Chapter VII: The Bronze Age in Europe.1

Races of Men, like Individuals—Gradual change of Neolithic Age to
that of Bronze—The Aryan family—First Aryans Neolithic—Origin of
Bronze—How Great discoveries are made—Gold the first metal—Copper
Abundant—No Copper Age—The discovery of Tin—Explanation of an
Alloy—Bronze, wherever found, the same Composition—What is meant
by the Bronze Age—Knowledge in other Directions—Gradual Growth of
Culture—Three Centers of Bronze Production—Habitations during the
Bronze Age—The Bronze Ax—Implements of Bronze—Personal
ornaments—Ornaments not always made of Bronze—Advance in Arts of
living—Advance in Agriculture—Warlike Weapons—How they worked
Bronze—Advance in Government—Trade in the Bronze Age—Religion of
the Bronze Age—Symbolical figures—Temples of the Bronze
Age—Stonehenge.

ITis with races of men as with individuals, the progressive
growth of youth soon reaches its limit and maturity of power.
While it brings greater strength, it has not the buoyancy of
early years, so the manner of life becomes fixed, and onward
progress stops. They can then only hope to hold on the even tenor
of their way, happy if increasing years do not bring again their
childhood state. The Neolithic people entered Europe early in the
youth of the race which spread their civilization over the globe,
but the race to which they belonged appear to have reached their
zenith of development long ages ago, since which time, whatever
higher culture they have reached has been a gift to them by other
people. Their energies became exhausted, and for a long series of
years Europe was filled by the camps, lake villages and fortified
places of Neolithic times.

As to the absolute length of time during which they inhabited
Europe, we have no data to determine. Relatively, their sojourn,
however long, was but a short time compared to the duration of
the old Stone Age. It presents no such evidence of lapse of ages
as can be observed in the older deposits, yet we may be sure that
it was for no inconsiderable period.

The Paleolithic Age was apparently terminated in Europe by the
cold of the last glacial epoch. No such natural course put an end
to the Neolithic Age, but as the strong have an advantage over
the weak, the young over the old, so does a race young,
undeveloped, or in the early maturity of its powers, have an
advantage over the older and more fixed civilization with which
it comes in contact. To understand the causes which introduced
into Europe the Bronze Age, we must refer to the Aryan race and
to Asia.

We have in the preceding chapter briefly mentioned the Aryan
race. They have so much to do with the higher culture of the
Metallic Ages, that it seems not out of place to refer once more
to their origin. The evidence goes to show that the ancient
Aryans inhabited some portion of South-western Asia. As a race or
family, they appear to have been one of the latest developed. Yet
a record of their progress is a record of civilization.

Unless we reflect, we are liable to be misled by the expression,
recent development. The Hindoos, one of the latest members of
this family, were in India several thousand years before Christ.2
But however far back we trace them, we find them in possession of
metals. Aside from this, we know that before the different Aryan
tribes had commenced their migration (with the exception,
however, of the Celts), while they formed but one mass of people,
they worked some of the metals.3 They could have acquired this
knowledge only after the passage of many years, when they were
ignorant of it. This bespeaks a profound antiquity for the Aryan
family.

As we have seen, Europe, while yet inhabited by Neolithic people,
was invaded by a branch of the Aryans. We do not know the date of
this invasion, yet it must have been an early date, since the
Celts separated from the Aryans before the use of metals. The
Aryans have ever been noted as an aggressive people, and under
different names have, in modern times, carried victorious arms in
all quarters of the globe. This is equally characteristic of the
primitive Aryans. Though it is not apparent that they possessed
any higher culture than the people who already inhabited Europe,
yet they everywhere triumphed over them and possessed themselves
of the fairest portion of the Neolithic domain, driving the
primitive inhabitants to those mountainous regions where their
descendants are found to-day.

It is not probable that the Aryan invaders waged exterminating
war against the Neolithic tribes. The evidence shows that there
was considerable mingling of the two races. It has been
suggested, however, that the Neolithic people who were not driven
away were reduced to slavery.4 However that may be, the remains
of the two people are found side by side in chambered tombs and
sepulchral caverns, showing that they dwelt together in the same
area. As before remarked, the Aryan invaders are identified as
the Celts. That it was relatively late in the Neolithic Age when
they made their appearance, is shown by the fact that they had
only reached the English Channel when a knowledge of bronze
caught up with them.

We must now endeavor to learn the origin of bronze. The impulsive
energies of this newer race found vent not only in conquest over
the neighboring tribes, but it is extremely probable that they
are the ones who first compelled nature to yield up her metallic
stores to be of service to man. If the knowledge of fire was the
starting point of human advancement, surely the knowledge of
metals, their useful properties, and how to extract them from
their ores, may lay claim to being the starting point of our
present enlightenment. We have but to glance around us to see how
many of our daily comforts are dependent on the use of metals.
Should we, by any mischance, become deprived of the use of iron,
or of the useful alloys, bronze and brass, our civilization would
be in great danger of reverting to Savagism. Man, destitute of
metals, can do but little to improve his surroundings; but grant
him these, and victory over his environment is secured.

We can not retrace the exact steps of this beautiful discovery;
we are not sure to what family it is to be ascribed. Perhaps not
to any one alone. Nature may have taken her children by the hand,
and kindly guided their feeble steps in the line of experiments
leading up to this knowledge, and, finally, one family, more
fortunate than the others, succeeded in the attempt. All great
discoveries have been approached in different directions, by
different people. No sooner is it made than this fact appears,
and people widely separated by time and place are found to be on
the verge of the same great truth. It was probably so at the
discovery of metallurgy.

The Turanian tribes, who had so long inhabited Europe, were
suddenly confronted by the victorious hosts of the Celts, the
vanguard of the Aryans, the precursors of a higher culture. The
movements of these primitive people could not fail to have a
great effect on the human mind. It would become alert, keen, and
active. Such was the state of ancient society when a knowledge of
bronze was introduced—a discovery which consigned stone, hitherto
the substance most commonly made use of to advance human
interests, to a subordinate position, and opened up for man the
exhaustless mineral stores of nature.

It is suggested by some that gold was the first metallic
substance employed. Its glittering particles would attract the
attention of primitive man, and little articles of ornament were
early manufactured from it. To be sure, the supply was very
limited; but what there was would serve the useful purpose of
imparting to men some idea of metallic substances. Portions of it
falling in the fire might have suggested the idea of smelting and
of molding—might, at least, have lead to experiments in that
line. The supply of gold existing in a native state is so small,
that no use could have been made of it except for ornaments.

Iron, we know, is the most abundant mineral. But it is very rare
in a native state, and its ores have nothing distinguishing about
them, and so it is not strange that another metal received the
attention of primitive man. That metal was probably copper. It is
often found in a pure state in nature. In the Michigan mines of
our own country, masses of pure copper many tons in weight have
been discovered.5 No such rich deposits are found in the Old
World; but considerable quantities of native copper were
obtained, and it was by no means a rare metal. Copper possesses
several qualities that would attract attention. It is quite
malleable; that is, it can be easily hammered into shape. We can
imagine the surprise of the old stone-workers at finding a stone
that, instead of breaking or splitting, could be hammered into
shape. By accident, or otherwise it would be learned, in time,
that it could be melted. This would lead to the idea of molding.

If the above process were followed out, there would be a real
Copper Age preceding that of Bronze: no trace of such an age has
yet been detected in Europe. “But there is, however, every reason
for believing, that, in some parts of the world, the use of
native copper must have continued for a lengthened period before
it was discovered that the addition of a small portion of tin not
only rendered it more fusible, but added to its elasticity and
hardness.”6 The absence of a Copper Age in Europe would imply
that the art of manufacturing bronze was discovered in some other
locality.

Copper by itself is so soft that it would not be of much use to
man, except the experience they would gain of melting and
molding. In our own country the aboriginal inhabitants were well
acquainted with copper, and even knew how to mold it. Yet, except
as just pointed out, it is not probable that it exerted any
marked influence on their development.7 In the old world supplies
of native copper are limited, and recourse must be had to the
ores of copper. Now these ores, such as copper-pyrites, are
nearly always of a bright color, and as such would attract the
attention of primitive man. They might suspect that these bright
colored ores contained copper from finding similarly colored ores
in connection with native copper, in fact passing from one form
to the other. But it requires no little skill to reduce the ores
of copper; and, when obtained, for reasons just pointed out, it
would not be of great utility. But primitive man was thus
cautiously and experimentally feeling his way to a knowledge of
metallurgy.

All the evidence obtainable goes to show that tin was known as
early as copper, or at least soon after. Its ores though not
striking on account of their color, are on account of their great
weight. It is comparatively easy to reduce it from its ores. It
is quite widely distributed over the earth. It often occurs in
the gravels of rivers, where, as we have already mentioned,
primitive men must have, at a very early date, sought for gold.
Owing to their weight, the gravel of tin-stone would remain
behind with the gold when it was washed. “In process of time its
real nature might have been revealed by accident; and, before the
eye of the astonished beholder, the dull stone, flung into the
fire, became transfigured into the glittering metal.”8

When two metals come together in a molten state, they often form,
not a mixture of the two, part copper and part tin, for example,
but a new compound, different from either, called an alloy.
Copper is, so to speak, a sociable metal, and readily unites with
many different metals—amongst others with tin, when it forms
bronze, the article that marks a new state in the history of
primitive culture. It seems to us strange that an alloy, a
combination of two different metals, should have been the first
used by man, and not a simple metal like iron. Such, however, is
the fact of the case; and we have tried to point out the probable
steps which led up to the invention of bronze. We can scarcely
comprehend the difficulties which attended the labors of the
primitive metal-workers. There were no books containing the
wisdom of many, from which the investigator could draw his stores
of knowledge. and the only way that knowledge could be
disseminated was by word of mouth.

Now, when one man makes an important step in a discovery,
hundreds of earnest workers, some, perhaps, in distant places,
are quickly made aware of the fact, and extend its scope, or
point out its imperfections, and thus hasten on the desired end.
Then, each individual, or community, must, of necessity, have
commenced at the beginning, and the discoveries made would hardly
be perpetuated in the memory of others. There were so many
obstacles to be overcome before a knowledge of bronze could be
acquired, in the then existing state of human knowledge, that it
must ever remain a source of wonder to us, at the present day,
that it was invented at all.

We may picture to ourselves the ancient copper-worker, after
numerous experiments, guided by some good genius, finally hitting
on some process by which, from his mass of ore, he extracted a
nearly pure piece of copper. Having learned how to reduce these
ores, there are many ways in which it might have been found that
a mixture of the two metals would form a new compound of greatly
increased value.

It must have taken a long course of experiments to determine what
proportions of each metal to use to make the best bronze. It is
interesting to know that these early workers had learned the
proportions of each to use, not varying a great deal from the
results of modern research—that is, from ten to twelve per cent
of tin. Bronze relics, no matter where obtained, whether in the
Old or the New World, do not widely depart from this standard,
and such instances as do would probably denote that the supply of
tin became short. This uniformity of composition would imply that
the art of making bronze was discovered in one place, from which
it gradually spread over the globe.

This fact is a key to the culture of the Bronze Age. Widely
separated communities, destitute of a knowledge of metals, would
instinctively make use of stone. In this case uniformity of type
would not imply community of knowledge. But a knowledge of metals
is altogether different. It is wonder enough that one community
should have hit on the invention of bronze. The chance would be
against its independent discovery in widely separated areas. They
would be more apt to chance on the production of some other
metal. Thus; tribes in the interior of Africa are said to have
passed direct from the Stone to the Iron Age, a knowledge of
bronze not having been carried to them.

We are thus able to form a true conception of the Bronze Age. It
did not prevail over the world at the same time. Indeed, as we
shall subsequently see, there is every reason to suppose it
spread very slowly, and that it still lingered in Central and
Northern Europe long after its use had been abandoned for that of
iron in the South. Neither, when it was first introduced, did it
put a stop to the use of stone. It was necessarily costly, and on
its first appearance in a country, brought hither by trade, could
only be afforded by rich and powerful chiefs and warriors. As
time advanced, and they learned to make it cheaper, and each
country took up its separate manufacture, it would gradually
supersede stone. But bronze was never cheap enough to drive out
the use of stone altogether. This only occurred when the art of
working iron was discovered.

We shall learn that the knowledge of bronze, while a very
important and distinguishing phase of culture of the Bronze Age,
was not its only characteristic. It was distinguished by the
arrival and spread of the Aryan races, by a great extension of
commerce, by more refinements in the comforts of life, by the
increasing strength of government, which in after ages flowered
out in the mighty nations of antiquity, and rendered historic,
civilization possible.

Some facts stand out with great prominence. The origin of this
culture is lost in the very night of time. We may be sure that it
goes back to a profound antiquity, and that it extended over a
long series of years.

It is evident there was no great and sudden change from the
culture of the Stone Age to that of Bronze. It was as if the
darkness of night had given place to the roseate light of dawn,
to be shortly followed by the full day of historic times. It was
probably introduced by trade. The articles introduced in this way
would consist of simple implements, weapons, and ornaments.
Following after the trade would be found the smelter with his
tools, and, where the conditions were favorable, local
manufactories would be set up. But this home industry would not
prevent importation of more pretentious articles from abroad.
This would account for the rich collections of shields, swords,
and golden cups found in Denmark that betray an Etruscan origin.

Investigations of recent scholars show that the bronze of the
early Bronze Age came from Asia Minor. Subsequently there were
three great centers of bronze production, each having certain
styles. These were the Russian on the east, the Scandinavian on
the north, and the Mediterranean on the south. If this view be
correct, bronze must have been in use in the South of Europe long
before it was in the North. This view of the introduction of
bronze is, we think, that of the best scholars in Europe. Others,
however, think bronze was brought in by the invasion of the Aryan
tribes. Mr. Keary says: “The men of the Bronze Age were a new
race, sallying out of the east to dispossess the older
inhabitants, and if, in some places, the Bronze men and the Stone
men seem to have gone on for a time side by side, the general
characteristic of the change is that of a sudden break.”9 We have
shown that it was carried to England by an invasion, and it was,
perhaps, so introduced into Denmark, but in other countries of
Europe by trade.10

Let us now see what change in the home life, in the culture of
the people, would be brought about by the use of bronze. We must
reflect that we are not to deal with some new race, but with the
same race that inhabited Europe at the close of Neolithic times.
The people who had triumphed over nature with their implements of
stone were now put in possession of weapons and implements of
greatly increased efficiency. The results could not fail to
advance their culture. We would not expect any great change in
the houses. They would, however, be much better built. The
metallic tools were certainly a long ways ahead of the best stone
implements. With the aid of metallic axes, knives, saws, gouges,
and chisels, their cabins could be increased in size and
appearance. They still built settlements over the lakes, but the
Bronze Age settlements were more substantially built, and placed
farther out from shore. Fortified places were still numerous; the
remains of thousands of them of this age have been found in
Ireland. But the forests were cleared, wild animals disappeared,
society became more settled, and we may be sure that an
increasing number of little hamlets were scattered over the
country.

Caves were resorted to during this epoch only in times of danger.
One at Heathbury Burn, in England, contained portions of the
skeletons of two individuals, surrounded by many articles of
bronze and a mould for casting bronze axes. It is not difficult
to read the story. In some time of sudden danger workers in
bronze fled hither with their stores, but owing to some cause
were unable to escape the death from which they were fleeing, and
their bodies, with their mineral stores, were lost to sight until
the modern explorer made them a subject of scientific
speculations.11

Bronze Axes—First Form.

The most important implement was the ax. Our civilization has
originated from many small things. It is difficult to
overestimate the importance of the ax in advancing civilization.
The stone axes, easily blunted and broken, could have made but
little impression on the vast forests of pine, oak, and beech,
covering the greater part of Britain and the continent in the
Neolithic Age. Clearings necessary for pasture and agriculture
must unquestionably, then, have been produced principally by the
aid of fire. Under the edge of the bronze ax clearings would be
rapidly produced, pasture and arable land would begin to spread
over the surface of the country; with the disappearance of the
forests the wild animals would become scarce, hunting would cease
to be so important, agriculture would improve, and a higher
culture inevitably follow. “When first the sound of the woodman’s
ax was heard in the forests of the north, the victory of man over
his natural environments was secured, and the forest and morass
became his forever.”12

The bronze ax was used for a great variety of purposes, not only
as an ax, but as chisel, hoe, etc. As might be expected, the
oldest axes were simply modeled after the stone ones. The
preceding cut represents these simple forms.

They were inserted into the handle much the same as they did the
stone axes. It never occurred to these ancient workers to cast
the axes with a hole in them for the handle.

Bronze Axes—Second and Third Form.

The above cut represents the second form of the ax. The trouble
with the first was that much usage would inevitably split the
handle. To remedy this, a stop or ridge was raised across the
celt, and the metal and the wood were made to fit into one
another. The small figure illustrates this method of hafting. It
would be quite natural to bend the sides of this second form
around, and thus would arise a third form in which the handle was
let into a socket, of which we also give a cut. As a general
thing, bronze axes were plain, but they were sometimes ornamented
with ridges, dots, and lines.

In addition to axes, they of course had many other implements of
bronze. Chisels were made much the same as at present, except
that the handle fitted into a socket. A few hammers have been
discovered in the Swiss lake villages. Bronze knives of different
styles and sizes were quite numerous. The workmanship on them is
generally skillful. They were, as a rule, fitted into a handle of
bone, horn, or wood, and the blade was nearly always carved. In
some cases the knives also ended in a socket into which the
handle fitted.13

Hammer, Chisel and Bronze Knives.

In matters of personal ornament, the men and women of the Bronze
Age were as willing to make use of artificial helps as their
descendants to-day, and no doubt fashion was quite as arbitrary
in her rule then as now. Among some savage nations the dressing
of the hair—especially of the men—is carried to a very elaborate
pitch.14 In this respect, some of the dandies of the Bronze Age
certainly excelled. They evidently built up on their heads a
great pyramid of hair; in some cases large enough to allow of the
use of hair-pins two feet long. Of course such a structure as
this was intended to last a life-time. So careful were they of
this head-dress that they used a crescent-shaped pillow of
earthenware, so that it might not be disturbed when they slept.
Dr. Keller, who first described these crescent-shaped articles,
thought they were religious emblems of the moon. He may be right,
as the matter is not yet decided, but some think they were the
pillows in question. At first thought this would seem absurd, but
when we learn of the habits of the natives of Abyssinia and other
savage races, we cease to wonder.

Crescent, Bracelet and Hairpin.

In speaking of the ornaments of the Bronze Age, a caution is
necessary, because ornaments of bronze may belong to any age.
Bracelets and rings have been quite numerous. The bracelets vary
much in shape, are decidedly artistic in workmanship, and often
set off with carved designs. Some of this shape are composed of a
single ring of varying width, the ends of which almost meet and
terminate by a semicircular clasp; others are a combination of
straight or twisted wires ingeniously joined to one another.
“Some of these ornaments remain even up to the present day in a
perfect state of preservation. In an urn from one of the lake
settlements six specimens were discovered, the designs of which
appeared quite as clearly as if they had only just been
engraved.”15

We are called on to notice one important point in reference to
these bracelets and rings. That is, they are so small they could
scarcely be worn nowadays; a fact leading us to infer that the
people must have been of small size. It has also been noticed
that the handles of the swords are smaller than would be
convenient for soldiers now. Some ornaments of bronze were worn
as pendants. For this purpose they were provided with a circular
hole, and were probably worn suspended around the neck.

Bronze Pendants.

Ornaments were not always of bronze. Necklaces were sometimes
made of amber, and gold beads were quite common. We give a cut of
both. They are from burial mounds of this age in England. We
remember the ornamentations on implements in the Paleolithic Age
was by engraving animal forms. In the Neolithic Age they seem to
have cared very little for ornamenting. During the Bronze Age the
ornamentation was of a simple but pleasing and uniform style. It
consisted of simple geometrical patterns, combination of circles,
dots, and straight lines. In this next figure we have given the
principal designs found in France.

Necklace and Beads.

In the arts of living an increase in culture is noticeable. We
have seen that in Neolithic times they were acquainted with the
use of the distaff. In the Bronze Age they manufactured woolen
cloth. We have but few specimens of this cloth, because it is
under only very exceptional circumstances that woolen fabrics can
be preserved for any great length of time. From examinations of
burial mounds of this period, it would appear that the better
class of people were clad in linen and woolen. Probably the use
of the skins of animals for dress purposes was mostly
discontinued during this age. Woolen cloaks of this period have
been found in Denmark, though probably dating from near the
close.

Ornamental Designs. Bronze Sickle.

In agriculture we detect only such advances as improved
implements would suggest. They used the sickle in gathering in
the harvest. We find no implements which we are sure were used
for agricultural purposes. Yet they must have had some means of
preparing the ground for the cereals. The day of wild animals was
gone. In the lake settlements of this age the domestic animals
outnumbered the wild species.16

During this age the horse was used for riding and driving, and
oxen were used for plowing.

The proof of this fact is certain sketches found in Denmark. But
the use of bronze in that country continued after iron had been
introduced in the south of Europe. Pottery was more carefully
made—though the wheel for turning it was not yet introduced. The
shapes were varied and elegant; sometimes, instead of having a
flat base, they came to a point below—in which case they had to
be placed in a support before they could stand upright. Nearly
all the pottery bears the ornamentation peculiar to the Bronze
Age—that is, straight lines, dots, etc.

Clay Vessel and Support. Bronze Weapons.

During this age, the inhabitants were as much given to war and
conquest as any rudely civilized people: we, therefore, meet with
remains of their weapons. The principal ones were swords,
daggers, spear-heads, and arrows. The swords are always more or
less leaf-like in shape, double-edged, sharp-pointed, and
intended more for stabbing and thrusting, rather than cutting. No
hand guards were used.

Sometimes the handles were fastened to the swords by means of
rivets; and, at other times, the handle was plaited with wood or
bone. They are of different lengths, intermediate between the
sword and the dagger. It is doubtful whether they made use of
shields.

Bronze shields are, indeed, found; but, from the ornaments and
other circumstances they are generally considered to belong to
the Iron Age: for we shall subsequently learn that the
introduction of iron did not prevent the continued use of bronze.
The bow was well known; and this must have necessitated the use
of arrows. Some bronze arrows have been found; but a flint arrow
is nearly as serviceable as bronze, and much cheaper, so we may
be sure they were more common. They also employed spears and
javelins, and the bronze heads of these weapons are found in
various places. The invading Celt found many camps and fortified
places already in existence, and continued them in use after the
original occupant had been driven away.

Mold.

As we have spent some time in learning the different objects
manufactured out of bronze, it may be of interest to learn
somewhat of their methods of working bronze. We have already
stated how the amateur worker in bronze would follow on after the
trader—and so the objects of bronze would be made in all the
countries of Europe. Molds have been found in various places.
This is a mold for casting the axes having a socket in which to
put the handle. It was found in the cave at Heathbury Burn,
already mentioned. None of the bronze objects were forged out, as
a smith forges out objects of iron—they were cast. In the absence
of steel, it would be almost impossible to cut bronze; hence it
was necessary to make the casting as nearly perfect as possible.
Sometimes the molds were cut out of stone, as in the figure just
given. The molds themselves were, in this case, difficult to
make; besides, they could scarcely be made so perfect as not to
leave a little ridge, where the two halves of the mold came
together, which, as just explained, owing to the absence of
steel, it would be very difficult to remove. In process of time
they discovered an easier way of making the molds, that employed
at the present day—that is, by the use of sand. The ridge would
still remain, and is to be plainly seen on specimens of ancient
bronze.

To overcome the difficulty just mentioned, they invented a third
method of casting, which displays great ingenuity. A model of the
object desired was made of wood or wax, and inclosed in prepared
earth mixed with some inflammable material, in order that, when
subjected to heat, it might become porous. The whole was then
heated until the wax or wood disappeared. The mold was then ready
for use. The great advantage of this method was that there were
no projecting lines of junction to disfigure the complete
implement. This seems to have been the most common method
employed. This explains the fact, that we seldom find any two
bronze objects exactly similar to one another. Any impression
left on the wax model would be faithfully reproduced. Marks of
the spatula, with which the wax was worked, are frequently found;
and, in one case, the impression of the human finger was
observed.17

A people as highly cultured as those of the Bronze Age must have
had some system of government, and one that was a sensible
advance over the government of the Neolithic people. In the
Neolithic Age it was, doubtless, tribe against tribe.
Confederacies, the union of several tribes for common purpose of
defense, must have been more common at this age.18 The first
Aryan tribes to arrive in Europe, as we have seen, were the
Celts. In time, they had to withstand the pressure of invasion
themselves. The Belgae, and other Germanic tribes, were also on
the move. But war at this period would partake more of the nature
of people against people, than of tribe against tribe. The civil
and the military departments of government must have taken more
definite shape, and we are not without evidence of fairly
organized and disciplined forces. As early as two thousand eight
hundred years before Christ, the sea-coast people of Europe,
while yet in the Bronze Age, allied their forces for the conquest
of Egypt.19

We have referred to the influence of trade in shaping
civilization. It is commerce that to-day is carrying civilization
to remote corners of the globe. Long before the dawn of history,
it was an active agent in advancing culture. It is important to
note the great expanse of commerce, both inland and marine, which
prevailed during the Bronze Age. An important article of trade
was, of course, bronze. The people who first learned the secret
of its manufacture would speedily find a demand for their wares
from surrounding tribes, and we have already pointed out how this
trade would quickly give rise to local manufactures. But, to
produce bronze, we know tin is just as necessary as copper—and
all the countries of Europe are not provided with these metals;
so more or less trade would inevitably take place. In various
ways the stores of the bronze merchant might be lost, and only
revealed in after years by accident. One of these deposits, found
in France, is evidently the store of a merchant or trader from
Etruria to the tribes of the north and west, and so gives us a
quite vivid idea of the trade of that early time. It consisted of
over four hundred articles of bronze, “comprising knives,
sickles, lance-heads, horse-bits, rings, buttons, pendants, and
bracelets.”20

As an article of adornment, amber was highly prized, not only by
the people of Europe during the Bronze Age, but also by the
people of the preceding Neolithic Age. This caused a trade to
spring up which certainly did its share in enlightening the
people. The main supply must have been obtained from the shores
of the Baltic. That the trade was of importance is evidenced by
the fact that amber has been found scattered over Europe in the
tombs of the Neolithic and Bronze Ages.

We have given a passing glance at the religion of each age we
have examined. It must be confessed that great uncertainty hangs
over the results. From a close examination of their industries,
we can gather considerable as to the home life and general
enlightenment of prehistoric times. A knowledge of religious
belief is gathered mainly from a study of their burial customs.
This is a very important part of our investigation, because a
religious belief is one of the exponents of the culture of a
people.

We have seen that in the Neolithic Age the dead were buried
surrounded by implements, weapons, and ornaments for use in the
future life. The descendants of these people throughout Europe,
even in the Bronze Age, would still continue this custom. The
implements buried with the body were more often of stone than
bronze. We must constantly bear in mind that bronze was costly.
This will explain its absence in many cases. It is interesting to
note in this connection that these are “cases in which it is
evident that flint implements were deposited in graves rather in
deference to ancient customs than because they were still in
every-day use.”21 We also notice that during this age, often the
objects placed in the graves were, from their shape, obviously
not intended for daily use. This would clearly indicate that the
popular mind became impressed with the fact that these votive
offerings, however freely given, could be of no assistance to the
departed, but they still continued the custom because it was
sanctioned by usage of past years.

But the dead were not always buried during the Bronze Age, nor,
indeed, as a general rule. The invading race doubtless brought
with them a new religion. Many of the ornamentations on their
swords, vases, and other articles, are supposed by some writers
to be religious symbols. From the frequent occurrence of the
circle, and combinations of circles, it has been suggested that
they worshiped the sun. And the occurrence of customs observable
even at a late day, in various portions of Europe, as pointed out
by Prof. Nelson, show that the worship of the fire-god, or the
sun, was once widely extended in Europe.22 On this point we are
further told: “That even as late as the time of Canute the
Great,23 there is a statute forbidding the adorement of the sun
and the moon.”24 So it is not strange that in the new faith a
different method of burial would be followed. That was by
cremation. “The dead were burned, were purified by being passed
through the fire along with their possessions.”25 The ashes was
then gathered together and placed in urns and burial mounds and
barrows. The votive offerings of flint and bronze articles in
daily use were also thrown in the fire, and their burnt remains
placed with the other ashes in the burial urn. The cut is that of
a bell-shaped barrow of the Bronze Age.

Burial Mound.

We have just seen what inferences have been drawn from the use of
the circle as an ornament. This is not the only sign that has
been thought to have some symbolical meaning. The cross was also
used as an ornament, and possessed probably some religious
significance. A third figure which has caused some discussion was
the triangle. “It is, on the whole, very probable that all these
signs, which are not connected with any known object, bear some
relation to certain religious or superstitious ideas entertained
by the men of the Bronze epoch, and, as a consequence of this,
that their hearts must have been inspired with some degree of
religious feeling.”26

Avebury Restored.

We have mentioned the use of stone circles in Neolithic times.
During the Bronze Age they built the circle very large, sometimes
twelve hundred feet in diameter, and they were sometimes made of
earth. These circles are regarded by some27 as being simply
burial places, and many of them have been proved to be such. But
others regard them as temples, meaning thereby not a building, in
our sense of the word, but a place of sanctity, and probably
where some form of worship was held. Even if we allow that they
were originally tombs in every case, it does not follow that they
have not also been temples, for the religious sentiment has, in
all ages, and in all places, tended to center in tombs, which
ultimately have become places of worship. Many of our Christian
Churches have originated in this manner, and it is a most obvious
transition from the tomb to the temple. The worship of the
spirits of the dead at the one would naturally grow into the
worship of the Great Unknown in the other.28

The preceding cut is a restoration of one of the largest of these
temples. Here we see a circle twelve hundred feet in diameter, of
upright stones, guarded by both a ditch and embankment. From the
two openings in the embankment formerly extended two long winding
avenues of stone. Between them rises Silbury Hill, the largest
artificial mound in Great Britain, being one hundred and thirty
feet high. The area of the large inclosure was about twenty-eight
and a half acres. This was a temple of no inconsiderable size. It
was, of course in ruins when the earliest account of it was
written, and we can only speculate as to the lapse of time since
it was venerated as a place of worship.

Stonehenge, on Salisbury Plain, is a better known ruin, though
not on as large a scale as at Avebury. The cut gives us a
restoration of it. The outer circle of standing stones is one
hundred feet in diameter, and when entire consisted of one
hundred stones. These are of sandstone, and were obtained in the
vicinity. A course of stone was laid along the top. We notice
within a smaller circle of stone. The material of these stones is
such that we know they must have come from a distance. Mr. James
tells us that they are erratic—that is, bowlders brought from the
North of Scotland by the glaciers—and that others of the same
kind are still to be seen lying around the country.29 But the
more common opinion is that they were brought there by the people
from a distance, perhaps Cornwall or the Channel Islands. If this
be true, it is evidence of a strong religious feeling, and a
peculiar value must have been attached to the material, since for
any ordinary monument the stones in the neighborhood would have
sufficed. Still nearer the center were five groups of three great
stones each, and immediately within these a horseshoe of smaller
stones. Finally, near the head of the horseshoe, a great slab of
sandstone is supposed to have served for an altar. The date of
the two structures just described has been a matter of some
dispute.

Stonehenge Restored.

It is worthy of notice that in the immediate neighborhood of both
of them are found a great number of barrows of the Bronze Age.
Over three hundred were erected in the neighborhood of the
latter. In the opinion of many this fixes their date in the
Bronze Age. Stonehenge, in its ruined state, has formed the
subject of no little speculation. Modern explorers, in connecting
it with the Bronze Age, have not dispelled from it the
enchantment of mystery. We must ever wonder as to the nature of
the rites there observed. Our questionings meet with but feeble
response; for though we have learned somewhat of past times, it
is comparatively but little. Ruined columns, crumbling burial
mounds, and remains of stone and bronze will always be surrounded
with more or less mystery—a striking illustration that science is
able to dispel but little of the darkness which unnumbered years
have thrown around the culture of the past.

Ancient Tower, Scotland. REFERENCES

The manuscript of this chapter was submitted to Prof. Chas.
Rau, of the Smithsonian Institution for criticism.

Brace’s “Races of the Old World,” p. 60.

Brace’s “Races of the Old World,” p. 61.

Dawkins’s “Early Man in Britain,” p. 343.

“One mass estimated to weigh two hundred tons.” Dana’s “Manual
of Mineralogy,” p. 291.

Evans’s “Ancient Bronze Implements,” p. 2.

Rau’s “Anthropological Subjects,” p. 89. In his preface to this
collection he asserts his belief, that “former inhabitants of
North America, notwithstanding all assertions to the contrary,
were unacquainted with the art of melting copper.” Ibid., vii.

Dawkins’s “Early Man in Britain,” p. 401.

“Dawn of History,” p. 367.

For an excellent discussion of this subject, about which there
is yet much uncertainty, we would refer the reader to Evans’s
“Ancient Bronze Implements,” chap. xxii.

Dawkins’s “Early Man in Britain,” p. 355.

Dawkins’s “Early Man in Britain,” p. 350.

“Prehistoric Times,” p. 34.

“Early Man in Britain,” p. 351.

Figuier’s “Primitive Man,” p. 255.

Rau’s “Early Man in Europe,” p. 135, and note.

Lubbock’s “Prehistoric Times,” p. 39.

Morgan’s “Ancient Society,” pp. 119, 120.

Dawkins’s “Early Man in Europe,” p. 449.

Dawkins’s “Early Man in Britain,” p. 383.

Lubbock’s “Prehistoric Times,” p. 157.

Lubbock’s “Prehistoric Times,” p. 74.

A.D., 995-1035.

Ferguson’s “Rude Stone Monuments.”

Dawkins’s “Early Man in Britain,” p. 367.

Figuier’s “Primitive Man,” p. 283.

Ferguson’s “Rude Stone Monuments.”

Dawkins’s “Early Man in Britain,” p. 377.

James’s “Stonehenge,” p. 3.