Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 1.djvu/69

 inches beyond the shaft, a bow of great strength must have been used, though of only medium length. Armour does not seem to have been generally worn, or to have served for covering any part of the body except the head and the breast. It was of iron, and it took the shape of thin bands of metal, riveted together for casque and cuirass. Neither brassart, visor, nor greaves have been found in any dolmen, and though solerets of copper are among the objects exhumed, they appear to have been rather ornamental than defensive. As to shields, nothing is known. No trace of them has been found, and it seems a reasonable inference that they were not used. Horses evidently played an important part in the lives of the second batch of immigrants, for horse-furniture constantly appears among the objects found in dolmens. The bit is almost identical with the common "snaffle" of the Occident. Made of iron, it has side-rings or cheek-pieces of the same metal, elaborately shaped and often sheeted with gilded copper. The saddle was of wood, peaked before and behind and braced with metal bands, and numerous ornaments of repoussé iron covered with sheets of gilt or silvered copper were attached to the trappings. Among these ornaments a peculiar form of bell is present: an oblate hollow-sphere, having a long slit in its shell and containing a loose metal pellet. Stirrups are seldom found in the dolmens, and the rare specimens hitherto exhumed bear no resemblance to the large, heavy,