The archaeology and prehistoric annals of Scotland . ace. They are very perfect, and are composed of a hardand very close-grained stone. One pair is notched and perforatedthrough both moulds, so as to admit of their being exactly fitted andtied together for casting. Close to the spot wherethey were discovered there was also disclosedthe remains of a rude inclosure or building ofstone, containing a bed of ashes and scoria^; sothat here no doubt had been the forge of theprimitive mefallurgist, from whence, perhaps,the natives of an extensive district obtainedtheir chief supplies of weapons and t
The archaeology and prehistoric annals of Scotland . ace. They are very perfect, and are composed of a hardand very close-grained stone. One pair is notched and perforatedthrough both moulds, so as to admit of their being exactly fitted andtied together for casting. Close to the spot wherethey were discovered there was also disclosedthe remains of a rude inclosure or building ofstone, containing a bed of ashes and scoria^; sothat here no doubt had been the forge of theprimitive mefallurgist, from whence, perhaps,the natives of an extensive district obtainedtheir chief supplies of weapons and tools. TheseScottish moulds give evidence both of taste andingenuity. In one of them is also a matrix forforming a smaller implement, the use of whichis not easy to detennine, while both the celtsare large and elegant in form. The woodcut represents one of the celts cast from the mould, which measures fullyfive inches long. In most cases, however, it may be assumed that the earliest wea-pons of metal were furnished, as the modern sportsman casts his. TII15 .MKTAr-LUliOIC TKANSITION. 225 bullets, by cacli warrior or craftsman becoiuing liis own smith andfounder; and when we consider the slow and tedious process indis-pensable for the completion of the stone hammer or lanec-hcad offlint, we may readily perceive that it would be from the scarcity ofthe metals and not from any preference for primitive and more iiinii-liar arts, that the Briton of the transition-period continued to use theweapons of his fathers, or intermingled them with the more efficientones which the new art supplied. Still it was probably long beforelie overcame the difficulty of casting metal in metal, and learned tomodel and cast his mould instead of laboriously cutting it from stone. In these, as in other stages of improvement, we detect, as it were,the old tide-marks in the progress of civilisation. The rude chip-axeimproves into the highly polished wedge and celt; this in its turngives way to the rude sand-c
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, bookidarchaeologyp, bookyear1851
