The other mould from this hoard is almost unique of its kind. Two views of each of its halves are given in Fig. 532. Originally there was a loop on the back of each half, but from one this has in old times been broken off. The arrangement for carrying the core is different from what it seems to have been in the other moulds. There is in the upper part of the mould when put together a transverse hole, which would produce what may be termed trunnions on the clay core, and assist materially in holding it in proper position during the process of casting. From the upper surfaces of the gouges found with the mould, it appears that there were two channels cut for the runners of metal, one at the middle of each half of the mould, so as to alternate with the joint of the mould through which the air could escape during the casting process.
What appears to be part of a mould for gouges was found in the hoard of Notre-Dame d’Or, and is now in the museum at Poitiers.
I must now return to the other examples of moulds for socketed celts which have been found in this country.
One, with external loops on each half, like that on Fig. 532B, was found with looped palstaves, socketed celts, and broken dagger or sword blades, at Wilmington,[1716] Sussex, and is now in the museum at Lewes. All these objects, as is the case in many other hoards, had been deposited in a vessel of coarse pottery.
Another mould, found with eleven celts and fragments of weapons at Eaton,[1717] near Norwich, has smaller and broader loops near the top. On each side of the face of one half, a little distance from the actual mould, and roughly following its contour, is a shallow groove, into which fits a corresponding ridge on the counterpart. The outer face of each half is ornamented with two slightly curved vertical ribs, one on each side of the loop, and joined at the base by a transverse rib. It is for casting celts about 4¼ inches long, and of the ordinary form.
Another mould, for celts with an octagonal neck, was found on the Quantock Hills,[1718] Somersetshire (and not in Yorkshire), and is now in the British Museum. The halves are adjusted to each other by a rib and groove, as on that last mentioned, and the back is ornamented with a peculiar raised figure with three vertical lines and a straight transverse line at the top, and two lines at the bottom running up to the central vertical line so as to form on each side of it an angle of about 120°. At the junction there is a ring ornament, and two others near the angles formed with the side lines. This mould has a transverse hole at the top like that in the gouge-mould already mentioned.
Another mould, also in the British Museum,[1719] is for celts with three vertical ribs on the face. This likewise has a transverse and nearly square hole at the top, and also recesses in each half-mould, so as to give four points of support to the core between which the channels for the runners might be cut. On the outside, near the top, is a loop, and near the bottom two projecting pins to retain the string. This appears to be the mould from Yorkshire belonging to Mr. Warburton, figured by Stukeley.[1720]
The half of another mould for celts, of nearly the same character, was found in the Heathery Burn Cave,[1721] already so often mentioned, and is shown in Fig. 533, for the use of which I am indebted to the Council of the Society of Antiquaries.
Another mould was found in the fen at Washingborough,[1722] near Lincoln. Another, from Cleveland,[1723] found with chisels, gouges, &c., is in the Bateman Collection.