The herald., 1894-09-23

| llko COpp6E, tHO low A1thC0 az NbAcA@ Az ~
| found are almost inexhauetible. To de-
tect the existence OF this mstal In the
ore, then disengage it, and finally after
blending it with copper in the right
| proportions to cast IL in a mold. be-
speak keen sagacity aud skill. For this
reason, though copper relics are COM
paratively rare in Europe, it seems prob.
able that's brief copper age preceded
that Of bronze. We know that copper
utensils wero extensively used by the
mound builders OF the Ohio and Missis-
sippi valleys, who are believed to have
| fiourished many thousands OF yeRrs ago,
and that ancient shafts and mining
tools have been discovered in the rich
deposits OF native copper in Upper
| Michigan. When Columbus discovered
America bronze was in general use in
the partially civilized countries OF Mex
leo and Peru.
To indulge again in conjecture, per-
haps some acute stone age mau, wander.
ing along the upper Euphrates. that
cradle OF ancient civilization, discovered
mine OF native copper, aud, curiously
handling nugget, discerned that, un-
like stone, it was malleabie, and at
the same time had sufficient firmness OF
| texture to retain a hammer face or
| CubbinH cQkO QuQof uuo. lAcoC OhOA-
nous advantages OF copper over stone
could not long remain fruitless, and soon
led to experiments which resulted in it's
fusion for the purpose of moulding, and
then TO the admixture OF an alloy with
IL to give it great hardness. Tin is ono
| OF the most fusible OF metals, melting
at 442 degrees Fshrenheit, and there
fore was most likely to be first associ-
ated with it.
1t is noteworthy fact that one of the
Oldest and most productive tin mines in
| Cornwall, England, is interlaced with
veins OF copper, so rich In places that
the mine has been alternately worked
for copper and tin. How probable, then,
that an accidental or experimental
union of the two metals should have
been made OF very early stage OF cop
per mining in that locality.
| We cannot assign definite period to
the bronze age, nor determine within q
range OF many centuries the time when
bronze utensils began TO displace those
of stone. More abundant data, partly
OF a historical character, enable us to
offer con jectural estimate of the peri
cd of transition from bronze to iron.
Neither transition was oontemporaneou
over the habitable globe. Rather such
changes were slow and gradual, and we
have reason TO believe thst Western
Asia, Egypt and Southern Europe,
countries bordering on the eastern
shores of the Mediterranean sea, had
advanced through the bronze ana iron
ages to the use OF written characters,
while portions OF Central Europe were
cropping in the stone and bronze ages.
Hesiod (supposed to have written
about 800 B. O., the earliest European n
author whose works have come down to
us) states that iron was discovered later
than copper and tin, and speaking OF
thoGe who were ancient in his day. he
said they used bronze and not iron.
Reputable authorities place the epoch
| of bronze in Europe somewhere from
1000 to 1000 years before the Christian
era. Other writers. equally plausible,
push the beginning OF the bronze age
still farther into the remote past and
contend that 1000 to 5000 years have
elapsed since the fret introduction OF
bronze into Central Europe. That the
Phmncians OF Western Asia. and their
colonies along both shores OF the Med-
terranean, were acquainted with tne
nature OF bronze long anterior to it's use
north OF the Alps there can be little
aqRhn ars 81 sfoazs Is mRee maReens vas i'm
troduced into Europe and did not
originate there.
The bronze obJscts, strictly refera BILE
to the bronze age, which have been
brought to light within the last 40 yeara
and which have been labeled and cata-
logued in the museums of Europe. are
very numerous-40,0 900 in mum Der. They
embrace wide range of articles, in-
cluding knives, axes, chisels, hammers,
laws. fish hooks, sickles, arrows. rings,
eances, owords, bracelets, hairpinB, but
tons, combe. etc.
1t is remarkable that no coins, in
ucriptions or heiroglyphics have been
traced to the bronze age. The potter's
wheel was unknown, but the art OF pot
tory advanced from the simply useful 10
the ornamental, the ceramic crsze hav-
ing reached its first esthetic stare.
While we tind circles, spirals and ESQ.
metrical figure5 painted on earthenware
end engraved on some OF the bronze OBJ
jecta, there are no representations OF
plants or animals, a characteristic OF the
succeeding or iron age.
The remarkable race who inhabited
the lake dwellings of Switzerland have
lett behind them many evidences OF
/ their peculiar civilization during this
epoch. No lesa than 69 of their villages,
containing an aggregate population esti-
mated at 43, 0O0. are assigned to this age,
| thore being no iron implements associ-
eted with tho bronze relica, while among
the debris OF other ancient lake villages
the iron relics were plentiful aud even
| predominated in numbers. These viii
lagea were built OF piles driven into the
shallow water near the margin OF the
lake. The piles were covered with 8
ylatiorm, on which the primitive
thatched cottages ware erected in groups.
and appeoacned from the shore by port
able bridges. Some OF the villages were
repeatedly burned to the water's edge,
tho ashes and cinders eerving TO pre-
serve partially consumed articles of food
and clothing. OF great Importance in
estimating their place in the ecale of
civiliZe tion.
The relics dredged up from the debris
of these vilegea supply the materias
for vivid picture OF the gradual prog.
ress made by mon through successive
genera tions In the stone and bronze
ages. Az Cuvier could restore an ex.
tinct animal by examining one of it's
bones; or as Agassz, being handed a
tish scale, proceeded TO correctly dsline-
ate the fan to which it belonged, and
which he had never seen 40 the arche
ologist, studying these msagre rolics,
endeavors to reoFganizs prehistoric soci :
al ard AploU IN with thoso okt-;hr4o.