Helsdon Hall, Norwich,[1640] pieces of copper, socketed celts, &c.
Earsley Common, York,[1641] several lumps of metal, with nearly a hundred socketed celts.
Martlesham, Suffolk,[1642] a large quantity of metal, including some lumps weighing 5 or 6 lbs., with socketed celts, gouge, &c.
West Halton, Lincolnshire,[1643] with socketed celts and broken sword.
Roseberry Topping, Yorkshire,[1644] with socketed celts, gouges, hammer, &c.
In the Heathery Burn Cave, Durham, and in the Guilsfield find, there was in each case at least one lump of metal.
Besides the cakes of copper, bars of that metal appear to have been hammered into an oblong form, and then cut into lengths of from 4 to 5 inches, weighing each about ¼ lb., and in that state to have served as the raw material for the bronze-founders. Thirteen of these short bars were found at Therfield, near Royston, Herts,[1645] and Dr. Percy found on analysis that they contained about 98½ per cent. of copper with a small alloy of tin or antimony, probably the latter. Some fifteen or sixteen “pieces of long triangular brass” are described as having been found with about the same number of celts at Hinton, near Christchurch, Hants.[1646] These bars “seemed to be pieces of the metal out of which the celts were cast.”
In Scotland some “lumps of brass” were found with the swords, spears, &c., in Duddingston Loch.[1647] Probably other lumps of metal have been found in that country, but they seem to be scarcer in Scotland and Ireland than in England.
Although, as already observed, Spain may have been the principal Western source of tin in early times, and possibly Malacca[1648] in the East, the trade with Britain for that metal must have commenced at a very remote epoch. We might expect, therefore, that fragments of tin would be frequently found in the old bronze-founders’ hoards. But though lumps of copper have so often been discovered in them, tin is at present conspicuous by its absence. The only instance to which I am able to refer is the discovery at Achtertyre,[1649] Morayshire, of four “broken bits of tin,” in company with socketed celts, spear-heads, and bracelets. These pieces seem to be fragments of a single bar which was about 6 inches in length, of oval section, and somewhat curved, and in weight about 3 ounces. Though spoken of as tin, the metal is in fact a soft solder composed, according to Dr. Stevenson Macadam, of—
| Tin | 78·66 |
| Lead | 21·34 |
| ——– | |
| 100·00 |