Celtic pickaxe,
P ig . 210. a hammer; and Fig. 210 is evidently
made of buck-horn.*
intended for a pickaxe.
Many other specimens, equally
rude in design and execution,
were found in these alluvial
deposits; but, notwithstanding
the most careful search, no
traces of worked hones have
been ever discovered in the diluvial beds; except
in two doubtful instances, where fragments of fossil
deers’ horn appeared to show some traces of
workmanship.
Among the weapons used by ancient people,
axes have always been, if not the most common,
at least the best known. We have spoken of
those found in the Celtic sepulchres, and will now
give sketches of a few of them. Figs. 211, 212
and 213 are Celtic axes. The first is composed of
silex, the second of jade, and the third of por-
phyry: they are all of elegant form and perfect
polish. This is the prevailing form; though the instruments vary
in size from eight inches down to two inches and a half in length,
with a proportionate width.
An elegant little jasper axe
(Fig. 214) is of the smaller
size.
Serpentine is another
common material, from its
beautiful appearance and
facility of workmanship:
chalk and even bitumen
are also frequently found
moulded ,into the typical
form. The subjoined (Figs.
215, 216, 217) appear to
have been intended for
amulets. Fig. 2i5 is of
grit, two inches long, containing
a rude representation
of a human face, and
pierced so as to be worn
Fig. 211.
Fig. 212.
Celtic axes, adzes, &c.f as an amulet. Fig.' 216 is
of black basalt; and-i Ftvi g. VFirgn. 2211 f&i . Fig. 216. Fig. 217.
217, which is more of the
typical shape, is made of
I p ij
IH
P a l white marble, ornamented
iff 1 ! with small bas-reliefs, and
1 H jfl
pierced with holes for suspension
¡5 bp»
Celtic Amulets.*
as an amulet, or
to facilitate fastening in a _
case. Several other specimens of different sizes, material, and finish,
but all of the same general form, were found in the Celtic sepulchres,
which it is unnecessary to our purpose to enumerate or describe, jj
Besides the axes, numbers of flints, wrought in the form of knives,
were found in the Celtic depositories,, and instruments of both kinds
were also discovered in the diluvian deposites; the only difference
between the Celtic and diluvian remains lying in the fineness of the
workmanship, as the form and material were in both cases the same.
Figs. 218, 219, and 220, represent axes from the diluvian deposites;
and here it may he as well to remark, once for all, that the word axe
is merely a conventional term, applied generally to all stones of a
peculiar typical shape, and is not intended to convey the idea that
those instruments were always used as weapons or as mechanical
tools, as we shall take occasion to explain.
Figs. 221, 222, and 223, are sketches of Celtic knives; and Figs.
224,225, and 226, are corresponding instruments of the diluvian epoch.
Fig. 219. Fig. 221. F ig. 222.
Fig. 218.
* Boucher, Pl. XVI. f Boucher, Pl. XVII. % Ibid., Pis. XXIV., XXV.