of their sides much rubbed down, may possibly belong to this class of objects. Sir R. Colt Hoare[1] speaks of "the hard flat stones of the pebble kind, such as we frequently find both in the towns as well as in the tumuli of the Britons," but does not suggest a purpose for them. Polished pebbles have not unfrequently been found in tumuli with stone weapons and implements. One tapering toward the ends, which are rubbed flat, was found by Mr. Bateman.[2] Another was found in a barrow near Ashford-in-the-Water.[3] It is possible they may, as subsequently suggested, have been ornaments or amulets; but some pebbles, polished on part of their surface, as if by use, have been found in tumuli by Canon Greenwell.
A "smoothing- stone" of hard grey stone, with a short tang apparently for fixing it in a handle, has been engraved by the Rev. Dr. Hume.[4] He does not, however, state where it was found. A somewhat similar implement is engraved by Schoolcraft,[5] which he thinks may have been designed for smoothing down seams of buckskin. As stated at page 416, I have seen a stone which had been used for this purpose in England.
Granite and other pebbles are used as ironing-stones in Orkney[6] and in Scotland. Several have been described by Professor Duns.[7]
Dr. Keller[8] has shown that, in connection with what was probably the earliest form of loom, weights were employed to stretch the warp. These, however, in Switzerland, seem to have been for the most part formed of burnt clay, though possibly some of the stones which have been regarded as sinkstones or plummets, were used for this purpose. Some of these have already been described.
Loom weights of burnt clay have been found in Scotland[9] and of chalk[10] in Sussex. I have one of burnt clay from Cambridge.
Another domestic use to which stones were applied was as weights for the balance or scales; though we have no evidence at present that in this country, at all events, any weighing apparatus was known so early as the Stone or even the Bronze Period. Among the Jews the same word אֶבֶו (Eben) denoted both a stone and a weight; and we have a somewhat similar instance of customs being recorded in language in the case of our own "stone" of eight or fourteen pounds. Discoidal weights formed of stone are not unfrequently found on the sites of Roman occupation.
The moulds in which bronze weapons and tools were cast, were often made of stone, but for any account of them I refer the reader to my book on "Bronze Implements."
Another class of domestic utensils, frequently found in Scotland
- ↑ "South Wilts," p. 124.
- ↑ "Vest. Ant. Derb.," p. 29.
- ↑ Arch., vol. xii. p. 327.
- ↑ "Ancient Meols," p. 314.
- ↑ "Ind. Tribes," vol. ii. pl. 50.
- ↑ Mitchell's " Past in the Present," pp. 122, 128-132. Proc. S. A. 8., vol. xii. p. 268.
- ↑ Proc. S. A. S., vol. xiii. p. 279.
- ↑ "Lake-dwellings," p. 331.
- ↑ Proc. S. A. S., vol. ix. pp. 154, 174, 557.
- ↑ Arch., vol. xlvi. pp. 468, 493.
