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
Another celt, of greenstone, of much the same form but with the |114|
sides more tapering, 6 inches long and 3 1∕4 wide, which was found
in Lochleven[379] in 1860, is in the same museum. This latter more
nearly resembles Fig. 51 in outline. A small highly-polished celt of
flinty slate (2 5∕8 inches), found near Dundee,[380] has been figured.
Another, more triangular in outline, 6 1∕2 inches long, was found at
Barugh, Yorkshire, and is in the Greenwell Collection. I have a celt of
rather narrower proportions that was found between Hitchin and Pirton,
Herts. It is made of a kind of _lapis lydius_.
Many of the Danish greenstone celts, which are perforated at the butt,
present much the same outline and section.
[Illustration: Fig. 56.—Sprouston, near Kelso. 1∕2]
Stone hatchets of this character occur, though rarely, in France. I
have seen one in the collection of the late M. Aymard, at Le Puy.
Dr. Finlay, of Athens, had a thin, flat hatchet of this form made of
heliotrope, 3 1∕2 inches long, with flat sides, found in Greece. The
form occurs also in Sicily.[381]
Several celts of this type have been brought from different parts
of Asia. One, of basalt, 2 inches long, wedge-shaped, found at
Muquier,[382] in Southern Babylonia, is in the British Museum; and
several of jade, 3 to 4 inches long, procured by Major Sladen from the
province of Yun-nan in Southern China, are in the Christy Collection.
By Major Sladen’s kindness, I have also a specimen. Mr. Joseph Edkins
has published some notes on “Stone Hatchets in China.”[383] Others from
Perak[384] have also been described.
The same form, also in jade, has been found in Assam.[385] Some from
Java, in the museum at Leyden, formed of flint, present the same
section, but the sides expand towards the edge. A nearly similar form
occurs in Japan.[386]
Fig. 56 is of the same character as Fig. 55, but narrower at the |115|
butt-end. The original is in the Greenwell Collection, and is formed
of Lydian stone. It was found at Sprouston, near Kelso, Roxburghshire.
Though flat at the sides along most of the blade, the section becomes
oval near the butt-end.
I have a smaller example of this type in clay-slate, 3 1∕2 inches long
and 1 3∕4 wide at the edge, found at Carnaby, near Bridlington. The
butt-end is in this case rectangular in section. It closely resembles
the flat-sided hatchets so commonly found in France. I have an Irish
celt of the same form found near Armagh, and made of clay-slate.
Flat-sided celts are, however, rare in Ireland.
[Illustration: Fig. 57.—Nunnington, Yorkshire. 1∕2]
A celt of grey flint, 4 1∕2 inches long, of much the same outline,
but having the sides rounded and not flat, and the butt brought to
a straight sharp edge, was found in Burwell Fen, and is now in the
Christy Collection.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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