The Iron Age in Britain.
The Prehistoric Iron age in Britain was probably of short duration in comparison with that of Bronze. It is represented principally by the contents of an insignificant number of tombs, and by numerous isolated articles, of which the age can only be fixed by the identity of the ornamentation with that of well-known artistic styles.
Arms and Equipage.
No difference is noticeable in the habitations and forts in Britain in the Iron age, as compared with those of Bronze. The crannoges of Ireland were still inhabited, as well as the camps which had been made in the Neolithic and used in the succeeding age. It is, however, clear from the observations of Cæsar, that the small isolated communities which we have observed in the Neolithic age were welded together, and formed larger bodies obedient to one rule. The civilisation was much higher, partly from the accumulation of wealth, and partly from contact, direct and indirect, with the culture of the south.
The warriors in the Iron age of Prehistoric Britain were armed with short, leaf-shaped iron swords for stabbing, modelled on those of bronze, and afterwards, and especially in the north,[1] with long iron swords without a point,[2] probably used for cutting and not thrusting. For the latter purpose bronze is far better, and with the
- ↑ Tacitus, Agricola, c. 56. For the history of the long swords, see Kemble and Franks, Horæ Ferales.
- ↑ The entrenchments at Stanwick have furnished a considerable quantity of antiquities of the Prehistoric Iron age, including enamels, and remains of chariots, of chain-mail, and a long iron sword.—Journ. Archæol, Institute, York vol.
