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 A HISTORY OF BERKSHIRE visible Smith to be discussed by those who have more leisure, I only remark that these stones are, according to the best Danish antiquaries, a Burial Altar ; that their being raised in the midst of a plain field, near the great road, seems to indicate some person there slain, and buried ; and that this person was probably a Chief or King, there being no monument of this sort near that place, perhaps not in England beside.' This monument, however, clearly belongs to a group of sepulchral structures of which, although there are no others in Berkshire, examples are found in Wiltshire and other neighbouring counties. It is a gallery- dolmen or chambered tumulus ; that is, a sepulchral chamber or chambers approached by a passage or gallery, and originally covered by earth, constructed probably on the plan of the house of the period. As these structures are few in number they must be supposed to have contained the bones of a chief- tain or person of high rank. This interesting relic of the past is figured by Lysons 1 as being already in a ruinous state, although he describes it as a ' considerable tumulus.' It was also described by Ackerman in 1847.* This ancient tomb was no doubt rifled long ago, as no remains connected with it have hitherto been found. It has lost its earthen covering, and many of the stones of which it was composed have been scattered or disarranged ; but the eastern arm of the chamber still retains its covering slab of stone in its original position. 3 THE BRONZE AGE The introduction of metal, instead of flint and other kinds of stone, as a material for the manu- facture of implements marks a very great advance. The first metal thus used in this country was bronze, which is a mixture of copper with about 12 per cent, of tin, the mixed metal being much harder than pure copper. The circumstances that led to the introduction of bronze need not be dis- cussed here, as it was probably at first imported into BRONZE SPEAR-HEAD FROM t ^[ s country. Its uses were many and various. SPEEN. i i 1 i r i Although the pattern or the stone axe was to a cer- tain extent followed, there was ultimately considerable change of form through the flanged palstave to the socketed axe. The spear-heads are of various patterns, and vary greatly in size. A fine leaf-shaped specimen about 16 inches long from the Thames 1 Lysons, Mag. Brit. (1806). Arch, xxxii. 312. See also the article by Mr. Thomas Wright, ' The Legendary History of Way- land Smith,' Journ. Arch. Ass. 1860, xvi. 50. 3 See illustration facing p. 192. 180