look for the
prototypes of the copper halberd among the stone implements of the
preceding period. In the Bann Valley many flint wedges or picks have
been found, which may, perhaps, have influenced the copper halberds;
and if a stone pick-like instrument was in use in Neolithic times, it
may explain to some extent the prevalence of the metal halberd in
Ireland in the copper period. When the blades were made larger, the
curved form would come into existence, being suggested by the
deer-horn picks already in use. Copper came into use in Ireland, we
may suppose, in no sudden or violent manner. On the contrary, the
transition from stone was probably of some duration. The use of copper
made its way up through Europe, spreading from the lands of the
eastern Mediterranean along the old trade routes of Neolithic times,
influenced by the search for new deposits of ore. Though at first
implements of copper, and even, perhaps, the metal, might be carried a
considerable distance, an early use of the local ores seems to explain
the case better.

Whether this new knowledge of metal, coming from the eastern
Mediterranean, first crept round by way of Spain, or struck across
the Continent to the north and west of Europe, and so to Ireland, we
cannot at present definitely say; the line of march, as indicated by
the halberds, which are strangely deficient both in the south and the
north of France, seems to point to north Germany and Scandinavia, by
way of the rich ore-fields of middle Europe. But the archaeology of the
Peninsula for this early period is at present too uncertain to speak
with confidence. There are indications, even in Neolithic times,
which, perhaps, point to Spain; but, again, there are relations which
indicate a considerable correspondence with Brittany and the North of
France in the early Bronze Age. The late Dr. Much ("Die Kupferzeit,"
p. 131) compared the Irish halberds with the Spanish and German
examples, and came to the conclusion that the Irish halberds were
later than the Spanish and earlier than the German. This view is
supported by the form of the Irish halberds, which are more primitive
in type than the German examples.

Any conclusion as to the probable date when the halberds were in use
in Ireland can only be arrived at in an indirect and approximate
manner. We are, on the whole, inclined to think it is probable that
the Irish halberds were influenced by the Spanish examples; and
Herr Hubert Schmidt, who h