Page:VCH Berkshire 1.djvu/245

 EARLY MAN erected on the top of this hill, a natural eminence about 450 feet above the level of the sea. The hoard contained no less than 58 pieces of bronze, which may thus be classified : Flat celt i Fragments of palstaves .... 3 Socketed celt and fragment ... 2 Socketed gouges 6 Socketed knives 2 Tanged knives and fragment. . 3 Tanged chisels 3 Fragments of swords 4 Scabbard-end I Spear-heads and fragments. . 28 Flat pieces of bronze .... 3 Conical piece i Perforated disc I Total It may be noted that the flat celt which heads the above list, and which belongs to quite the beginning of the Bronze Age, had been considerably used, and the edge had been frequently flattened out by hammering. One of the palstaves again was remarkable for its very small size, and Sir John Evans suggests that it was intended to be used as a chisel rather than as a hatchet. Of the socketed celts, six in number, four were of the same pattern. Four fragments of swords were found, but they probably belonged only to two swords. The spear-heads and fragments of spear-heads, of which there were found no less than twenty-eight pieces, represented probably twenty-four complete weapons. Of these eighteen were of the plain leaf-shape type, without ornament, and varying in length from 5 to 7 inches. Nearly every one of these spear-heads had been injured before being buried in the earth. Several of the other articles are of much interest, and some, such as the three flat pieces of bronze and the conical piece, are of unknown use. This Yattendon hoard, like many others found at vari- ous times in different parts of England, represents apparently the stock-in-trade of some ancient bronze-founder. The fact that so many of the articles had been injured by long-continued use or accident, points to this being a deposit of old metal intended to be melted down for fresh castings. The large proportion of spear-heads, gouges and tanged chisels indicates that the hoard belongs to a late period in the Bronze Age. Indeed, there is some reason to believe, as Sir John Evans points out, that the hoard may really belong to the Early Iron Age, ' when arms and tools of iron were superseding those of bronze, while the latter metal for some ornamental and useful purposes still retained its pre-eminence.' The other Berkshire hoard, that at Wallingford, contained a looped and socketed celt, a socketed gouge, a socketed knife, and a cutting tool, possibly a razor. All these objects are now in the possession of Sir John Evans, K.C.B., who suggests that the hoard is a good example of a private deposit. 183 BRONZE CHISEL FROM YATTENDON.