Page:VCH Kent 1.djvu/394

 A HISTORY OF KENT obviously a torques: its length is i6 in., and its weight nearly 5 oz. The shorter and thicker object decorated with faint lines spirally arranged, weighs considerably more than 5 oz. There can be no doubt that Kent is particularly rich in prehistoric objects of gold. At Sissinghurst, Cranbrook, a gold finger ring was found in 1868.' It was formed of two gold wires twisted. One of the wires is thin and uniform throughout, whilst the other is considerably thicker in the middle and tapers towards each end. It is possible that this may be of the Roman period, but the type to which it belongs is clearly Celtic. The Early Iron Age. The introduction of iron into these islands, affording a material which had great advantages over bronze, particularly in the qualities of hardness, suppleness, and in the capability of taking a keen edge, must have marked a distinct advance in every department of human industry, although there are clear indications that it did not immediately supplant bronze. The Prehistoric Age of Iron was terminated when the Roman occupation was established, but its commencement is much less clearly defined. It is probable that the Brythons, by whom iron was brought, came gradually to our shores, and introduced the new metal on com- mercial lines just as the Goidels had brought bronze at an early period. Brythons and Goidels were both branches of the Celtic family, and there is little to indicate that their relations were other than friendly. The presence of Iron Age camps, however, indicates that kind of competition which is incident to a large population. At any rate it is clear that the substitution of iron for bronze was a gradual process, the latter being used for personal ornaments, horse trappings, etc., throughout the whole of this period and also during the time of the Roman occupation, and, indeed, long subsequently. Authorities differ even as to the approximate date of the introduc- tion of iron. A most important discovery of antiquities belonging to this period was made at Aylesford in 1886, and has been fully and ably described by Dr. Arthur J. Evans, F.S.A., in the pages of Archceologia^ During certain excavations in the pit belonging to Messrs. Silas Wagon and Sons, where sand and gravel are procured, several earthen and metallic objects were discovered, including a pail, a jug, a long-handled pan and two brooches, all of bronze, also some earthenware of elegant form and of a peculiar style of manufacture which Dr. Evans assigned to Gaulish and North Italian influence. These objects were found in what had been a round burial pit about 3I ft. deep, and from further data procured subsequently it appeared that pits of this kind, each > Arch. Cant. ix. 12. ' On a Late-Celtic Urn-field at Aylesford, Kent, and on the Gaulish lUyro-Italic and Classical Connexions of the Forms of Pottery and Bronzework there discovered {Arch. lii. 315-88). 326