from Pit XVI. Plate LXIII., Fig. 2, represents a pair of smith's tongs, 18 inches in length, such a tool as would be used for making nave-bands or other light work (Pit XVI). Plate LXIII., Fig. 4, shows another pair of smith's tongs, 16 inches in length. These also are intended for light work. They were perhaps used for drawing out the heads of spears or for forging bolts. It should be noted that they have been made for a left-handed man (Pit XVI).
In addition to the mower's anvil already described, the smith's stock found in Pit XVI contained a small anvil, 4¾ inches high, ending in a rectangular face from which the steel has evidently been broken off (Plate LXIII., Fig. 10). When in use, it would be inserted in a block of wood. This is the sort of anvil on which nails would be pointed. Plate LXIII., Figs. 8, 9 and 12, are pieces of solid iron (Pit XVI) which were doubtless used in the camp smithy as mandrels on which to shape square staples such as are still employed for carts. A heavier hammer than any of those in the smith's stock came from Pit XVII. It is illustrated in Plate LVII., Fig. 6, and measures 13½ inches in length. At one end it is brought to an edge 2½ inches wide, while at the other end it is flattened and is roughly octagonal in shape. The eye is oval. This hammer weighs 11 lbs. 10 oz.
From the Smith's Stock
Passing from tools, one has next to catalogue a number of pieces of iron, so miscellaneous in character as to render classification difficult. They include articles of which the use is uncertain, things in process of manufacture, and mountings and fastenings. To the first category, and also no doubt partly to the second, belong several of the objects that formed part of the smith's stock in Pit XVI. Of these the most striking are five beautifully forged rods of iron. Four of them are illustrated in Plate LXIV., Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 5. They measure from 9 inches to 13 inches in length, and are decorated with a series of hammered mouldings expanding at a central point into a larger disc 21⁄8 inches in diameter. The pattern is the same in all of the pieces. In spite of the fact that they are obviously incomplete, they seem to represent, in the hoard, old metal about to be used again rather than work in an unfinished condition. It will be noted that in all of them the mouldings on either side of the larger disc correspond, a circumstance which suggests that they were used in a horizontal rather than in a perpendicular position. This fact, together with the number found, five pieces, gives a clue to the purpose for which they were forged. They must have formed part of the connecting
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