The Ancient Bronze Implements, Weapons, and Ornaments, of Great Britain and Ireland.Evans, John
History
The Ancient Bronze Implements, Weapons, and Ornaments, of Great Britain and Ireland.
Evans, John
Bronze age -- Great Britain; Bronze age -- Ireland; Great Britain -- Antiquities
One of these is shown in Fig. 44, the upper part of the blade of which
is, as will be seen, so narrow, and the instrument itself so small and
light, that it is a question whether it should not be regarded as a
chisel or paring-tool rather than as a hatchet. The blade tapers both
ways, and the incipient flange is more fully developed above the ridge
than below. The original was found at Armoy, Co. Antrim. It is much
broader at the cutting edge than the blade from Culham, Fig. 55, to
which it is somewhat allied.
[Illustration: Fig. 44.—Armoy. ½]
[Illustration: Fig. 45.—Ireland. ½]
Another Irish form of celt, or possibly chisel, tapers in both
directions from a central transverse ridge, near which there are
lateral projections on the blade, as if to prevent its being driven
into the handle. An example of this kind, from the museum of the Royal
Irish Academy, is given in Fig. 45. There are nine or ten in that
collection, and they vary in length from about 3¾ to 8 inches. Others
are in the British Museum, one of which is more distinctly tanged
than the figure, and the stops are formed by the gradual widening out
of the blade, which again contracts with a similar curve, and once
more widens out at the edge. This type is also known in France. Other
varieties of this form are described in Chapter VII.
A doubly tapering blade in the museum of the Royal Irish Academy,
shown in Fig. 46, has a slight stop-ridge on the face, and also
expands at the sides, though not to the same extent as the plain
specimens just mentioned. It is ornamented with straight and curved
bands formed of chevron patterns.
A double-edged instrument, also in the museum of the Royal Irish
Academy, has a stop-ridge on one of the faces only, as shown in Fig.
47.
An instrument of the same form, but with stops at the sides instead
of on the face, 4⅞ inches long, ⅝ inch broad at the edges, and about
¼ inch thick, was found at Farley Heath, Surrey, and is now in the
British Museum.
A Danish instrument of the same kind is figured by Worsaae.[245] /#
[Illustration: Fig. 46.—Ireland. ½]
[Illustration: Fig. 47.—Ireland. ½]
Flat celts of iron with lateral stops have been found in the
cemetery at Hallstatt, Austria, as well as winged palstaves and
socketed celts of the same metal.
Some of the thin votive hatchets found at Dodona[246] are of the same
form, and are significant of such blades having been in actual use in
Greece.
In the next chapter are described the celts in which the side flanges
have become more fully developed, so as to form wings to embrace and
steady the handle, and the central ridge has grown into a well-marked
shoulder against which the end of the haft could rest.
CHAPTER IV.
WINGED CELTS AND PALSTAVES.
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