Page:The Ancient Stone Implements (1897).djvu/132

It was formerly supposed that the jade of which many hatchets found in Switzerland and other European countries are made, came of necessity from the East, and theories as to the early migrations of mankind have been based upon this supposition. As a fact, jade has now been found in Europe, and notably in Styria^[1] and Silesia.^[2] Below^[3] are given some references to comments on the sources of jade. An account of the method of working jade in Western Yun-nan is given in Anderson's Report^[4] on the Expedition to that country; and a complete and well-illustrated catalogue of objects in jade and nephrite, by Dr. A. B. Meyer, forms part of the publications of the Royal Ethnographical Museum, at Dresden, for 1883.

I now come to the second of the subdivisions under which I have arranged this class of implements, viz., those having the sides flattened. The flat sides, of course, taper away to a point at the cutting edge of the celts, and usually diminish much in width toward the butt-end, which is commonly ground to a semi- circular blunted edge. The implements of this kind are generally very symmetrical in form.

I have selected a large specimen for engraving in Fig. 53. It is of grey mottled flint, ground all over to such an extent, that hardly any traces of the original chipping remain. It was found at Botesdale, Suffolk, and was formerly in the collection of Mr. Warren, of Ixworth, but is now in my own. I have another (43/4 inches) from Redgrave, Suffolk, and a third (51/2 inches) from Bottisham Lode, Cambs.

One of the same form, found near Stowmarket, is engraved in the Archæologia.^[5] If the account there given be correct, it was 123/4 inches long. A specimen from Cardiff, now in the British Museum (41/2 inches), has lost a considerable portion of its original length by use, and is ground so that the edge bounds a facet on the face. The sides at the butt-end are somewhat rounded, but near the edge they are flat and 1/4 inch wide.

A fine specimen of this character, formed of ochreous flint (9 inches), found in Swaffham Fen, Cambridgeshire, is in the Christy Collection, as well as one from Mildenhall (51/2 inches), the butt-end of which is sharper than is usual.

In the Fitch Collection is a flint celt of this type, 71/2 inches long and 21/2 broad at the edge, which however, has been broken off. It is said to have been found in a tumulus at Swannington, Norfolk, in 1855. In the Northampton Museum is a specimen (6 inches) of ochreous flint, found at Gilsborough, Northamptonshire. The late Mr. James Wyatt, F.G.S., had a beautiful implement of this type, but narrower in proportion to its length, being 7 inches long and only 13/4 wide at the edge, found in the Thames at Coway Stakes, near Egham. I have one (6 inches) from the Thames at Hampton Court. A fine specimen, 91/2 inches long, and 3 wide at the edge, with the sides quite flat, but

1. Mitth. d. Ant. Ges. in Wien, N. S., vol. iii. 1883, p. 213-216.
2. Op. cit., N. S., vol. V. 1885, p. 1.
3. Journ. Anth. Inst., vol. x., p. 359; xx. p. 332; xxi., pp. 319, 493; Aarbög. f. Oldkynd., 1889, p. 149.
4. Calcutta, 1871.
5. Vol. xvi., pl. lii. p. 361.