e have seen, there was no attempt made to represent
animal forms by way of ornaments; but we meet with such representations
during the early part of the Iron Age. This shows how they ornamented
the sheath of a sword found in one of the Swiss lakes.

Illustrations of Ornamental Sword-sheath and Swords.--------

The warriors of the early Iron Age possessed leaf-shaped swords for
stabbing. The hilts were of bronze. This period was a struggle for
existence, on the part of the various tribes of Europe. War must have
been very common, so it is not strange that a large number of relics
of this age are of warlike implements. Lance-heads, javelins, and
arrow-heads have been found in abundance. It appears, from experiments
ordered by the Emperor Napoleon III, that the javelins could only have
been used as missile weapons, and that they were thrown, not by the hand
merely grasping the shaft, but by means of a cord or thong, something
after the principle of a sling.<10>

Some years ago an old battle-field was discovered at Tiefenau, in
Switzerland. On it were found a great number of objects made of iron,
such as fragments of chariots, bits for horses, wheels, pieces of coats
of mail, and arms of various sorts, including no less than a hundred
two-handed swords. All of these were made of iron.<11> The soldiers
also carried with them shields, made sometimes of bronze, as in the cut
below, or of wood, studded with iron.

Illustrations of Lance-head and Javelin and Shields.----

There is evidence of considerable volume of trade at this time. The
Mediterranean was the theater of an extended commerce. Phoenician
sailors not only ventured to brave the Mediterranean sea, but carried
their vessels out on the Atlantic at as early a date as 500 B.C. The
or as it is known in modern times, Marseilles, was the seat of a
thriving trade. African ivory has been found in the tombs of Hallstadt,
in Austria, in connection with ornaments of amber from the Baltic, and
gold from Transylvania. The inhabitants of this town possessed in their
salt mines the source of a lucrative trade. The trader of the Iron Age
was able to take an immense stride by reason of the invention of money.
Heretofore, in Europe, we have not met with coins, and trade must have
been carried on by means of barter.

Illustration of a Gallic Coin.--------------

Acquainted as we are at the present day with money and the mechanism of
exchange, it is difficult to see