Page:Early Man in Britain and His Place in the Tertiary Period.djvu/364

336 viggar). In Greece the smaller ones were used as amulets, and imitations of them were made in sardonyx and carnelian. Some even of the larger ones have been perforated for suspension.

Flint arrow-heads also had a superstitious value. In this country they are known as elf-darts, and their form is still preserved in carnelian necklaces used by the Bosnian peasantry. They also sometimes form the central pendant of the magnificent necklaces found in the Etruskan tombs. The flint flake, universally used as a knife in the Neolithic age, was preserved by the superstition of succeeding ages, and long survived in ceremonials. It was used by the Egyptians for making the first incision in the body of the dead for purposes of embalming, and by the Israelites in circumcision. It was, however, more closely associated with the rites of burial. Those used in the circumcising of the Children of Israel were buried in Joshua's tomb. Nor was this custom of burying flint flakes unknown in the West. In the Romano-British cemetery at Hardham in Sussex, they were placed in an oaken chest containing the cinerary urn, the sandals, and the various other articles belonging to the dead. They have also been discovered in association with Romano-British remains in the camp at Worle Hill near Weston-super-Mare, and in the Isle of Thanet. The latest instance of their having been used in this manner in Western Europe is that offered by the Merovingian