The Ancient Stone Implements, Weapons, and Ornaments of Great Britain

by John Evans (1823-1908)

For other versions of this work, see Ancient Stone Implements.

ANCIENT STONE IMPLEMENTS,

ETC.,

OF

GREAT BRITAIN.

THE ANCIENT

STONE IMPLEMENTS,

WEAPONS AND ORNAMENTS,

OF

GREAT BRITAIN.

 

SECOND EDITION, REVISED.

 

BY

SIR JOHN EVANS, K.C.B.,

D.C.L., Sc.D., LL.D.,
F.R.S., F.S.A., F.G.S., ETC., ETC.
CORRESPONDANT DE L'INSTITUT DE FRANCE.

 

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.

39, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
AND BOMBAY
1897

(All rights reserved.)

LONDON:
PRINTED BY J. S. VIRTUE AND CO., LIMITED,
CITY ROAD.

PREFACE

TO THE FIRST EDITION.

In presenting this work to the public I need say but little by way of preface. It is the result of the occupation of what leisure hours I could spare, during the last few years, from various and important business, and my object in undertaking it is explained in the Introduction.

What now remains for me to do is to express my thanks to those numerous friends who have so kindly aided me during the progress of my work, both by placing specimens in their collections at my disposal, and by examination of my proofs. Foremost among these must be ranked the Rev. William Greenwell, F.S.A., from whose unrivalled collection of British antiquities I have largely drawn, and from whose experience and knowledge I have received much assistance in other ways.

To Mr. A. W. Franks, F.S.A.; Mr. J. W. Flower, F.G.S.; Mr. W. Pengelly, F.R.S.; Colonel A. Lane Fox, F.S.A.; Mr. E. T. Stevens, of Salisbury; Messrs. Mortimer, of Fimber; Mr. Joseph Anderson, the Curator of the Antiquarian Museum at Edinburgh; and to numerous others whose names are mentioned in the following pages, my thanks must also be expressed.

The work itself will, I believe, be found to contain most of the information at present available with regard to the class of antiquities of which it treats. The subject is one which does not readily lend itself to lively description, and an accumulation of facts, such as is here presented, is of necessity dull. I have, however, relegated to smaller type the bulk of the descriptive details of little interest to the ordinary reader, who will probably find more than enough of dry matter to content him if he confines himself to the larger type and an examination of the illustrations.

Whatever may be the merits or defects of the book, there are two points on which I feel that some credit may be claimed. The one is that the woodcuts—the great majority of which have been specially engraved for this work by Mr. Swain, of Bouverie Street—give accurate representations of the objects; the other is, that all the references have been carefully checked.

The Index is divided into two parts; the first showing the subjects discussed in the work, the second the localities where the various antiquities have been found.

Now that so much more attention than formerly is being bestowed on this class of antiquities, there will, no doubt, be numerous discoveries made, not only of forms with which we are at present unacquainted, but also of circumstances calculated to throw light on the uses to which stone implements and weapons were applied, and the degree of antiquity to be assigned to the various forms.

I will only add that I shall gladly receive any communications relative to such discoveries.

JOHN EVANS.

Nash Mills, Hemel Hempstead, May, 1872.

PREFACE

TO THE SECOND EDITION.

The undiminished interest taken by many archæologists in the subject to which this book relates seems to justify me in again placing it before the public, though in an extended and revised form. I am further warranted in so doing by the fact that the former edition, which appeared in 1872, has now been long out of print.

In revising the work it appeared desirable to retain as much of the original text and arrangement as possible, but having regard to the large amount of new matter that had to be incorporated in it and to the necessity of keeping the bulk of the volume within moderate bounds, some condensation seemed absolutely compulsory. This I have effected, partly by omitting some of the detailed measurements of the specimens, and partly by printing a larger proportion of the text in small type. I have also omitted several passages relating to discoveries in the caverns of the South of France.

I have throughout preserved the original numbering of the Figures, so that references that have already been made to them in other works will still hold good. The new cuts, upwards of sixty in number, that have been added in this edition are distinguished by letters affixed to the No. of the Figure immediately preceding them.

The additions to the text, especially in the portion relating to the Palæolithic Period, are very extensive, and I hope that all the more important discoveries of stone antiquities made in this country during the last quarter of a century are here duly recorded, and references given to the works in which fuller details concerning them may be found. In some cases, owing to the character of the objects discovered being insufficiently described, I have not thought it necessary to cite them.

I am indebted to numerous collectors throughout the country for having called my attention to specimens that they acquired, and for having, in many cases, sent them to me for examination. I may take this opportunity of mentioning that while the whole of the objects found by Canon Greenwell during his examination of British Barrows has been most liberally presented to the nation, the remainder of his fine collection of stone antiquities, so frequently referred to in these pages, has passed into the hands of Dr. W. Allen Sturge, of Nice.

The two Indices have been carefully compiled by my sister, Mrs. Hubbard, and are fuller than those in the former edition. They will afford valuable assistance to any one who desires to consult the book.

For the new woodcuts that I have had engraved I have been so fortunate as to secure the services of Messrs. Swain, who so skilfully cut the blocks for the original work. I am indebted for the loan of numerous other blocks to several learned Societies, and especially to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and to the Geological Society of London. Mr. Worthington Smith has also most liberally placed a number of blocks at my disposal.

It remains for me to express my thanks to those who have greatly aided me in the preparation of this edition, the whole of the proofs of which have been kindly read by Mr. C. H. Read, F.S.A., of the British Museum, as well as by some members of my own family. Dr. Joseph Anderson, of the National Museum at Edinburgh, has been good enough to read the parts relating to Scotland, while Professor Boyd Dawkins has gone over the chapter on Cave Implements, and Mr. William Whitaker has corrected the account of the discoveries in the River-drift. To each and all I am grateful, and as the result of their assistance I trust that, though not immaculate, the book may prove to be fairly free from glaring errors and inconsistencies.

JOHN EVANS.

Nash Mills, Hemel Hempstead, May, 1897.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY.

PAGE

The Iron, Bronze, and Stone Ages—Bronze in use before Iron—Persistence of Religious Rites—Use of Stone in Religious Ceremonies—Stone Antiquities not all of the same Age—Order of Treatment .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .

1

CHAPTER II.

ON THE MANUFACTURE OF STONE IMPLEMENTS IN PREHISTORIC TIMES.

Pyrites and Flint used for striking Fire—Strike-a-light Flints—The Gun-flint Manufacture—Gun-flint Production—Modes of producing Flakes—Pressigny Nuclei—Rough-hewing Stone-hatchets—Ancient Mining for Flint—Flint—mines at Grime's Graves and Spiennes—Production of Arrow-heads—Flaking Arrow-heads—Arrow-flakers—Grinding Stone Implements—Methods of Sawing Stone—Methods of Boring Stone—Boring by means of a Tube—Progress in Modes of Manufacture .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .

14

IMPLEMENTS OF THE NEOLITHIC PERIOD.

CHAPTER III.

CELTS.

Belief in their Meteoric Origin—Regarded as Thunderbolts—Celt with Gnostic Inscriptions—Their Origin and Virtues—How regarded by the Greeks and Romans .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .

55

CHAPTER IV.

CHIPPED OR ROUGH-HEWN CELTS.

The Kjökken-Mödding Type—Some possibly Agricultural Implements—Some carefully Chipped—The Common Forms—Their abundance—Discoveries at Cissbury-Found in company with Polished Celts—Their probable Age .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .

67

CHAPTER V.

CELTS GROUND AT THE EDGE ONLY.

Pointed at the Butt-end—Of Elongated Form—Expanding at the Ends—Of Peculiar Forms—Their Occurrence in Foreign Countries .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .

87

CHAPTER VI.

POLISHED CELTS.

A Type common in the Eastern Counties—With the Surface ground all over—Expanding at the Edge—Of other Materials than Flint—The Thin and Highly-polished Type—With Flat Sides—With Flat Sides and Narrow Butt—With Flat Sides and Pointed Butt—Of Rectangular Section—Chisel-like and of Rectangular Section—Of Oval Section—Of Oval Section with Conical Butt—Of a Form common in France—Of Oval Section pointed at the Butt—With a Cutting Edge at each End—Sharp at both Ends—Polished Celts narrowing in the Middle—Used in the Hand without Hafting—Polished Celts of Abnormal types—Polished Celts with Depressions and Flutings—Circumstances under which they have been Found— Their Discovery with Objects of Later Date—Their Range in Time- Accompanying Interments—Manner in which Hafted—In their original Handles—Inserted in Sockets in the Hafts—Hafted with Intermediate Sockets—Compared with Axes of modern Savages—Mounted in Forked Hafts—Mounted on Wooden Hafts—Compared with Adzes of modern Savages—Mounted in Withes and Cleft Sticks—Modern methods of Hafting Axes .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .

98

CHAPTER VII.

PICKS, CHISELS, GOUGES, ETC.

Small Hand Chisels—Gouges rare in Britain—Bastard Gouges .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .

173

CHAPTER VIII.

PERFORATED AXES.

Sharp at both Ends—Expanding at one End—Pointed at one End—Adze-Like in Character—Cutting at one End only—Used as Battle-axes—Ornamented on the Faces—Large and Heavy—A Large Form common in the North—Fluted on the Faces—Boring, the last Process—Axe-hammers hollowed on the Sides—Axe-hammers ornamented on the Faces—Frequently found in Barrows—But little used by modern Savages .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .

183

CHAPTER IX.

PERFORATED AND GROOVED HAMMERS.

Of Peculiar Forms—Some of them Weapons, not Tools—Conical, Rounded at each End—Made from Pebbles with Natural Holes—Of an Ornamented Character—Made from Quartzite Pebbles—Purposes to which Applied—Mauls for Mining Purposes—Of Wide Range—Net-sinkers .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .

217

CHAPTER X.

HAMMER-STONES, ETC.

With Depressions on the Faces—With Cup-shaped Depressions—Ridged at the End—Made of Flint and Quartzite—Saddle-querns—Pestles and Mortars—From Shetland and Orkney—Various forms of Mortars—Hand-mills or Querns .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .

238

CHAPTER XI.

GRINDING-STONES AND WHETSTONES.

Uses for Sharpening Celts—Found in Barrows—Found with Interments—Pebbles with Grooves in them .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .

261

CHAPTER XII.

FLINT FLAKES, CORES, ETC.

The Cone and Bulb of Percussion—Classification of Flakes—Polygonal Cores—Numerous in Ancient Settlements—Localities where Abundant—Not Confined to the Stone Period—The Roman Tribulum—In other parts of the World—The Uses of Flakes—Flakes ground at the Edge—Hafted Flakes—Flakes made into Saws—Serrated, as the Armature of Sickles .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .

272

CHAPTER XIII.

SCRAPERS.

Used in Dressing Hides—Horseshoe-shaped—Kite-shaped and Duck-bill-shaped—Some like Oyster Shells in Form—Double-ended and Spoon-shaped—Found with Interments—Evidences of Wear upon them—Found with Pyrites—The Modern form of Strike-a-light—Used with Pyrites for producing Fire—The Flat and Hollowed Forms .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .

298

CHAPTER XIV.

BORERS, AWLS, OR DRILLS.

Found in different Countries—Of Minute Dimensions .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .

321

CHAPTER XV.

TRIMMED FLAKES, KNIVES, ETC.

From different Countries—Some Trimmed Flakes, probably Knives—Knives from Barrows—Some possibly Lance-heads—Knives with one Edge blunt—Of Oval Form—Sharpened by Grinding—Of Circular Form—Of Semi-circular and Triangular Form—The so-called "Picts' Knives"—Like those of the Eskimos—Daggers or Lance-heads—With Notches at the Sides—Found in other Countries—Curved and Crescent-shaped Blades—Curved Knives, probably Sickles—Ripple-marked Egyptian Blades .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .

326

CHAPTER XVI.

JAVELIN AND ARROW HEADS.

Their earliest occurrence—Thought to fall from the Heavens—Superstitions attaching to them—Worn as Amulets—An Egyptian Arrow—Javelin-heads—Leaf-shaped Arrow-heads—Leaf-shaped Arrow-heads pointed at both Ends—Lozenge-shaped Arrow-heads—Stemmed-Arrow-heads—Stemmed and Barbed Arrow-heads—Unusual Forms—Found in Scotland—Localities where found—The Triangular Form—Single-barbed Arrow-heads—The Chisel-ended Type—Found in Barrows—Irish and French Types—From various Countries—African and Asiatic Types—South American Types—How attached to their Shafts—Bows in Early Times .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .

360

CHAPTER XVII.

FABRICATORS, FLAKING TOOLS, ETC.

Their probable Uses—Used for working in Flint .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .

412

CHAPTER XVIII.

SLING-STONES AND BALLS.

Sling-stones Roughly Chipped from Flint—Ornamented Balls principally from Scotland—The use of "Bolas" .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .

417

CHAPTER XIX.

BRACERS, AND ARTICLES OF BONE.

Wrist-guards or Bracers of Stone—The use of Arm-guards—Bone Lance-heads and Pins—Needles of Bone—Hoes of Stag's Horn .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .

425

CHAPTER XX.

SPINDLE-WHORLS, DISCS, SLICKSTONES, WEIGHTS, AND CUPS.

Superstitions attaching to Whorls—Uses of Perforated Discs—Use of Slick-stones—Stones as Burnishers and Weights—Stone Cups—Cups turned in a Lathe—Amber Cup—Vessels made of Stone .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .

436

CHAPTER XXI.

PERSONAL ORNAMENTS, AMULETS, ETC.

Buttons of Jet, Shale, and Stone—Buttons found in Barrows—Necklaces of Jet—Necklaces—Beads, Pendants, and Bracelets—Rings of Stone—Pebbles found in Barrows—Lucky Stones and Amulets—Conclusions as to the Neolithic Period .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .

452

IMPLEMENTS OF THE PALÆOLITHIC PERIOD.

CHAPTER XXII.

CAVE IMPLEMENTS.

Compared with those from the River-drift—Formation of Caverns—Deposition of Stalagmite—Different Ages of Caverns—Chronological Sequence of Caverns—Fauna of the Caves—Dean Buckland's Researches—Kent's Cavern, Torquay—Alteration in Structure of Flint—Trimmed Flakes from Kent's Cavern—Scrapers from Kent's Cavern—Cores and Hammers from Kent's Cavern—Bone Harpoon-heads from Kent's Cavern—Fauna of Kent's Cavern—Animal Remains associated with Works of Art—Correlation of Kent's Cavern with Foreign Caves—Brixham Cave—Trimmed Flakes from the Brixham Cave—The Wookey Hyæna Den—The Gower and other Welsh Caves—The Caves of Creswell Crags—General Considerations .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .

473

CHAPTER XXIII.

IMPLEMENTS OF THE RIVER-DRIFT PERIOD.

The Discoveries at Abbeville and Amiens—Discoveries on the Continent and in India—In the Valley of the Ouse—Biddenham, Bedford—Hitchin, Herts—Valleys of the Cam and the Lark—Bury St. Edmunds—Icklingham—High Lodge, Mildenhall—Eedhill, Thetford—Santon Dowuham—Bromehill, Weeting—Gravel Hill, Brandon—Lakenheath—Shrub Hill, Feltwell—Hoxne, Suffolk—Saltley, Warwickshire—Possibility of their occurrence in the North of England—Gray's Inn Lane, London—Highbury, London—Lower Clapton, Stoke Newington, &c.—Ealing and Acton—West Drayton, Burnham, Reading—Oxford and its Neighbourhood—Peasemarsh, Godalming—Valleys of the Gade and Colne—Caddington—No Man's Land, Wheathampstead—Valley of the Lea—Valley of the Cray—Swanscomb and Milton Street—Ightham, Sevenoaks—Limpsfield, Surrey—Valley of the Medway—Reculver—Thanington, Kent—Canterbury and Folkestone—Southampton—Hill Head, Southampton Water—The Foreland, Isle of Wight—Bemerton, Salisbury—Fisherton and Milford Hill, Salisbury—Bournemouth and Barton Cliff—Valley of the Axe .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .

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CHAPTER XXIV.

FORMS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF IMPLEMENTS FROM THE RIVER-DRIFT.

Flint Flakes—Trimmed Flakes—Pointed Implements—Sharp-rimmed Implements—Differ from those of Neolithic Age—Their occurrence in other parts of the World—Found in Africa and Asia—Their probable Uses—The Civilization they betoken—Characteristics of their Authenticity .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .

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CHAPTER XXV.

ANTIQUITY OF THE RIVER-DRIFT.

Hypothetical case of River-action—Origin of River Systems—Amount of Solid Matter in Turbid Water—Nature of Flood-deposits—Effects of Ground-ice—Deposits left on the Slopes of Valleys during Excavation—Solvent power of Carbonic Acid—The results of the Deepening of Valleys—Actual Phenomena compared with the Hypothetical—The Denudation of the Fen Country—The Valley of the Waveney—The Valley of the Thames—Deposits in the South of England—Deposits near Salisbury—The Origin of the Solent—Deposits at Bournemouth—Breach through the Chalk-range South of Bournemouth—The Question of Climate—Evidence as to Climate—Association of Implements with a Quaternary Fauna—Scarcity of Human Bones in the River-drift—Attempts to formulate Chronological Data—Data from Erosion—Conclusion .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .

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