Chapter V: Socketed Celts (2)

The small tool shown in Fig. 159 may safely be regarded as a chisel. It does not show the slightest trace of ever having been intended to have a loop, and is indeed too light for a hatchet. It was found with a tanged chisel, a hammer, numerous socketed celts, and other articles, in the hoard from Reach Fen, Cambridge, already mentioned at p. 112. I have seen another, 2⅛ inches long, with a somewhat oval socket and no loop, which was found in Mildenhall Fen, and was in the collection of the Rev. S. Banks, of Cottenham.

A longer celt of the same character is engraved by Dr. Plot.[480] It was sent to him by Charles Cotton, Esq., and according to Plot “seems to have been the head of a Roman rest used to support the lituus, the trombe-torte, crooked trumpet, or horne pipe used in the Roman armies.” Another of nearly the same form was found on Meon Hill,[481] near Camden, Gloucestershire.

A celt or chisel of this character found at Düren, in North Brabant, is in the museum at Leyden.

Another was found at Zaborowo,[482] in Posen, in a sepulchral urn.

A celt of the octagonal form of section and without a loop is shown in Fig. 160. It formed part of the great hoard found at Carlton Rode, near Attleborough, Norfolk, of which some particulars have already been given. The joint marks of the moulds are still very distinct upon the sides. This specimen is in the Norwich Museum, and was kindly lent by the trustees for me to have it engraved. A nearly similar Scottish celt is shown in Fig. 165. A celt from the hoard of Cumberlow, near Baldock,[483] has been figured as having no loop, but I believe that this has arisen from an error of the engraver, as in a drawing which I have seen the loop is present.

One of hexagonal section and socket from a hoard found on Earsley Common,[484] Yorkshire, in 1735, is engraved as having no loop.

Celts without loops are not uncommon in France, and are often found of small size in Denmark.[485]

Socketed celts have rarely if ever been found with interments in barrows in Britain. Sir R. Colt Hoare mentions “a little celt” as having been found with a small lance, and a long pin with a handle, all of bronze, near the head of a skeleton, in a barrow on Overton Hill,[486] near Abury, Wilts. The body had been buried in the contracted attitude, and had, as was thought, been enclosed within the trunk of a tree. It appears, however, from Dr. Thurnam’s account,[487] that this was a flat and not a socketed celt. It was a celt like Fig. 116, 3¼ inches long, which is reported to have been discovered by the late Rev. R. Kirwan in a barrow on Broad Down, Farway, Devonshire.[488] It is said to have lain in the midst of an abundant deposit of charcoal which was thought to be the remains of a funeral pyre. Mr. Kirwan informed Dr. Thurnam that there was every reason to believe that the celt was deposited where found at the time of the original interment. No bones, however, were actually with the celt, which lay 18 inches from the central cist.

A socketed celt with three vertical ribs, like Fig. 125, is also said to have been found with a human skeleton, and two uninscribed ancient British coins of silver, at Cann,[489] near Shaftesbury, in 1849. The celt and coins are now in the collection of Mr. Durden, of Blandford. In neither case are the circumstances of the discovery absolutely certain.

A curious instance of the survival of the bronze celt as an ornament or amulet is afforded by that which was found in a barrow at Arras, or Hessleskew,[490] near Market Weighton, Yorkshire. It is only an inch in length, and is shown full-size in Fig. 161. With it was a pin which connected it with a small light-blue glass bead. It accompanied the contracted body of a woman laid in a grave, and having with it a necklace of glass beads, a large amber bead, and a brooch, bracelets, ring, tweezers, and pin, apparently of bronze, some of them ornamented with a kind of paste or enamel. The majority of the objects found in the group of barrows at Arras, of which this was one, seem to belong to what Mr. Franks has termed the “Late-Celtic” period, or approximately to the time of the Roman invasion of this country.

Socketed celts not more than ¾ of an inch in length have been found in Ireland, but with sockets large enough for serviceable handles, so that they might possibly have been used as chisels. The diminutive celts, about 2 inches in length, which have been found in large numbers in Brittany, and have been regarded by French antiquaries as votive offerings, might also by some possibility have served as tools; but this can hardly have been the case with the Arras specimen. A golden celt found in Cornwall is said to have been in the possession of the Earl of Falmouth,[491] but nothing is known of it by the present Viscount Falmouth, and the statement in the “Barrow Diggers” is probably erroneous.

It will be well to postpone the account of the different hoards of bronze objects, in which socketed celts have been found with other tools and weapons, until I come to treat of such ancient deposits, though some of them have already been mentioned.

Turning now to the socketed celts which have been discovered in Scotland, we find them to present a considerable variety of types, though hardly so great as that exhibited by those from England, and the recorded instances of their finding are comparatively few in number.

In Fig. 162 is shown a socketed celt of the plain kind which was found at Bell’s Mills,[492] on the Water of Leith, Edinburgh, in company with those given as Figs. 164 and 165.

A celt found in a bog between Stranraer and Portpatrick, Wigtonshire,[493] like Fig. 162, but with a bead at the level of the top of the loop, has been figured.

The nearly square-necked celt shown in Fig. 163 is of a broader type than usual, and was found at North Knapdale,[494] Argyleshire.

Socketed celts with oval necks, and resembling the common Irish type, Fig. 167, in form, have occasionally been found in Scotland. One (3¼ inches), with a double moulding round the mouth, was found on Arthur’s Seat, Edinburgh. Another (3 inches) was found with several other socketed celts and a spear-head near the Loch of Forfar. One of these, like Fig. 150, has a round socket and a twelve-sided neck.

A celt with a long socket and narrow blade was found, with spear-heads, bronze armlets, and some pieces of tin, at Achtertyre,[495] Morayshire.

Another type, which appears to be more especially Scottish, has the ornamented moulding placed on the neck of the blade in such a manner as to run through the loop. One of this character, dug up near Samson’s Ribs,[496] Arthur’s Seat, Edinburgh, has been figured by Professor Daniel Wilson. A second (2⅞ inches), with three raised bands passing through the loop, was found in the Forest of Birse,[497] Aberdeenshire.

A type which is also common to England is shown in Fig. 164 from another of the Bell’s Mills specimens.

Others with raised lines on the sides are preserved in the museum at Edinburgh. One of these was found near the citadel at Leith.[498]

One (3½ inches), ornamented with four longitudinal lines on each face, was found in the parish of Southend,[499] Cantire. Another (4¼ inches), with traces of five ribs, three down the middle and two at the margins of each face, was found at Hangingshaw,[500] in Culter parish, Lanarkshire.

A third celt from Bell’s Mills is shown in Fig. 165. This is of the variety without the loop, and closely resembles that from the Carlton Rode hoard, Fig. 160, the main difference being that the neck is of decagonal instead of octagonal section.

Moulds for celts of other patterns have also been found in Scotland, as will subsequently be seen. A modern cast from some moulds found at Rosskeen, Ross-shire, has been engraved by Professor D. Wilson.[501] It is of hexagonal section, and is ornamented on each face by two diverging ribs starting from an annulet close below the moulding round the mouth, and ending in two annulets about two-thirds of the way down the blade, which expands considerably, and has a nearly flat edge.

For the use of Fig. 166 I am indebted to the Council[502] of the Ayrshire and Wigtonshire Archæological Association. The original was found in a peat-moss near the farm-house of Knock and Maize, in Leswalt parish, Wigtonshire, and is now in the cabinet of the Earl of Stair. Its analogies with that found at Kingston, Surrey (Fig. 142), are very striking, while at the same time it closely resembles the type exhibited by the mould from Ross-shire already mentioned. The occurrence of instruments of so rare a form at such a distance apart is very remarkable; but if, as appears probable, the celts of this type are among the latest which were manufactured, and may possibly belong even to the Late Celtic period, their wide dissemination is the less wonderful.

Socketed celts have been found in very large numbers in Ireland, upwards of two hundred being preserved in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy; and numerous specimens are to be seen in other collections, both public and private. Mr. R. Day, F.S.A., of Cork, has upwards of forty in his own cabinet. The Irish celts vary much in size, the largest being a little over 5 inches long, and the smallest less than an inch. The most common form is oval at the neck, and expands into a broad cutting edge. There is usually some kind of moulding round the mouth, giving the end of the instrument a trumpet-like appearance. The effect of the moulding is not unfrequently exaggerated by a hollow fluting round the neck, as in Fig. 167.

Celts of this and some of the following types have been figured by Vallancey.[503]

In that shown as Fig. 168 there is a slight shoulder below the trumpet-shaped part of the mouth, and the loop, instead of springing straight out from the neck, has its ends extended into four ridges, running over the neck of the celt like half-buried roots.

An example of a celt with the loop attached in a similar manner has been engraved by Wilde.[504] Another (3¾ inches) is in the collection of Mr. R. Day, F.S.A.

Fig. 169 shows a finely patinated celt, with a triple moulding below the expanding mouth, which was found near Belfast. With it are said to have been found a set of three gold clasps, or so-called fibulæ, with discs at each end of a slug-like half-ring (see Wilde, Figs. 594-598). Curiously enough, I have another set of three of these ornaments, also found together at Craighilly, near Ballymena, Co. Antrim. Mr. Robert Day, F.S.A., has a specimen which also is one of three found together in the Co. Down. It seems, therefore, probable that, like our modern shirt-studs, these ornaments were worn in sets of three.

A celt with four hands (3½ inches) has been engraved by Wilde.[505] The middle member of the triple band is often much the largest.

A small example of the same type, but with a single band at the mouth, is shown in Fig. 170. One from Co. Antrim, 1⅝ inch long and 1¼ inch broad at the edge, is in the British Museum.

These oval-necked celts are occasionally, but rarely, decorated with patterns cast in relief upon them. One of them, in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy,[506] is shown in Fig. 171.

Inside the sockets of most of the instruments of this class there are near the bottom, where the two sides converge, one, two, or more vertical ridges, probably destined to aid in steadying the haft.

In some instances the upper member of the moulding round the mouth is cast in a cable pattern. Fig. 172 shows an example of this kind from Athboy, Co. Meath, in the collection of Canon Greenwell, F.R.S. Others are in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy.

Socketed celts, with vertical ribs on the faces, are of rare occurrence in Ireland. A specimen from Co. Meath, in Canon Greenwell’s collection, is engraved as Fig. 173.

One (2⅝ inches) found near Cork, and now in Mr. Robert Day’s collection, has six vertical ribs on each face, three on either margin. They are placed close together, and vary in length, the outer one being about twice as long as that in the middle, which is, however, nearly three times as long as the innermost of the three ribs.

I have an example of the same kind (2⅜ inches), from Trillick, Co. Tyrone,[507] in which there are five equidistant vertical ribs on each face. The edge has been much hammered, so as to be considerably recurved at the ends. Wilde[508] has figured a much larger specimen (4½ inches), with three vertical ribs, which cross a ring, level with the top of the loop, and run up to the lip moulding. Another,[509] with rectangular socket, has the ribs arranged in the usual manner. In a few instances the ribs end in pellets, and in one instance Wilde[510] describes them as “ending in arrow points.”

A short but broad socketed celt in the Petrie Collection has on each face six vertical ribs terminating at each end in annulets.

The socketed celts with an almost square socket and neck are not so common in Ireland as those of the broad type with an oval neck, but are yet not absolutely rare. Fig. 174 shows a good specimen of this type. I have another (3½ inches), from the neighbourhood of Belfast, rather wider at the edge, and with three flat vertical ribs below the neck moulding.

Fig. 175 shows a short variety of the same type, from Newtown Crommolin, Co. Antrim. One from Trillick, Co. Tyrone (2½ inches), though nearly rectangular at the neck, has an oval socket.

Mr. Robert Day has an example (3¼ inches), from Dunshaughlin, Co. Meath, with two beads round it, the lower one at the level of the bottom of the loop. This celt is rectangular at the neck, though the socket is oval.

Some few have grooves running down the angles. One from Londonderry (4¼ inches) is in Mr. Day’s collection.

The long narrow celt with a rib ending in an annulet on the face, engraved by Wilde as Fig. 283, appears to me to belong to Brittany rather than to Ireland.

An elegant type of socketed celt of not uncommon occurrence in Ireland is shown in Fig. 176. The neck is octagonal below the rounded trumpet mouth, which is ornamented with a series of small parallel beads, between which a number of minute conical depressions have been punched, making the beads appear to be corded. Around the loop is an oval of similar punch marks. A nearly similar specimen has been engraved by Wilde (Catal., Fig. 276), who also gives one of the same general type, but with two plain broad beads, alternating with three narrow ones, round the mouth (Catal., Fig. 277). It has a hexagonal neck. A celt (4¼ inches) from Ballina, Co. Mayo, in the collection of Mr. Robert Day, F.S.A., has an octagonal neck, and five grooved lines round its circular mouth.

Canon Greenwell has one of the type of Fig. 176 (3⅞ inches), with hexagonal neck and five equal beads round the mouth, from Carlea, Co. Longford, and another (3¾ inches), with ten small beads round a somewhat oval mouth, from Arboe, Co. Tyrone. The neck of this latter is nearly rectangular. I have a celt of this type from Balbriggan, Co. Dublin (3½ inches), with a hexagonal neck and a plain mouth. The loop has root-like excrescences from it, as already described.

There is one more Irish type of looped socketed celts which it will be well to figure, and to which Wilde has given the name of the axe-shaped socketed celt. As will be seen, the blade is expanded considerably below the socketed part, and assumes a form not uncommon among iron or steel axes. I have copied Fig. 177 from Wilde’s cut, No. 281, on an enlarged scale.

A socketed celt expanding into a broad axe-like edge is in the Pesth Museum.

An analogous but narrower form is found in France. I have seen the drawing of one found at Pont-point, Oise (?).

Socketed celts without loops have not unfrequently been found in Ireland. One of this type has been figured by Wilde,[511] whose cut is, by the kindness of the Council of the Royal Irish Academy, here reproduced as Fig. 178. There are two others in the same collection. Another of the same length (2-1/16 inches), but wider at the edge, was found in the Shannon,[512] at Keelogue Ford. A longer and narrower instrument (3¾ inches) of the same kind has also been engraved by Wilde.[513] Another has been engraved by Vallancey.[514] Others (2 and 2⅛ inches) from Lisburn and Ballymoney, Co. Antrim, are in the British Museum. The former has a small bead on a level with the base of the socket. The latter is oval at the neck, but oblong at the mouth.

A bronze instrument of this form, but wider at the edge, was in common use among the ancient Egyptians, and has been regarded as a hoe.

A socketed celt without loop, but with two projections on one side, from the Sanda Valley,[515] Yunan, China, has been figured by Dr. Anderson. The edge is very oblique. An example brought from Yunan by the same expedition is in the Christy Collection. One from Cambodia,[516] without loop, but in form like Fig. 119, has been figured by Dr. Noulet.

A very remarkable socketed celt without loop from Java is in the Cabinet of Coins at Stuttgart. It expands widely at the edge and has three facets on one side of the neck, while the other is curved, so that it was probably mounted as an adze. The surface of the socket is not flat, but there is a V-shaped depression across it.

Socketed celts with two loops have not as yet been recorded as found within the United Kingdom, though a stone mould for celts of this form was found at Bulford Water, Salisbury. In Eastern Europe the form is more common. The specimen shown as Fig. 179 was found in the neighbourhood of Kertch,[517] and is now in the British Museum. I have seen others ornamented on the faces, brought from Asiatic Siberia by Mr. H. Seebohm. Others from Siberia[518] have been figured. One of these is without loops, and has chevron ornaments in relief below a double moulding.

A socketed celt with two loops, and apparently hexagonal at the neck, found at Ell, near Benfeld, Alsace, is figured by Schneider.[519]

I have elsewhere described a two-looped socketed celt from Portugal[520] (6½ inches). It is like Fig. 120, but has a second loop. Another, of gigantic dimensions, 9½ inches long and 3½ inches wide, was found in Estremadura, Portugal.[521]

A two-looped celt with square socket and the loops at the junction with the flattened blade was in the great hoard found at Bologna. Only one of the loops, however, is perforated.

In the museum at Stockholm are also some socketed celts with two loops.

In looking over these pages, it will have been observed, that though socketed celts occur in numbers throughout the British Isles, yet that those found in England for the most part differ in form from those found in Ireland, and that some few types appear to be peculiar to Scotland. Traces of continental influence are, as might have been expected, most evident in the forms found in the southern counties of England, and are barely, if at all, perceptible in those from Ireland and Scotland. Some few of the socketed celts from both England and Scotland are of the type Fig. 167—a type so common in Ireland as to be characteristic of it—and these appear for the most part, though by no means exclusively, to have been found in western counties. Although, therefore, the first socketed celts in Britain were doubtless of foreign origin, there was no regular importation of them for use over the whole country; but the fashion of making them spread through local foundries, and different varieties of pattern originated in various centres, and were adopted over larger or smaller areas as they happened to commend themselves to the taste of the bronze-using public. The use of socketed celts would, from their abundance, seem to have extended over a considerable period; and from their having apparently been found with objects belonging to the Late Celtic Period they must have been among the last of the bronze tools or weapons to be superseded by those of iron. A socketed celt, somewhat like Fig. 116 but more trumpet-mouthed, is stated to have been found in company with a looped spear-head, two pins like Figs. 453 and 458, a bronze bridle-bit, and some portions of buckles of a late Celtic character on Hagbourne Hill, Berks. These objects are now in the British Museum, and there seems reason to believe the account of their discovery given in the _Archæologia_.[522] Some coins of gold and silver are said to have been found with them, but these are not forthcoming. Socketed celts have also been found associated with clasps like Figs. 504 and 505 at Dreuil, near Amiens, while at Abergele such clasps accompanied buckles almost, if not quite, late Celtic in character.

No doubt the final disuse of socketed celts was not contemporaneous throughout the whole of the country, and their employment probably survived in the north and west of Britain and in Ireland to a considerably later date than in the districts more accessible to Gaulish influences. The chronology of our Bronze Period will, however, have to be considered in a subsequent chapter. The transition from bronze to iron cannot so readily be traced in this country as on the Continent; but socketed celts, &c. formed of iron, and made in imitation of those in bronze, have occasionally been found in Britain. One (4 inches) with a side loop, and a part of its wooden handle, was found in Merionethshire, and is now in the British Museum. It has been figured in the Archæologia Cambrensis.[523] Another of the same type was found in North Wales.[524]

I have one (5¼ inches) with a rounded socket and no loop, found at Gray’s Thurrock, Essex.

I have another (4 inches) with a square socket, from Pfaffenburg in the Hartz; and others of longer proportions with round sockets from Hallstatt. The metal has been carefully welded together to form the sockets, in which there is no slit like those commonly to be seen in more modern socketed tools of iron. There are ornaments round the mouth of some of the Hallstatt[525] socketed celts, and both they and the iron palstaves are frequently provided with a side loop, in exact accordance with those on their analogues in bronze. Some of the socketed celts in iron from the cemetery of Watsch,[526] in Carniola, are also provided with a loop.

As an illustration of the view that similar wants, with similar means at command with which to supply them, lead to the production of similar forms of tools and weapons in countries widely remote from each other, I may mention a socketed celt (10¾ inches) found in an ancient grave near Copiapo, Chili.[527] In general form it is almost identical with some of the Italian bronze celts, but it is of copper, and not bronze; and is not cast, but wrought with the hammer. The socket has, therefore, been formed in the same manner as those of the early iron celts from Hallstatt, with which it also closely corresponds in outline. The surface, however, has been ornamented by engraving; and among the patterns we find bands of chevrons, alternately plain and hatched, closely allied to the common ornament of the European Bronze Age. What is, perhaps, more striking still is that the Greek fret also occurs as an ornament on the faces.

The method in which socketed and other celts were hafted will be discussed in the next chapter.