Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XVI - The Royal Museum of Northern Antiquities
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
Chap. XVI.
MUSEUM: AGE OF BRONZE.
237
sors, ponderous and unwieldy, attest men of strength, of
thew, and sinew, the delicate-hilted swords of this age
are too small to he grasped by modern hands, the
girdles and bracelets too narrow to encircle the waists
and wrists of ladies of the nineteenth century. It is
evident they belonged to some small-limbed race, like
the Hindoos of the present day, who had no connexion
with their predecessors. Still the use of this
newly-discovered metal did not entirely supersede that of stone;
the material, on its first introduction, was too costly for
the poorer inhabitants. They profited, however, by the
designs introduced into their country by the artificers
of bronze. The hatchets of this period are novel in form,
and of marked superiority in execution to those of the
earlier period, plainly showing that the workman did
not hesitate to take his models from articles cast in the
more valuable material.
Ornaments of gold were introduced at the same
period, and soon among the richer inhabitants
superseded the use of amber and bone. Of silver we have no
mention; it was as yet unknown, and only occurs
intermixed in the ore of the native gold. Of glass, the few
beads that have been discovered merely serve to prove
the existence of the material.
The workmanship, in an artistic point of view, is so
superior to that of the Iron age, as to make one almost
regret the introduction later of this metal.
The custom of burning the dead now prevailed; the
ashes of the deceased were collected and enclosed in cones
of pottery, or small stone cists; his arms, household
utensils, and ornaments were ranged around within the
barrow or høi. Frequently when these objects were of
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
