by rivets to a wooden or horn handle; but there are a few exceptions in which a tang takes the place of rivets.
Another class of weapon, sparingly found in Britain, but frequently in Ireland, is that which Sir W. Wilde calls the "broad scythe-shaped sword." It differs from the dagger in having the two edges unsymmetrical, and also in being attached at a right angle to the shaft, which gives it the appearance of a scythe. Such weapons are supposed to be battle-axes, and may, therefore, be classified with the mace, which is used for hand-to-hand encounters.
Spear-heads are, perhaps, the most abundant weapons among the relics of the Bronze Age in all countries. In Britain they are, almost without exception, socketed, and gracefully proportioned, but variable as regards dimensions.
The bronze swords found in Britain are nearly all leaf-shaped blades, with sharp points and a flat projection at the hilt containing several rivet-holes, by means of which plates of bone, horn or wood were attached on each side so as to form the handle. These weapons had no guard; and although both edges were hammered out thin and sharpened by grinding-stones, they appear to have been better adapted for thrusting than for parrying or striking. There is another rapier-shaped blade occasionally met with, the peculiarity of which is that it has no projection of the metal into the entire body of the perishable handle, but merely a flattened base to which the handle was attached by rivets, like the knife-daggers.
The most common type of shield found in the British Isles consisted of a circular plate of thin bronze, having a central boss 312 to 412 inches in diameter, surrounded by a series of concentric raised rings, with circles of small studs in repoussé work between each.
Sir John Evans makes the following observations on the chronology of British shields: "The shields first in use in Britain were probably formed of perishable material, such as wicker-work, wood, or hide, like those of many savage tribes of the present day; and it can only have been after a long acquaintance with the use of bronze that plates could have been produced of such size as those with which some of the ancient shields and bucklers found in this country were covered. They would appear, therefore, to belong to quite the close of the Bronze Age, if not to the transitional period when iron was coming into use. There are, indeed, several bronze coverings of shields of elongated form, such as those from the rivers Witham and from the Thames, with decorations upon them, in which red enamel plays a part, that have been found associated with the iron swords of what Mr. Franks has termed the Late Celtic Period. Those, however, which appear to have a better claim to a place in these pages are of a circular form." (Bronze Implements, etc., p. 343.)
The use of war-trumpets among Celtic races has been often referred to by classical writers, but only a few instruments which can be classed in this category have been found in Britain. In Ireland they are more numerous. They were made either in a solid casting of bronze, or in sections by riveting tubes of sheet metal together. They are classified into two varieties according as the aperture for blowing the trumpet was at the end or side.
Ornaments.—The knowledge of the working of bronze gave a great impetus to the development of personal ornaments and toilet trinkets. Being an attractive metal to the eye, it was readily seized upon for the manufacture of armlets, necklaces, diadems, rings, pendants, ear-rings, buttons, ornamented pins, fibulæ, etc. Most of these objects belong also to the early Iron Age, as personal ornaments were very scarce in the Bronze Age.
Art of the Bronze Age.—The elements of decoration used in the Bronze Age, as disclosed on objects of metal, bone, jet and pottery, consisted of a combination of incised or dotted lines arranged in herring-bone, chevron, saltire, cross and other rectilinear patterns, so as to produce a variety of geometrical figures. Circles, spirals and curved lines also occur, but they are generally confined to stone-work in the British Isles.
With regard to sepulchral pottery, it may be observed that in addition to incisions made in the soft clay by means of small bone instruments, impressions were often made by stamps. From an inspection of the decorated urns it will be observed that various kinds of stamps were used by the potters of the period, such as a piece of wood or bone worked into dots, small triangles, squares, etc., the teeth of a comb, twisted thread in two or three plies, the finger-nail, etc. The different patterns thus made were generally arranged in horizontal bands round the body of the vessel, especially on its upper and middle parts, in such a variety of ways that no two vessels precisely alike have ever been found. A few socketed celts have been recorded from several localities. These are decorated with concentric circles in relief, the incised pattern being in the mould. But otherwise neither incised circles nor spirals are to be seen on metal-work in this country—presenting in this respect a marked contrast to the bronze relics of the Scandinavian archæological area.
Of archaic sculpturing on stones and solid rock-surfaces in the form of cups, cup-and-rings, concentric circles, spirals and irregular geometrical figures, there is no lack of specimens in North Britain and Ireland; but although much has been written on the subject, none of the theories purporting to explain their meaning has met with general acceptance.
On analyzing the various decorative elements in these lapidary sculpturings they readily fall to be classified as follows: (1) Simple cups; (2) cup-and-rings; (3) cup-and-rings interrupted by gutter channels; (4) concentric circles; (5) semi-concentric circles; (6) spirals; (7) stars, wheels and enclosed spaces; (8) zigzag, wavy or parallel lines.
Cups vary greatly in size, from about one to several inches in diameter, and from half- an-inch to about an inch and a half in depth. They occur sometimes singly, but generally in groups—often forming the only ornament on a stone—and occasionally in combination with some of the other forms above defined. Simple cups have a wide distribution in Western Europe, comprising the Iberian peninsula, the British Isles, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France.
Rings are not so deeply cut as cups, and they may be either complete circles, or interrupted by grooves running from the centre to some distance beyond the outer circle. It is noteworthy that the cup-and-rings with gutter channels have not been found outside the British Isles.
The distribution of spirals, which is remarkable in many ways, has lately attracted much attention throughout Europe. The great development of this ornament in Mycenæ is now generally accepted by archæologists as the result of direct intercourse between Crete, Egypt and the shores and islands of the Ægean Sea, during the Eighteenth Dynasty (1580–1320 B.C.). From these regions there is reason to believe that it spread into Europe by the Danube route. That this was the route by which the spiral ornament reached Bavaria, North Germany and Scandinavia, is proved by the fact that it is not found as an ornament on the bronze remains of North Italy, France and Britain.