od
of casting, which displays great ingenuity. A model of the object
desired was made of wood or wax, and inclosed in prepared earth mixed
with some inflammable material, in order that, when subjected to heat,
it might become porous. The whole was then heated until the wax or wood
disappeared. The mold was then ready for use. The great advantage of
this method was that there were no projecting lines of junction to
disfigure the complete implement. This seems to have been the most
common method employed. This explains the fact, that we seldom find any
two bronze objects exactly similar to one another. Any impression left
on the wax model would be faithfully reproduced. Marks of the spatula,
with which the wax was worked, are frequently found; and, in one case,
the impression of the human finger was observed.<17>

A people as highly cultured as those of the Bronze Age must have had
some system of government, and one that was a sensible advance over
the government of the Neolithic people. In the Neolithic Age it was,
doubtless, tribe against tribe. Confederacies, the union of several
tribes for common purpose of defense, must have been more common at this
age.<18> The first Aryan tribes to arrive in Europe, as we have seen,
were the Celts. In time, they had to withstand the pressure of invasion
themselves. The Belgae, and other Germanic tribes, were also on the
move. But war at this period would partake more of the nature of people
against people, than of tribe against tribe. The civil and the military
departments of government must have taken more definite shape, and we
are not without evidence of fairly organized and disciplined forces. As
early as two thousand eight hundred years before Christ, the sea-coast
people of Europe, while yet in the Bronze Age, allied their forces for
the conquest of Egypt.<19>

We have referred to the influence of trade in shaping civilization. It
is commerce that to-day is carrying civilization to remote corners of
the globe. Long before the dawn of history, it was an active agent
in advancing culture. It is important to note the great expanse of
commerce, both inland and marine, which prevailed during the Bronze Age.
An important article of trade was, of course, bronze. The people who
first learned the secret of its manufacture would speedily find a demand
for their wares from surrounding tribes, and we have already pointed out
how this trade would quickly give rise to local manufactures.