The Ancient Stone Implements, Weapons and Ornaments, of Great Britain: Second Edition, RevisedEvans, John
History
The Ancient Stone Implements, Weapons and Ornaments, of Great Britain: Second Edition, Revised
Evans, John
Great Britain -- Antiquities; Stone age -- Great Britain
Much the same form occurs in other materials than flint. I have a
specimen, formed of flinty clay-slate, with one side less flat than the
other, 10 1∕4 inches long, 3 wide, and 1 5∕8 thick, said to have been
found with four others in a cairn on Druim-a-shi, Culloden, Inverness.
I have another of whin-stone (9 1∕4 inches) from Kirkcaldy, Fife.
The fine celt from Gilmerton, Fig. 76, is of the same class, but has
a cutting edge at each end. Some Cumberland and Westmorland specimens
partake much of this character. |113|
Implements of nearly similar form to that last described, but having
the edge oblique, are also met with. That engraved in Fig. 54 was found
at Lackford, Suffolk, and was formerly in the collection of Mr. Warren,
of Ixworth, but is now in mine. It is of grey flint. I have another,
of white flint, of the same length but a trifle narrower, and with the
grinding for the edge forming more of a facet with the body of the
celt. It was found in the Isle of Portland. The obliquity of the edge
was no doubt intentional, and may have originated in the manner in
which these hatchets were mounted with hafts. Professor Nilsson[377]
has suggested that the obliquity is due to the front part of the blade
being worn away in use more quickly than the back.
[Illustration: Fig. 55.—Dalmeny, Linlithgow. 1∕2]
To this class, though very different in appearance, belongs a
beautifully made celt of grey flint, in the British Museum. It is
probably of English origin, though the place of finding is unknown. The
sides are straight and flat, but only about 1∕16 of an inch wide, the
faces equally convex and polished all over. It is 9 inches long, and
tapers from 1 1∕2 inches wide at the edge, which is broken, to 5∕8 at
the butt. Its greatest thickness is 1∕2 an inch. It is engraved in the
_Archæological Journal_.[378]
Flint celts of the type of both Fig. 53 and 54 are not uncommon in
France and Belgium. They are also found, though rarely, in Ireland.
The cutting end of one formed of nearly transparent quartz, and found
in Egypt, is in the Museum at Geneva.
Celts with the sides flattened are of not unfrequent occurrence
in other materials than flint. That figured as No. 55 is of
ochreous-coloured quartzite, and was found at Dalmeny, Linlithgow.
It is preserved in the National Museum at Edinburgh. The form is
remarkable, as being so broad in proportion to the length. The sides
are flat, but the angles they make with the faces are slightly rounded.
The butt-end is rounded in both directions, and appears to have been
worked with a pointed tool or pick.
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