Axes, however, of this kind were not merely used in battle, but as insignia of rank. The original, for example, of Fig. 149 consists of a thin layer of bronze cast upon a nucleus of clay, sixteen inches long, and covered with a thin plating of gold. It obviously could not have been used as a weapon. Shields also composed of thin plates of bronze with the edge turned over a thick bronze wire, such as Fig. 150, were used by the warriors.
Fig. 150.—Bronze Shield in repoussé, Denmark.
Gold vessels and ornaments are met with, worked in repoussé, as in Fig. 151. The Bronze age in Scandinavia is remarkable not merely for the beauty of the workmanship, more especially of the hilts of the short leaf-shaped swords, but for the variety of weapons and orna-
