A HISTORY OF ESSEX of lozenge shape, and provided with a flat tang ; the blade is 3! inches in length by i^ inches in width at the widest point, the tang being i| inches long by inch in width. A very fine sword or dagger of bronze was found on Cains farm in North Weald. It is 15! inches in total length and is illustrated in the Essex Naturalist (viii. 163). Space will not allow mention of the numerous other weapons and implements of the bronze age, but we may note in conclusion the remains of a fine bronze bowl from Walthamstow in the British Museum. It is of about 1 6 inches diameter, and retains the heads of the rivets by which the plates were attached. THE LATE CELTIC PERIOD OR IRON AGE At a date which may be approximated at about 400 B.C. a fresh swarm of invaders came, bringing knowledge of the preparation of iron, and the habit of using the metal, which caused this period to be known as the ' early iron age.' Iron did not entirely supplant bronze, indeed the latter continued long in use, sometimes in conjunction with iron, as in knives or swords, of which the blades were of iron and the handles of bronze, sometimes alone, as in body armour of Roman soldiers the first armour known to British archaeologists. Finds of early iron are comparatively rare notwithstanding the enormous use to which the metal was doubtless put, for unfortunately iron is as perishable as it is useful. In Neville's Sepulchra Exposita (p. 10) is an account of the dis- covery at Wendon * of iron spearheads and the iron boss of a buckler, together with a vase of unbaked clay, apparently of early iron age. Belonging probably to the same period were the finds on Fambridge farm, 2 where in 1851 a hand-made urn was found on a crescent of burnt flints, together with other vessels in fragmentary condition. 3 In the marshes of the Lea by Walthamstow relics have been found which indicate the existence of settlements in the iron age ; notable among these is the iron celt with loop, now in the British Museum. Its form is peculiar, while its interest is increased by the fact that fragments of its wooden handle remain in the socket (fig. 34). Celts of iron are rare, but Sir John Evans records one 5^ inches long, with a rounded socket and no loop, found at Grays Thurrock in Essex. 4 Two coarse cylindrical urns thought to belong to this age and found at Great Bentley are in the Colchester collection. They stand about 9! inches high with a diameter of 7 inches. Associated with fragments of early pottery, coarse, heavy rings of 1 It is not clear whether Wendon Lofts is intended or Wendens Ambo. 8 This farm is partly in Cressing and partly in White Notley parish. 8 Essex Arch. Soc. Trans, ii. 240. 4 Ancient Bronze Implements, p. 144. 268
