The end of the handle forms a ridge, through which are two holes that would admit a small cord for the suspension of the sickle, and thus prevent its being lost either on land or water. We find this sailor-like habit prevailing among the Lake-dwellers in the case of their flint knives also, the handles of which were often perforated.
There is a remarkable resemblance in character between this handle and some of those in use among the Esquimaux[702] for their planes and knives, which are recessed in the same manner for the reception of the fingers and the thumb.
Some iron sickles, of nearly the same form as those in bronze with the flat stem, were present in the great Danish find of the Early Iron Age at Vimose,[703] described by Mr. C. Engelhardt. The chord of the curved blades is from 6 to 7 inches in length, and one of the instruments still retained its original wooden handle. This is between 9 and 10 inches long, and is curved at the part intended to receive the hand. The end is conical, like the head of a screw, and is evidently thus made in order to give a secure hold to the reaper when drawing the sickle towards him. Sickles with nearly similar handles were in use in Smaaland,[704] in the South of Sweden, until recent days.
Fig. 231.—Three views of a handle for a sickle, Mœrigen.
Of sickles without a socket but few have been found in Britain, and those mostly in our Western Counties. In a remarkable hoard found in a turbary at Edington Burtle,[705] near Glastonbury, Somersetshire, were four of these flat sickles. One of these had never been finished, but had been left rough as it came from the mould, into which the metal had been run through a channel near the point of the sickle. A projection still marks the place where the jet was broken off. As will be seen from Fig. 232, this blade is provided with two projecting pins for the purpose of attaching it to the handle. In this respect it differs from the sickles of the ordinary continental type, which, when of this character, have usually but a single knob.
Fig. 232.—Edington Burtle. ½
Another of the Edington sickles with a single projection is shown in Fig. 233. This blade is more highly ornamented, and has a rib along the middle in addition to that along the back, no doubt for the purpose of increasing stiffness while diminishing weight. Of the other two sickles found at Edington, one is imperfect and the other much worn. Both are provided with the two projecting pins.