grooves in the faces of the celt found at Trinity, near Edinburgh,[1] can hardly have been intended for ornament.
A kind of celt, not uncommon in Denmark, like Fig. 55, but with a small hole drilled through it at the butt-end, as if for suspension, like a sailor's knife, has very rarely been found in England, but I have a broken specimen from Cavenham, Suffolk, formed of greenstone. When perfect the celt must have been in outline like Fig. 69, but thinner.
A perfect example is shown in Fig. 90a. It is formed of whin-stone and was found in 1896 at Wereham, near Stoke Ferry, Norfolk. It is in the collection of Mr. E. M. Beloe, F.S.A., who has kindly permitted me to figure it. It is curiously striated towards the butt-end, possibly from friction in a socket. One from Thetford, perforated through the centre of the face, is in the National Museum at Edinburgh. Another of felstone (1114 inches), oval in section, found at Melness, Sutherlandshire,
Fig. 90a.—Wereham. 12
was exhibited to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in March, 1897. Bored celts, though rare in Britain, occur in Brittany[2] and other parts of France, as well as in Italy.[3] A few have also been found in Ireland.[4] A stone hatchet from Quito in the Christy Collection, though of somewhat different form, is perforated at the end in this manner.
A vastly greater number of instances of the discovery in Britain of stone hatchets or celts might have been cited; but inasmuch as in most cases where mention is made of celts, no particulars are given of their form, and as they occur in all parts of the country, it seems needless to encumber my pages with references. As an instance of- ↑ Proc. Soc. Ant., 2nd S., vol. i., p. 281.
- ↑ Bonstetten, "Supp. au Rec. d'Ant. Suisses," pl. ii., 1.
- ↑ Arch. Camb., 3rd S., vol. vi., p. 303. Watelet, "Age de Pierre dans le Dépt. de l'Aisne," pl. v. 9. "Ep. Antéd. et Celt. de Poitou," pl. x. 7. Rev. Arch., vol xii., pl. xv., i.; op. cit., vol. xv., pl. viii. and x. Lindenschmit, "Hohenz. Samml.," Taf. xliii., No. 12. I have an example that I bought in Florence.
- ↑ Wilde, "Cat. Mus. R. I. Ac.," p. 44.
