Page:Early Man in Britain and His Place in the Tertiary Period.djvu/377

] palstave, and one socketed celt, have been recorded from burial-places of the Bronze age in Britain.

We must also remark that bronze has been used in all ages since the Neolithic, and that many of the more beautiful bronze ornaments, and the shields and armour, found in this country, probably belong to the age of Iron. In cases of the discovery of isolated articles, the age can only be ascertained by the forms and the style of ornamentation, and these are by no means certain guides, since frequently, under exceptional conditions, an ancient type may survive into an age very far remote from that in which it was normal.

In dealing with the Bronze age in Britain and Ireland, I shall not attempt to distinguish between the early and the late stages, which cannot be treated in the limits of this work.

It is difficult to over-estimate the work done by the axe in advancing civilisation. The stone axes, easily blunted and broken, could have made but little impression on the vast forests of pine, oak, and beech, covering the greater part of Britain and the Continent in the Neolithic age. Clearings necessary for pasture and agriculture must unquestionably, then, have been produced principally by the aid of fire. Under the edge of the bronze axe, clearings would be rapidly produced, pasture and arable land would begin to spread over the surface of the country. With the disappearance of the forest the wild animals would become scarce, hunting