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
In another barrow at Cowlam,[1086] Yorkshire, E. R., was a rough piece
|263| of grit, 2 1∕4 inches long, with one end slightly hollowed,
apparently by grinding celts, and a large flat compact laminated red
sandstone pebble about 8 3∕4 inches by 3 inches, with both faces ground
away, the one being evenly flat and the other uneven. In the same
barrow occurred one of the flint rubbers to be subsequently described,
and also a quartzite pebble (2 1∕2 inches long) that had been used as
a hammer-stone. A portion of a whetstone of Pennant or Coal-measure
sandstone was found in the long barrow at West Kennet, Wiltshire,[1087]
in which also occurred a thin ovoidal knife of flint, ground at the
edges.
I have in my own collection a very interesting specimen of this kind
from Burwell Fen, near Cambridge. It is a thin slab of close-grained
micaceous sandstone, about 5 1∕2 by 4 inches, slightly hollowed and
polished on both faces by grinding. With it were found two celts
of flint, 4 1∕2 and 5 inches long, of pointed oval section, one of
them polished all over, and the other at the edge only, which in all
probability had been sharpened on this very stone. In the same place
were two long subangular fragments of greenstone of the right form,
size, and character to be manufactured into celts, and which had no
doubt been selected for that purpose.
A grinding-stone with a celt lying in it, found at Glenluce,[1088]
Wigtownshire, has been figured.
On the Sussex Downs I have found flat pebbles 3 or 4 inches long, which
have evidently been used as hones, but whether for stone or metallic
tools it is impossible to say. Fragments of polished celts and numerous
flakes and “scrapers” of flint were, however, in their immediate
neighbourhood. Among the modern savages of Tahiti[1089] who used
hatchets of basalt, a whetstone and water appear to have been always at
hand, as constant sharpening was necessary. It seems probable therefore
that there must have been a constant demand for such sharpening-stones
in this country, and that many of them ought still to exist. With flint
hatchets, the constant whetting was, however, no doubt less necessary
than with those of the different kinds of basalt. Their edges, if
carefully chipped, will indeed cut wood without being ground at all.
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