occasionally gold.

One small object assumes a great importance on account of its wide
distribution. This is the conical button with two converging holes in
its base to pass the thread through. This little object, which may have
served exactly the purpose of the modern button, occurs in several parts
of the megalithic area. There are examples in Malta made of stone and
shell. Elsewhere it is most usually of bone. It occurs in Sardinia, in
France, in the rock-tombs of Gard, and in the corridor and rock-tombs of
Lozere and Ardeche, in Portugal in the _allee couverte_ of Monte
Abrahao, in Bohuslaen (Sweden), and at Carrowmore in Ireland. Outside the
megalithic area it has been found in two of the Swiss lake-dwellings and
in Italy.

The pottery of the megalithic people was of a simple type. It was all
made by hand, the potter's wheel being still unknown to the makers.
Pottery with painted designs does not occur outside Sicily, except for
a few poor and late examples in Malta. The best vases were of fairly
purified clay, moderately well fired, and having a polished surface,
usually of a darkish colour. On this surface were often incised
ornamental designs, varying both in type and in the skill with which
they were engraved. As a rule the schemes were rectilinear, more rarely
they were carried out in curves. Sardinia furnishes some fine examples
of rectilinear work, while the best of the curved designs are found in
Malta, where elaborate conventional and even naturalistic patterns are
traced out with wonderful freedom and steadiness of hand.

The pottery of the megalithic area is not all alike; it would be
surprising if it were. Even supposing that the invaders brought with
them a single definite style of pottery-making this would rapidly become
modified by local conditions and by the already existing pottery
industry of the country, often, no doubt, superior to that of the
new-comers. Nevertheless, there are a few points of similarity between
the pottery of various parts of the megalithic area. The most remarkable
example is the bell-shaped cup, which occurs in Denmark, England,
France, Spain, Sardinia, and possibly Malta (the specimen is too broken
for certainty). Outside the area it is found in Bohemia, Hungary, and
North Italy. Here, as in the case of the conical button, we cannot argue
that the form was actually introduced by the megalithic race, though
there is a certain possibility in favour of such a hypothesis.