Welsh Journals

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ment factories, such as have been found in Ulster and at Penmaenmawr. In these places stone axes in all stages of manufacture have been found, in such large numbers, as to make it clear, that they were made locally for use elsewhere. Places, like the Breiddens, where a suitable, hard rock crops out at the surface, would be favourable situations for such prehistoric factories. In other parts of the county there are outcrops of bands of hard grits, which would be tough enough to make useful axe heads. Mention might be made also of hitherto undated remains, such as the hearths," or cooking places, which occur quite frequently in Cardiganshire, and probably also in Montgomeryshire, though, as far as my memory serves, they have not been recorded in the latter county. They consist of heaps of broken and burnt stones, generally close to a stream and they can often be recognised, especially in peaty areas, by a clump of gorse growing on them, owing to the greater dryness of the soil. The Bronze Age appears to have lasted to a later date in Wales than in England. In this area we can point to very few Iron Age objects of pre-Roman date. Why was the spread of the use of iron from England to Wales delayed for several centuries ? Was the local climate rather wetter, and less attractive than usual during the last few centuries before Christ, or was there some political or religious influence tending toward isolation and conservatism ? It would be interesting to know more of the origin and work of the Druids, though a study of these would lead us far beyond the limits of our own area. The period just about the beginning of the Christian Era was an important one for Wales. It appears to have witnessed the incoming of a new people, with a new culture and, possibly, with a new language. Wherevi r