Page:Prehistoric Britain.djvu/169

Rh 1. Armour.—Swords, daggers, lances, arrow-points, battle-axes, helmets and shields.

2. Ornaments and Dress.—Girdles, pendants, fibulæ, clasps, pins, bracelets, finger-rings, ear-rings, hair-rings, spirals, chains, beads of gold, amber and bronze, buttons, various ornamented mountings, amulets and symbols.

3. Utensils.—Knives, files, anvils, forceps, fish-hooks, needles, bodkins, nails, whetstones, and polishing stones.

4. Vessels.—Caldrons, urns, cups and ladles of bronze; pots, cups and plates of earthenware, and a few vessels of glass.

5. Diverse Objects.—Worked stones, clay discs, lumps of bronze and slag, shells, bones of animals, etc.

Many of the weapons though made of iron retained Bronze Age forms, but all the arrow-points were of bronze, most of them with wings and a few triangularly shaped. Arms of defence, such as helmets and shields, were very rare, only two of the former, one with a double crest and the other plain, having been found. Of shields there were only a few fragments of conical bosses. The swords and daggers had sheaths made of beaten bronze, or of wood bound with bronze bands, which were more or less ornamented. Some of the iron swords were of a novel character. The blade of the most remarkable weapon was double-edged, nearly three feet in length, almost of uniform breadth throughout its whole length, and ended abruptly in a point with two short slanting edges. It was riveted