These were followed by a race called Neolithic men, or men of the New Stone Age. Their stone implements were better shaped, more highly finished, were often ground smooth, and even polished. They also made a rude kind of pottery. These men were, doubtless, of the race called Iberians.
PLATE 1.
(Fig. 1): Flint hand-hammer or axe found in Gray’s Inn Lane. This was the earliest form, roughly chipped into shape, with unsharpened edges. (Figs. 2 and 3): A dagger in the British Museum (front and side views). The dagger is one of the commonest weapons of the Stone Age, being simple in form and easy of construction. (Fig. 4): A javelin head; a simple, elongated splinter of flint, shaped to a small stem, which was inserted in the end of a shaft and fastened by means of ligaments. (Figs. 5 and 6): A stone celt (pronounced selt) or axe of the simplest form. This is ground, probably by the use of sand and water into a regular and sharp edge. (Fig. 7): A flint flake, probably used as a scraper. (Fig. 8): A stemmed arrow-head. (Fig. 9): A barbed arrow-head (a later development). (Fig. 10): A lozenge-shaped arrow-head. (Fig. 11): A polished stone axe, fixed in a stag’s horn socket. (Fig. 12): A perforated hammer found at Scarborough. (Figs. 13 and 14): A perforated axe (two views) found in Yorkshire. (Both Figs. 12 and 13 show a very high degree of skill in the shaping of the form, in the drilling, and in general finish.) (Fig. 15): A polished celt fixed in its original handle, found in Cumberland. (Fig. 16): A flint chisel-shaped tool. (Fig. 17): A flint borer, used for making holes in wood, bone, or stone, found in the Yorkshire Wolds.
THE BRONZE AGE.
The Iberians were succeeded by the Celts, who conquered, and probably intermarried with, the former.
They had a knowledge of the use of metals, and employed copper first for the manufacture of their weapons and tools. Then they learned that, by mixing tin with copper, a harder metal was obtained, which we call bronze, and this period is, consequently, called the Bronze Age. The early bronze weapons were of the same form as the flint weapons, for probably the latter were used as “patterns” for forming the mould. Later, in the case of the celt, flanges were formed at the side, and, finally, a socketed celt was made, showing a considerable skill in its manufacture. “The knowledge of bronze must have affected the warfare of the time in the same way as the introduction of gunpowder affected the warfare of the Middle Ages.” It has been estimated that the Bronze Age commenced in Britain about 1500 B.C.