Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 1.djvu/107

 Weapons, Metal Work. 89 the enemy. Some statuettes, however, are seen with regular coats of mail (Fig. 57) -, 1 in their hands were carried a short, broad sword, a circular shield {pelta), and short javelins slipped through rings at the back of the pelta, both ends jutting beyond the highly convex quoit-shaped shield 2 (Figs. 51 and 57). 3 The objects we have mentioned as belonging to various parts of the island, including two saws uncovered at Villa Grande Strisaili, together with some Teti instruments and personal orna- ments, are all without exception in bronze. Notwithstanding all that has been urged in support of the theory that iron entered into the composition of these various objects, the three collections formed out of the Teti re- pository have not a single specimen to show. 4 On the other hand, lead, bronze, and copper were constantly applied to industrial produc- tions, as solders and binders in bronze vessels, which, as we have seen, were manufactured in the country. Numerous lead and copper cakes, from two kilos in weight, more or less, have been met with. Were these cakes votive offerings too ; or rather, does not their presence imply the existence of a furnace and workshop Fig. 96. — Showing Gaunt- let of Archer. FroniWallet. 1 La Marmora describes the warrior's dress in the Kircher museum as having, inter alia, a breastplate of mail and metal shoulder-pieces. 2 It will be noticed that Strabo does not use the word iréXT-q in its special sense, denoting the indented shield of the Amazons, but in its broader signification indi- cative of a light circular " pelta." 3 Upon the affinity to be established between the Sardinian shield and that of other nationalities, consult Pais, Boll., p. 90. 4 At first M. Pais thought that fragments of iron were among the Teti repository. M. Gouin, however, whose special knowledge was of much service in elucidating the question, and opposed M. Pais's view {Boll., pp. 74, 148, 1884), was unable to trace the presence of iron in the number of objects found at Abini submitted to his analysis. Specular iron was next put forth as entering into the composition of these objects, but with as little result, M. Gouin having shown that the supposed iron block was a piece of trachyte covered with specular iron, such as frequently occur in volcanic regions (Letter of M. Nissardi, Appendix to Boll., p. 4, 1884). Nor did a piece of ferruginous appearance meet with better success, for it was found to be the resultant of fused bronze. The alloy was often made with very impure copper, as shown by M. Gouin's analysis with the following results : Silex, 6 ; copper, 78-424; iron, 9*640; sulphur, 2*475; lead, i*8oo, = 100 of metal. Les Bronzes de Teti, etc., 3 e série, torn. v. p. 293.