126 : 7. Bronze. Rice Holmes, 1, p. 125: “The oldest piece of bronze that has yet been dated was found at Medûm, in Egypt, and is supposed to have been cast about 3700 B. C. But the metal may have been worked even earlier in other lands; for a bronze statuette and a bronze vase, which were made twenty-five centuries before our era have been obtained from Mesopotamia and the craft must have passed through many stages before such objects could have been produced. Yet it would be rash to infer that either the Babylonians or the Egyptians invented bronze for neither in Egypt nor in Babylonia is there any tin. The old theory that it was a result of Phœnician commerce with Britain has long been abandoned and British bronze implements are so different from those of Norway and Sweden, Denmark and Hungary, that it cannot have been derived from any of these countries. German influence was felt at a comparatively late period, but from first to last British bronze culture was closely connected with that of Gaul and through Gaul with that of Italy.” 126 : 9. Gowland, p. 243: “It has been frequently stated that the alloy used by the men of the Bronze Age generally consists of copper and tin in the proportions of 9 to 1. I have hence compared the analyses which have been published with the following results: EARLY WEAPONS AND IMPLEMENTS. 57 ANALYSES In 25 the tin ranges from about 8 to 11 per cent. „ 6 „ „ „ „ „ 11 „ 13 „ „ „ 26 „ „ „ „ „ 3 „ 8 „ „ LATER PALSTAVES AND SOCKETED AXES. 15 ANALYSES In 13 the tin ranges from about 4.3 to 13.1 per cent. „ 2 „ „ was about 18.3 per cent. SPEAR AND LANCE HEADS In 5 the tin ranges from about 11.3 to 15.7 per cent. STILL LATER. SWORDS. 33 ANALYSES In 14 the tin ranges from about 8 to 11 per cent. „ 12 „ „ „ „ „ 12 „ 18 „ „ „ 7 „ „ is less than 9 per cent. “It is obvious, therefore, that these statements do not accurately represent the facts. And if we consider the different uses to which the implements or weapons were put, it is evident that no single alloy could be equally suitable for all.... It is worthy of note that these proportions (_i. e._, different hardnesses for different implements) appear to have been frequently attained, and for this the men of the later Bronze Age are deserving of great credit as metallurgists and workers in metal.” On the percentages of tin with copper for bronze see also Montelius, 1, pp. 448 _seq._ 126 : 12. Schenck, p. 241, describes a copper axe exactly like those of polished stone, and another of bronze, of very primitive pattern, showing that these were copied from the earlier stone models.