The presence of highly finished metal weapons of this character in the county unquestionably points to a high state of bronze-age culture. The worker in bronze who produced weapons of such high finish and so enriched with ornament had elevated his calling almost to a high art. Indeed, the latter part of the bronze age, to which period the Taplow spear-head may be unhesitatingly referred, was clearly marked by a high standard of civilization. The River Thames was utilized as a navigable stream, and two timber boats which have been found in its vicinity, at Bourne End and Great Marlow respectively, have been assigned to the period of the bronze age. Both boats were constructed, or rather shaped, in the most primitive manner, having been simply hollowed-out tree-trunks. The Bourne End example measured 25 feet 3 inches long and 3 feet 4 inches wide. It was purchased by Mr. A. H. Cocks and sent to the Buckland Collection at South Kensington Museum, now known as the Victoria and Albert Museum. The Great Marlow boat was found in the River Thames in 1871.
As far as one can judge from the distribution of the antiquities of this very interesting period, it seems probable that the bronze-age population of the area we now know as Buckinghamshire was mainly along the banks of the rivers.
Prehistoric Age of Iron
The last great change in the condition of prehistoric man anterior to the Roman period is that which commenced with the introduction of the art of working iron, a discovery brought to these shores by the Brythons who, like the Goidelic race, formed a part of the great Celtic family. The bronze age may be called the early Celtic period, whilst the prehistoric iron age may be considered the late Celtic period.
It need hardly be pointed out that the introduction of iron marked a very important advance in culture. Not only did iron provide an excellent material for the manufacture of weapons and tools requiring a hard, keen, and tough edge or point, but the extraction of the metal from the ore and the working and fashioning of it demanded a high degree of skill. The possession of this knowledge and skill, therefore, proclaims a cultured and civilized people.
An important sword and scabbard of late Celtic character, and doubtless of the late Celtic period found at Amerden on the banks of the Thames, one mile south of Taplow, is now preserved in the British Museum, to which institution it was presented by Dr. (afterwards Sir) A. W. Franks in 1893. It was dredged up from the bed of the Thames
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