On the Development and Distribution of Primitive Locks and Keys

by Augustus Henry Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers

It is unnecessary for my present purpose to describe all these locks in detail. Though varying in character they are all constructed on one principle. As with the more complicated contrivances in metal, hereafter noticed, variety is an element of security, the greater the variety, the greater the difficulty of making a key which will fit them all; and this is another point in which the processes of the arts resemble the processes of nature, variety adapts the mechanism to a wider sphere of utility, and by encouraging change, promotes improvement. In the one, as in the other, variation is a necessary element of progress.

I see no reason to suppose that this class of locks was confined to Scotland or to Scandinavia. They may probably have existed in other parts of Europe, where, being made entirely of wood, they have long since decayed, and their representations may have survived only on the outskirts of civilisation. The law of geographical distribution is inexorable—nothing can make the North of Scotland or of Norway or the West of Ireland centres of the arts, and it is to such places we must look for the survival of primitive contrivances. A precisely similar key to those here described, but of iron, was found with Roman remains near Gloucester, and is figured in Lysons's 'Magna Britannia,' vol. ii., Plate 11, showing that a wooden lock of this kind must have been in use in England at that time. Figs. 23A to 25A, Plate II., is a similar lock used in Norway, and copied by me from a specimen in the Hazilius Museum at Stockholm.[2] Figs. 26 to 28A, Plate II., is another in the Museum at Kew Gardens, copied by permission of Sir Joseph Hooker; it was made by the negroes in Jamaica. Figs. 29A to 31A, Plate II., is a similar one from British Guiana, in the Christy Collection. One is tempted by the presence of these locks in the West Indies to suppose that they may have been carried by the negroes from their African homes, and the resemblance commonly attributed to them to the Egyptian wooden lock, constructed on nearly the same principle, might lead to the inference that they may have passed in that way to the West Indies; but it will be seen hereafter that they differ in detail from the Egyptian pin-locks. They are of the Scotch or Scandinavian type, and in all probability were imported into the New World by Scotchmen rather than negroes.

It is now necessary to return to figs. 6 and 7, Plate I., which represent the bolt with the single pin or tumbler, in order to trace the origin and development of Class B. Whilst in Scandinavia and the north of Europe, the key was applied to the upper part of the tumblers, above the bolt, as shown in the preceding examples of the hand-drawn lock; in Egypt, Asia, and probably in parts of Europe also, another system combining rapidity with security was introduced. A key with a single tooth was inserted beneath the bolt, and by raising the tooth vertically and applying it to the lower end of the tumbler, the latter was pressed out of the hole and raised clear of the bolt, and the tooth occupying its place in the hole, the key itself was made to hook back the bolt, so that the whole operation was performed with one hand holding the key. Fig. 9B, Plate II., represents this kind of lock, which may be termed a key-drawn, as distinct from a hand-drawn lock. As with the tumbler locks of the north of Europe so with the southern variety, security was obtained by multiplying the number of tumblers and varying their position. Figs. 10 to 12B, Plate II., are drawings of a wooden pin-lock and key obtained by myself in Egypt, which is of the kind habitually in use there at the present time. It has two tumblers in line. In fig. 10B the lock is represented with the key, A, in it and the tumblers raised, preparatory to drawing the bolt B. Fig. 11B is the key, and in fig. 12B the lock is shown shut, with the tumblers down and the key lowered preparatory to withdrawing it from the lock. Mr. Romilly Allen, in the paper already referred to, gives an illustration of one precisely similar which he obtained in Persia. Figs. 13B and 14B, Plate III., shows an exactly similar lock in the India Museum, obtained by Sir Douglas Forsyth at Yarkand, a facsimile of which is in my collection. This kind of lock is also used in Turkey; their identity throughout the region here spoken of is such as to leave no doubt of their having been copied from one another, and indicates the area of their distribution, about which something will be said further on.

It appears doubtful whether or not this pin-lock was known to the ancient Egyptians. Rhind[3] states that he discovered one on a door in the interior of an ancient Egyptian tomb, but its date, from the description given in the text, appears doubtful. The tomb had certainly been opened in Roman times, if not later. Denon also says that he saw one sculptured in the Temple of Carnac, but he took no drawing of it, and the evidence of the existence of this kind of lock in ancient Egyptian times certainly requires confirmation.[4] Sir Gardner Wilkinson is of opinion that the earliest example of a key with pins such as might be used with the pin-lock, is of the Roman period, in the reign of Trajan, A.D. 90, and the earliest known mention of any key at all is in the third chapter of Judges, viz., 1336 B.C.[5] If the pin-lock was in use in ancient Egypt it was certainly exceptional, as all the sculptures represent the doors as being fastened by simple bolts.

Whether the modern Egyptian lock is a survival of an ancient Egyptian form, or whether it is of Roman origin, it is certain, from the relics of Roman bronze and iron keys and bolts found in various parts of Europe, that the Roman lock was constructed on the same principle. Figs. 15B to 20B, Plate III., may be taken as illustrations of the Roman lock when put together. It is a reproduction from original fragments preserved in the Museum at Mainz. Fig. 20B is the bronze key; it has four teeth which, besides being at variable distances apart, are also of different forms, some being triangular and others square. Fig. 19B is the bronze bolt, made with apertures to fit the key, and also to admit of similarly formed tumblers, shown in fig. 18B. The way in which these are put together is represented in the section of the lock, figs. 16B and 17B. The key a is put into the keyhole d, fig. 15B, with the bar of the key containing the teeth in a vertical position, as represented by the dotted line a, fig. 16B. It is then turned round, and the teeth brought up beneath the bolt b. When pressed up vertically, the tumblers are driven up out of the bolt, and replaced by the teeth of the key, which hold the bolt so that it can be forced back by moving the key to the right. When the bolt is withdrawn, it releases the hasp e, fig. 15B. Of such hasps, fig. 21B is a drawing of an original in my collection, found at Hetternheim. By reference to fig. 16B, it will be seen that the tumblers, f f, are vertical, and would therefore fall into their places in the bolt, like those of the Egyptian and Scandinavian specimens; but being so small, and being probably made of wood, their weight would be insufficient to secure certainty of action, if dependent on weight alone; they are therefore pressed down by a flat plate h, figs. 16B and 17B, acting under the influence of a spring g, figs. 16B and 17B. This is an important addition, for it is evident that as soon as the spring comes into use, the tumblers can easily be made to press into the bolt horizontally, by means of a spring at the side, thereby enabling the lock to be used in any position in which it may be required; and there seems to be little doubt that some of the bolts and tumblers were so constructed in Roman locks. The existence of a spring in Roman locks is determined by the discovery of one with the spring in it, which is figured in M. Liger's work 'La Ferronnerie.'[6]

The teeth of the key of the Roman lock described above, it will be seen, are made to fit exactly the holes in the bolt; and this may perhaps have served to give the first idea of the ward system, which was so greatly depended upon for security in later times; but the same fallacy attaches to the use of these fitting teeth which attached to the ward system generally, for it is evident that any form of tooth small enough to go into the holes, and of the proper length, would have sufficed to lift the tumblers and draw the bolt; and accordingly we find that, in the Roman key usually discovered, the teeth are merely round pins, and have no particular form given to them for fitting purposes.

The distribution of this class of lock may be determined by the localities in which the keys and bolts have been found. Fig. 22B, Plate III., is a bronze bolt of this description in my collection, from Oppenheim, and obtained by me at Mayence. Fig. 23B, Plate III., is another of bronze, also in my collection, from Heddernheim. Similar ones have been found repeatedly in France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and England. The keys with teeth are even more widely distributed, and have been found in all those countries which have been occupied by the Romans. Fig. 24B, Plate III., is a large iron key of this description in my collection, found in the Rhine, at Mayence. The earliest known example of a key with teeth, according to M. Liger, is one represented on a coin of the Papia family, dating about the end of the 2nd century B.C.[7]

But the ward system appears to have developed itself still further in connection with these locks and before the revolving key was introduced. Fig. 25B, Plate III., is a specimen of a class of keys frequently discovered with Roman remains, in which a plate is attached at right angles to the pins. This plate is pierced with slits of various forms, apparently intended to admit of the passage of wards placed vertically beneath the bolt to prevent any but the proper key from rising to lift the tumblers. The direction in which these keys were raised is shown by the flat part of the handle of the key being always at right angles to the pins and in the same plane as the ward plate.

Besides the bolts with several tumbler holes in them, others adapted for single tumblers have been discovered. Of these fig. 26B, Plate III., drawn from M. Liger's work, and found in the forest of Compiègne, is an example, and fig. 27B, Plate III., from the same work, and found at Nonfous, in Switzerland (Bonstetten) is a key adapted to fit such a bolt.

Other iron keys are found in England and France, the application of which is more doubtful. They are found chiefly in connection with Celtic remains, and by some have been supposed to be keys for opening doors fastened with a simple latch on the inside.[8] Such latches were certainly employed amongst the earliest systems of door-fastenings, and the keys in question might have served the purpose of opening them, but they might also have been used to open locks with a single wooden tumbler; the simpler kinds resemble somewhat our modern pick-locks, of which fig. 28B, Plate III., is a specimen. Fig. 29B, Plate III., in my collection is from a Germano-Roman tomb near Niderolm, and was obtained at Mayence; its possible use, in the manner represented in fig. 9B, Plate II., is obvious. Figs. 30B and 31B, Plate III., are two Anglo-Saxon keys found at Sarr, in Kent.[9] Figs. 32B, 33B, Plate III., are two keys of the Iron Age from Bornholm, in the Baltic,[10] attributed by M. Videl to the 3rd or 4th century of our era. Fig. 34B, Plate IV., is a somewhat similar one from Caerwent, in Wales.[11] It has a flat handle and appears to be adapted to be pressed downwards as if for opening a latch. Figs. 35B, 36B, Plate IV., are nearly similar ones, and were discovered in the Roman Villa at Hartlip, in Kent.[12]