As we have already observed, the Goidelic Celts were in the Bronze Age stage of culture when they landed in Britain. Let us now inquire into the nature of the materials available for the study of the Pagan Celtic art in the Bronze Age. The remains of this period may be classified, according to the nature of the finds, as follows:— (1) Sepulchral remains. (2) Remains on inhabited and fortified sites. (3) Merchants’ and founders’ hoards. (4) Personal hoards, that is to say, finds of objects purposely concealed, either in times of danger, or buried as _ex voto_ deposits. (5) Finds of objects accidentally lost. (6) Sculptured rocks and stones. The art of the Bronze Age in Europe is both of a symbolical and decorative character. The principal symbols employed are:— The Swastika. The Ship. The Triskele. The Axe. The-Cup-and-Ring. The Wheel. [Illustration: CINERARY URN OF BRONZE AGE FROM LAKE, WILTS; NOW IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM HEIGHT 1 FT. 3¼ INS.] It is probable that most of these were connected with sun-worship.[51] The chief decorative art motives which were prevalent during the Bronze Age are as follows:— The Chevron. The Concentric Circle. The Spiral. The Winding-Band. With the introduction of bronze into Britain an entire change took place in the burial customs of the people. The long barrows with their megalithic chambers and entrance passages gave place to round barrows containing cists constructed of comparatively small slabs of stone, and having no approach from the exterior. Although burial by inhumation still continued to be practised, cremation was adopted for the first time. The proportions of unburnt to burnt bodies found in opening barrows in different parts of England vary according to Thurnam[52] thus:— Unburnt. Burnt. Wilts 82 272 Dorset 21 91 Derbyshire } Staffordshire} 150 121 Yorkshire } Yorkshire 58 53 [51] See J. J. A. Worsaae’s _Danish Arts_, p. 68. [52] _Archæologia_, vol. xliii., p. 310. The survival of the practice of inhumation to so large an extent would seem to indicate that the bronze-using Goidels amalgamated with the Neolithic aborigines rather than exterminated them. The unburnt bodies were usually buried in a doubled-up position, and sometimes an urn was placed near the deceased. When the body was cremated the ashes were placed in a cinerary urn, and the grave-goods most commonly consisted of smaller pottery vessels, a bronze dagger or razor, and a stone wrist-guard. Occasionally flint implements and polished stone axe-hammers have been found with burials of this type, but it does not necessarily follow, in consequence, that bronze was unknown at the time. The sepulchral pottery derived from the round barrows of the Bronze Age supplies us with ample material for studying the art of the period.