English Villages | Page 9

had occasion to refer. Some lengthy period of
geological change separates him from his predecessor of the Old Stone
Age. Specimens of his handiwork show that he was a much more
civilised person than his predecessor, and presented a much higher type
of humanity. He had a peculiarly shaped head, the back part of the skull
being strangely prolonged; and from this feature he is called
dolichocephalic. He was small in stature, about 5 feet 6 inches in height,

having a dark complexion, and his descendants are the Iberian or
Basque races in the Western Pyrenees and may still be traced in parts of
Ireland and Wales. The long barrows or mounds, the length of which is
greater than the breadth, contain his remains, and we find traces of his
existence in all the western countries of Europe.
He had made many discoveries which were unknown to his Old Stone
predecessor. Instead of always hunting for his food, like an animal, he
found out that the earth would give him corn with which he could make
bread, if only he took the trouble to cultivate it. Instead of always
slaying animals, he found that some were quite ready to be his servants,
and give him milk and wool and food. He brought with him to our
shores cows and sheep and goats, horses and dogs. Moreover he made
pottery, moulding the clay with his hand, and baking it in a fire. He had
not discovered the advantages of a kiln. He could spin thread, and
weave stuffs, though he usually wore garments of skins.
His dwellings were no longer the caves and forests, for he made for
himself rude pit huts, and surrounded himself, his tribe, and cattle with
a circular camp. Traces of his agricultural operations may still be found
in the "terraces," or strips of ground on hillsides, which preserve the
marks of our early Neolithic farmers.
[Illustration: BARBED AND LEAF-SHAPED ARROW-HEADS]
Their implements are far superior to those of the Old Stone men, and
are found on the surface of our fields, or on hillsides, where they tended
their flocks, or dug their rude pit shelters. Their weapons and tools are
highly polished, and have evidently been ground on a grindstone. They
are adapted for an endless variety of uses, and are most skilfully and
beautifully fashioned. There are finely wrought arrowheads, of three
shapes--barbed, tanged and barbed, and leaf-shaped; axes, scrapers for
cleansing and preparing skins for clothing, hammer stones, wedges,
drills, borers, knives, and many other tools. In the Reading Museum
may be seen a heavy quartzite axe and chipped flint hatchet, which
were found with some charred timber on an island in the Thames, and
were evidently used for scooping out the interior of a boat from a tree
with the aid of fire. So this New Stone man knew how to make boats as

well as a vast number of other things of which we shall presently speak
more particularly. His descendants linger on in South Wales and
Ireland, and are short in stature, dark in complexion, and
narrow-skulled, like their forefathers a few thousand years ago.
[Illustration: NEOLITHIC AND BRONZE IMPLEMENTS]
Another wave of invaders swept over our land, and overcame the
long-headed Neolithic race. These were the Celtic people, taller and
stronger than their predecessors, and distinguished by their fair hair and
rounded skulls. From the shape of their heads they are called
Brachycephalic, and are believed to have belonged to the original
Aryan race, whose birthplace was Southern Asia. At some remote
period this wave of invaders poured over Europe and Asia, and has left
traces behind it in the languages of all Indo-European nations.
Their weapons were made of bronze, although they still used polished
stone implements also. We find chisels, daggers, rings, buttons, and
spear-heads, all made of bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, and
fashioned by the skilled hands of these early Celtic folk. As they
became more civilised, being of an inventive mind, they discovered the
use of iron and found it a more convenient metal for fashioning axes to
cut down trees.
When Caesar came to Britain he found that the inhabitants knew the
use of iron, even the less civilised early Celtic settlers driven
northwards and westwards by the Belgae, had iron weapons, and the
wild Caledonians in the time of Severus, although they were naked,
woad-dyed savages, wore iron collars and girdles and were armed with
metal weapons.
Such are some of the relics of antiquity which the soil of our native
land retains, as a memorial of the primitive people who first trod upon
it. Concerning their lives and records history is silent, until the
Conqueror tells us something of our Celtic forefathers. From the scanty
remains of prehistoric races, their weapons and