The most striking feature of the distribution of Type E is its sudden appearance in Celtic lands, and in very great numbers. Up to this date swords of these types have not been met with in the west, except a few instances of Type D. As we must allow for a certain amount of overlapping of successive types we may well believe that the few examples of swords of Type D, found in Celtic lands, arrived there during the time when Type E was the prevailing fashion.
Type F may be called the Proto-Hallstatt type. This has been found in France, though not very commonly, and as far as I have been able to test it mainly in the eastern departments, there are only two specimens of this type in the St. Germain’s museum. It occurs more commonly in Switzerland, and it seems probable that it originated in that country, or at least in the mountain zone of Central Europe. From this centre it seems to have spread in various directions, though it is not possible at present to trace its distribution with precision. One has been found in Italy, at Povegliano, S.W. of Verona, which seems to have come from the mountains over the Brenner pass,[338] and one comes from Donja-Dolina in Bosnia.[339] It seems to occur occasionally in the mountain regions of Austria and south Germany, though I can find no evidence of its further extension northwards.
It is not uncommon in the British Isles; seven have been found in the Thames estuary, four come from the east coast of England, and two from Scotland; 110 have been found in Ireland, of which forty-two are in English collections and sixty-eight in the National Museum in Dublin. The Irish specimens seem, as we have seen, to be of a very early form, as in some features they closely resemble Type E.
The distribution of this type is somewhat curious, since it occurs plentifully in the British Isles and especially in Ireland, while it is rare or non-existent in the intervening regions. Since the British examples, especially those found in Ireland, appear to be early examples of the type, we may surmise that they belong to late waves of the movement which carried Type E over the west.
Type G, the Hallstatt type, is so called because a few specimens were found in the famous cemetery at this place.[340] It would be a mistake, however, to consider it as having evolved in that region or dispersed from that centre. It seems more probable that, like the previous type, it developed in the mountain zone, and the evidence available at present suggests for its centre the upper reaches of the Danube, between Ulm and Sigmaringen;[341] but detailed work on the spot is needed before this can be determined with accuracy. Déchelette says that this type is generally distributed throughout Central Europe,[342] and this is true if we confine that term to the mountain zone, for it does not occur in Hungary. It is relatively rare in North Germany, two occur in Schleswig-Holstein,[343] a few in Scandinavia,[344] and one in Finland.[345]
In France the greater number occur in Burgundy, in the valley of the Saone and down the Rhone Valley; also in the department of Lot on the upper waters of the Dordogne and in the departments of Indre and Cher. Several examples have been found in the Seine valley, in the neighbourhood of Paris,[346] a point to which I shall have to refer in a later chapter. In the British Isles nineteen have been found in the valley of the Thames below and including Reading, and six elsewhere near the east coast; twenty-four have been recorded from Ireland, of which twenty are in the National Museum in Dublin. This type is, then, found distributed fairly generally throughout the mountain zone of the Celtic cradle, and over many areas in Celtic lands, though it only occurs sparsely elsewhere. In the Mediterranean region it is entirely absent.[347]
I have dealt at some length with these distributions, for there is no better way of interpreting archæological evidence and making it disclose, in broad outline at least, its historical content. Unfortunately no accurate catalogue of the swords discovered in most countries is in existence, though owing to the smallness of their numbers the lists are fairly complete for Italy and Greece. It would not be a very great undertaking to make an equally complete illustrated catalogue for the area included in the former empire of Austro-Hungary. In other regions the numbers are greater, and little has been done to catalogue them. The formation of an illustrated card catalogue of all the metal objects of the bronze age in the museums and private collections in the British Isles is in progress, under the auspices of a research committee appointed by the British Association for the advancement of Science. The specimens deposited in English collections have, for the most part, been already included in this catalogue, and it is from this that the bulk of the statistical matter relating to the British Isles has been derived.
As we have seen in some earlier chapters, distribution of certain types of bronze implements may be taken as evidence of trade, and we have to consider whether it was some form of commerce which carried the leaf-shaped swords to Ireland, Finland, Podolia and Egypt, or whether this wide distribution betokens some other form of movement. Before the days of fairly large ships and highly organised industry it is not uncommon to find implements, whether of flint or obsidian, copper or bronze, carried from country to country, without apparently any general movement of the population. On the other hand, when pottery and heavier or more easily damaged goods pass from one centre to another, it usually betokens migration. We have seen how this was so when the beakers were carried from Bohemia towards Jutland and Britain. Of course Roman pottery was shipped extensively for trade purposes, as were red figure vases and other types of Greek ceramic wares. The same is true, though to a less extent, of Mycenean and some Minoan wares, for the Ægean traders exported oil and wine. But such export of pottery betokens a relatively high civilisation and a well-organised commerce. Under more primitive conditions we may, I think, postulate that where metal implements or small cult objects alone were carried, these are evidence only of trade, while when pottery is found, as it were, on the move, this indicates a movement of the potters, hence a migration of people. When pottery and weapons are both found moving together, especially if the weapons are of a more advanced type than those hitherto found in the land into which they are being introduced, we may suspect, if indeed we cannot be sure, that we are dealing with a hostile invasion and the arrival of conquerors.