that another flake had been previously taken from the same block. Figs. 67, 68, represent flakes, of which the points have been broken off, but we see along their whole length the depression caused by the removal of a previous flake. The section of

such a flake is, therefore, not triangular, as in fig. 70a, but foursided, as in fig. 70b. Sometimes, though not often, a wide flake is taken off in such a way

FIG. 70.

Sections of Flakes.

as to overlap two previous flakes, as in the case of the one represented in fig. 69. In this instance, the section is pentagonal; the flat under surface remaining always the same, but the upper side showing four facets.

Easy as it may seem to make such flakes as these, a little practice will convince any one who attempts to do so, that a certain knack is required, and that it is also necessary to be careful in the selection of the flint. It is therefore evident that these flint flakes, simple as they may appear, are always the work of man. To make one, the flint must be held firmly, and then a considerable force must be applied, either by pressure or by blows, repeated three or four times, but at least three, and given in certain slightly different directions, with a certain definite force; conditions which could scarcely occur in nature; so that, simple as it may seem to the untrained eye, a flint flake is to the antiquary as sure a trace of man, as the footprint in the sand was to Robinson Crusoe.

It is hardly necessary to say, that the flakes have a sharp cutting edge on each side, and might therefore be at once. used as knives: they are indeed so named by some archæologists; but it seems to me more convenient to call them simply flakes, and to confine the name of knife to imple

68

STONE HATCHETS.

ments more especially intended and adapted for cutting

purposes.

Many of the flakes were certainly never intended to serve as knives, but were chipped up into saws, awls, or arrowheads. Many savages use flint, or chert, in this manner, even at the present day, and the Mexicans in the time of Cortez used precisely similar fragments of obsidian.

FIG. 71.

Next to flint flakes, axes, wedges, or celts, are, perhaps, of most importance. The largest and finest specimens are found in Denmark; one in my possession, of beautiful white flint, is 13in. long, 14in. thick, and 3in. in breadth. The Seeland axes have very often, indeed generally, perpendicular sides; in Jutland a large proportion have sloping sides; this is also generally the case in other parts of NorthWestern Europe. In Switzerland, however, the axes, which are much smaller than those from Denmark, have per

Stone Axes-Ireland.

FIG. 72.

pendicular sides (fig. 120). The common Danish axe or wedge is figured in pl. 1, fig. 1. Figs. 71 and 72, represent forms which, though rare in Seeland, are common in other parts of Europe. Those found in Denmark are sometimes polished, but almost, if not quite, as often, left rough. On

the contrary, in other parts of North-Western Europe, the

axes are usually ground to a more or less smooth surface.

FIG. 73.

That they were fixed in wooden handles is evident, in many specimens, from peculiar polished spaces, which have been produced by the friction of the wood. In almost all cases, the wooden handle has long perished, but there are one or two instances on record, in which it has been preserved. Fig. 73 represents a stone hatchet, found, some years ago, in the County of Monaghan; the handle was of pine, and was 13țin. long. Horn handles have been frequently found in the Swiss Lakes. To us, accustomed as we are to the use of metals, it seems difficult to believe that such things were ever made use of; we know, however, that many savages of the present day have no better tools. with axes such as these, and generally with the assistance of fire, they will cut down large trees, and hollow them out into canoes. The

Yet,

piles used in the Swiss Stone age Lake-habi- Stone Celt in handle. tations were evidently, from the form of the cuts on them, prepared with the help of stone axes; and in the Danish peat bogs, several trees have been found, with the marks of stone axes, and of fire, upon them, and in one or two cases stone celts have even been found lying at the side.

That they were also weapons of war is probable, not only on à priori grounds, but also because they have frequently been found in the graves of chiefs, associated with bronze daggers. About the year 1809, a large cairn in Kirkcudbrightshire, popularly supposed to be the tomb of a King Aldus M'Galdus, was removed by a farmer. "When the cairn had been removed, the workmen came to a stone coffin of very rude workmanship, and on removing the lid, they found the skeleton of a man of uncommon size. The bones were in such a state of decomposition, that the ribs and vertebræ crumbled into dust on attempting to lift them.

The remain

ing bones being more compact, were taken out, when it was discovered that one of the arms had been almost separated from the shoulder by the stroke of a stone axe, and that a fragment of the axe still remained in the bone. The axe had been of greenstone, a material which does not occur in this part of Scotland. There were also found with this skeleton a ball of flint, about three inches in diameter, which was perfectly round and highly polished, and the head of an

arrow, also of flint, but not a particle of any metallic substance."*

Another class of stone hatchets are those which are pierced for the handle, as in pl. 1, fig. 2. From the nature of flint,

New Statist. Ace. Kirkcudbrightshire, vol. iv., p. 332. Quoted by Wilson, Prehis. Ann. of Scotland, 2d ed. vol. i., p. 187.

these were scarcely ever made of that material. There are, however, in Copenhagen two such hatchets, in which advantage has been ingeniously taken of a natural hole in the flint. It is very doubtful, whether this class of implements truly belongs to the Stone age. The pierced axes are generally found in graves of the Bronze period, and it is most probable that this mode of attaching the handle was used very rarely, if at all, until the discovery of metal had rendered the process far more easy than could have been the case previously.

The so-called "scrapers," (figs. 74, 75, 105, 106), are oblong stones, rounded at one end, which is brought to a bevelled edge by a series of small blows. One side is flat, the other, or outer, one is more or less convex; sometimes they have a short handle, which gives them very much the appearance of a spoon. They have been found in England, France, Denmark, Ireland, Switzerland and other countries.

They vary from one to four inches in length, and from half an inch to two inches in breadth. A modern Esquimaux scraper is represented in figs. 76-78. These modern specimens are in form identical with the old ones.