Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 6.djvu/554

 384 ON THE USE OF BRONZE CELTS The celts adapted for cutting leather have an equal claim to be regarded as military implements ; for hides, both mitanned and made into leather, were no less useful in the army than wood and bronze. Immense droves of cattle were necessary for the sustenance of the soldiers ; and, after they had been slain, their skins were employed for clothing, armour, carriages, packing-cases, and in various other ways ; but more especially, in connection with the subject which I am now discussing, they supplied the best and easiest method of attaching the celts or palstaves to their wooden handles by means of thongs. This may be the reason why hoards of celts often contain tools like those now used by leather- cutters. The lower extremity of these tools, which forms the cutting edge, is remarkably broad, and it is curved like the arc of a circle. These celts were used either without a handle, or with a short one. VIII. — The arguments advanced in the two last sections are confirmed by the appearances of the celt-moulds, which are sometimes found with the celts themselves, and which are either of stone or bronze. 1. Celt-moulds of Stone. — Besides a very fine collection of celts, our temporary museum (at Salisbury) contained two moulds, one of serpentine, the other of granite. That which is of serpentine was found in Dorsetshire, and was intended for casting spear-heads. The other, which is of granite, was found near Amesbury in Wiltshire, and is the property of the Rev. Edward Duke, F.S.A. Its shape is that of a four-sided prism, and the cavities, engraved on two of its sides, show that it was intended to cast celts of two sizes, but both belonging to Mr. Du Noyer's fifth class. It will be observed, that there must have been another prism agreeing with this so as to complete the mould. A still more remarkable mould is that of hone-stone found in Anglesea, which is described and figured in the Archaea- logical Journal, vol. iii., p. 257, and is also represented in the annexed wood-cut. Like that just mentioned, it is a four-sided prism ; but it has cavities on all the four sides, three of them being formed for casting the heads of spears or darts, and the fourth for casting hollow celts. Here we have a manifest indication, that the soldiers who used the spears or darts, also used the celts. At the same time this mould was well adapted to be carried on military expedi-