Another celt, with the neck irregularly octagonal, but with a series of mouldings round the mouth of the socket, is shown in Fig. 152. The original is in the collection of Canon Greenwell, and formed part of the hoard found at Westow, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, already mentioned at p. 118.
— Fig. 152.—Westow. ½ – Fig. 153.—Wandsworth. – Fig. 154.—Whittlesea. ½
In Fig. 153 is shown, not on my usual scale of one-half, but of nearly the actual size, a very remarkable celt, which was found in the bed of the Thames[469] near Wandsworth, and was presented to the Archæological Institute. The original is, unfortunately, no longer forthcoming. It was 4¾ inches long, and, besides its general singularity of form, presented the peculiar feature of having the hole of the loop in the same direction as the socket of the celt, instead of its being as usual at right angles to the blade.
Socketed celts with a loop on the face instead of on the side are of exceedingly rare occurrence either in Britain or elsewhere. That shown in Fig. 154 is in the Museum at Wisbech, and was found in company with three socketed celts, two gouges, a hammer, and a leaf-shaped spear-head at Whittlesea. The socket shows within it four vertical ribs at equal distances, with diagonal branches from them. These latter may have been intended to facilitate the escape of air from the mould. I am indebted to the managers of the Museum for the loan of the specimen for engraving.
The type has occasionally been found in the Lake-dwellings of Savoy. In the Museum of Chambéry[470] there are three examples from the Lac du Bourget, and I possess another specimen from the same locality. Another (about 4 inches), from la Balme,[471] Isère, is in the Museum at Lyons; it is more spud-shaped than the English example. Another, of different form, was in the Larnaud hoard,[472] Jura. One has also been found at Auvernier,[473] in the Lake of Neuchâtel. Another (4 inches), in the late M. Troyon’s collection, was found at Echallens, Canton Vaud.
One with curved plates on the sides, like Fig. 155, but having the loop on one face, was found near Avignon, and is now in the British Museum. It has a round neck with a square socket. A smaller one, of nearly the same form, was found in a hoard at Pont-point, near the River Oise. Another, with curved indentations on the sides, from the department of Jura,[474] is in the museum at Toulouse. Socketed celts with a loop on the face have been found in Siberia.[475]
In some socketed celts the reminiscence of the “flanches” or wings upon the palstaves, of which I have spoken in an earlier part of this chapter, has survived in a peculiar manner, there being somewhat hollowed oval projections upon each side of the blade, that give the appearance of the “flanches” on the face, but at the same time produce indentations in the external outline of the instrument.
This will be seen in Fig. 155, which was found with the palstave (Fig. 83), the socketed celt (Fig. 157), and other objects at Nettleham,[476] near Lincoln, as already described (page 93). Another of the same class is said to have been found in a tumulus on Frettenham Common,[477] Norfolk. Another, shown in Fig. 156, was in the Crofton Croker Collection. All these are now in the British Museum. The second celt from Nettleham (Fig. 157) shows only the indented outline without any representation of the oval plates. The nearest approach in form to these celts which I have met with is to be seen in some from the South of France. These are, however, generally without loops. I have two from the departments of Haute Loire and Isère. One from Ribiers, in the department of the Hautes Alpes, is in the museum at St. Omer. Another is in the museum at Metz.
A socketed celt, found at Aninger, and now in the Antiken Cabinet at Vienna, has large oval plates on each of its sides, which nearly meet upon the faces.