Page:Prehistoric Times.djvu/56

42 the pins figs. 51–54, for if they had been, the line of junction between the two halves of the mould must have been traceable.

Indeed, this mode of casting was evidently unusual. This is proved by the condition of the objects, by the scarcity of moulds, and also by the fact that we seldom find any two bronze objects exactly similar to one another. Thus, out of the 688 specimens in the Dublin Museum, no two were cast in the same mould, clearly showing that the moulds were not permanent.

The second mode of casting was by making a model of the object in wood or some other hard substance, and pressing it on fine sand, so as to obtain a corresponding hollow. The sand must of course have been contained in two boxes or frames, fitting like the solid moulds one on the other. Objects cast in this manner would therefore also show the line of junction. The advantage of this method is that sand can easily be worked into the required form, and wooden models were much more easily made than hollow moulds, either of stone or metal. Like the former, however, this method was applicable to very simple castings only. Specimens in which the line of junction is not exactly central, or symmetrical, were probably cast in this manner, the model having been pressed into the one mould rather more deeply than into the other.

The third method of casting was with wax or wood. In this case, as in the former, a model was made and enclosed in prepared earth, made of some clayey soil mixed probably with cow-dung, or some other inflammable