File:The ancient stone implements, weapons, and ornaments, of Great Britain (1872) (14598654987).jpg

Identifier: stoneimplementsw00evaniala (find matches)
Title: The ancient stone implements, weapons, and ornaments, of Great Britain
Year: 1872 (1870s)
Authors: Evans, John, Sir, 1823-1908
Subjects: Stone age -- Great Britain Great Britain -- Antiquities
Publisher: London : Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer
Contributing Library: Getty Research Institute
Digitizing Sponsor: Sloan Foundation

View Book Page: Book Viewer
About This Book: Catalog Entry
View All Images: All Images From Book
Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.

Text Appearing Before Image:
improbably be observed on other specimens, like that fromGlenshee already mentioned. * Arch., vol. xli. p. 405. t Horae Fer., p. 134. Trans. ITisf. Soc. Lane anil Chesh., vol. xiv. pi. ii. 3. 138 POLISHED CELTS. (cHAP. VI. The Sohvay Moss hatcliet was found by a labourer digging peat,at tlie depth of rather more than six feet, and the handle appearsto have been broken, even at the time when the sketch was madefrom which the woodcut given in the Proceedings of the Society ofA)itiqi!arie.i*v>^a,s engraved, which is, by permission, here reproduced.In drying, the haft has, imfortunately, quite lost its form, and isstill further broken. The process of preserving wood when inthe tender condition in which it is found after long burial in peatwas probably not known at the time. It has been adopted withgreat success by Mr. Engelhardt in preserving the wooden anti-quities from the Danish peat bogs, and consists in keeping theobjects moist until they have been well steeped, or even boiled, in
Text Appearing After Image:
Fig. 91.—Solway Moss. a strong solution of almn, after which they are allowed to drygradually, and are found to retain their form in a remarkablemanner. It is probably owing to the broken and distorted condition ofthe wood that the sketch was inaccurate as to the position of theblade with regard to the handle, for the mark of the wood whereit was in contact with the stone is still visible, and proves that thecentral line of the blade was inclined outwards at an angle ofabout 110° to the haft, instead of being nearly vertical, as shown.The edge of the hatchet is oblique to nearly the same extent as theinclination of the blade to the haft. It would seem from this thatthe obliquity of the edge was in some cases connected with themethod of hafting, and not always, as suggested by Nilsson,t theresult of the blade being most worn away in the part farthestfrom the hand holding the shaft. The preservation of thewooden handle has been more successfully efiected in the case ofthe celt shown

Note About Images