A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE It seems probable that the use of iron was introduced into southern Britain not later than the fourth or fifth century B.C., and that by the second or third century B.C. the employment of bronze for cutting instruments had practically ceased. The Britons with whom Julius Caesar came in contact had, no doubt, iron or steel weapons, and were on the whole as highly civilized as the Gaulish tribes on the continent, with whom they were so closely related. They carried on a considerable commerce, and were acquainted with the art of coining, which, as we shall subsequently see, was practised by the British rulers of Hertford- shire upon an extensive scale. It would be out of place here to enlarge upon the sword-sheaths, mirrors and shields, the decorations of which are very characteristic of the late-Celtic period, inasmuch as none of them seem to have been found in Hertfordshire. The actual relics that may be claimed for the county are but few. A bronze knife from Wigginton has already been mentioned, and in the same parish what seems to be the linch-pin l of a chariot was found in the year 1867. Its total length is about 4^ inches. The central part con- sists of a slight square bar of iron with bronze terminals at either end. At the upper end is a spherical knob of bronze, decorated with groups of three small projecting pellets, and having a small perforation through it ; beyond this is a disc with moulded circumference, and adorned at the flat end with three projecting knobs joined by curved ribs. At the other end the bronze is in the shape of the forefoot of a horse, with the fetlock joint bent. Another relic of late-Celtic date was found on the same side of the county in a water-cress ditch at Broadway 2 near Bourne End, in the parish of Northchurch, about the year 1867. It is the fragment of a blade of an iron sword still preserved within a plain bronze sheath, and is now deposited in the British Museum. A bronze enamelled armlet, said to have been found at Verulam, 8 exhibited to the British Archaeological Association in 1874, was thought by Mr. Syer Cuming to be ' Keltic, and that it might have been brought into this country from Ireland.' Though it is stated to be * cer- tainly of a very rare type,' no description of it is given. Pottery belonging to the late-Celtic period has been found near Hitchin. 4 A bronze helmet 8 found at the same place and now in the Museum at Colchester may not improbably be of late-Celtic date. Another bronze helmet found at Northcot Hill near Tring is of much the same character, and now in the British Museum ; it has been figured in the Vetusta Monumental Both have been commented upon by the late Sir A. Wollaston Franks. 1 Proc. Sac. Ant.) 2nd ser. iv. p. 63. * ArchtsoL, xlv. p. 254, liii. p. 247.
- Brit. Arch. Assoc. Journ., xxx. p. 92.
4 Proc. Soc. Ant., xiii. p. 16; Arch, jfourn., xxxix. p. 426 ; Brit. Arch. Assoc. Journ. xlii. p. 422. 6 Proc. Sac. Ant., 2nd ser. v. p. 362. 6 Vol. v., pi. 26, 27 ; Hor* Ferales, p. 170. 236
