Celts (named from the Late Latin celtis, a chisel), is the name given to certain prehistoric weapons or other implements of stone or bronze which have been found over nearly the whole surface of the earth. Stone celts are found in the form of hatchets, adzes, chisels, etc. In size they vary, some being found only about one inch in length, and others approaching two feet; but the most common length is from six to eight inches, and the breadth is usually about half or one third of the length. The materials of which they are made are flint, chert, clay-slate, porphyry, various kinds of greenstone and of metamorphic rocks, and, in short, any very hard and durable stone.
Bronze celts belong to a later period than stone ones, and are not so numerous. Some stone celts, however, have been found along with bronze celts in such a manner as to show that stone celts were still used when the method of working bronze had been discovered. Bronze celts are not found so large as the largest stone celts, the largest bronzecelt being under one foot; but the average size of a bronzecelt is about the same as that of a stone, namely about six inches. Research Celts
Crown-glass is the hardest and most colourless kind of window-glass, made almost entirely of sand and alkali and a little lime, and used in connection with flint-glass for optical instruments in order to destroy the disagreeable effect of the aberration of colours. Research Crown-Glass
Elf-bolt (also elf-arrow, elfer-stone and fairy-dart) was a name given to the flintarrow heads found in Britain. It was thought that these were fired by elves at domesticated animals. Research Elf-bolt
Flint Implements were used by man while unacquainted with the use of metals. For such implements other hard stones were also used, but the most numerous were formed of flint. They consist of arrow-heads, axe-heads, lance-beads, knives, scrapers, etc. Those of the palaeolithic period were unpolished, those of the neolithic polished. Flint implements were still used by some aboriginal tribes at the start of the 20th century, and research and field tests conducted during the 20th century revealed that flint implements can be very effective, as effective or even more so than their metal counterparts for some tasks. Research Flint Implements
The Neolithic period was the cultural period that lasted in south-west Asia from about 9000 to 6000 BC. and in Europe from about 4000 to 2400 BC and was characterised by primitive crop growing and stock rearing and the use of polished stone and flint tools and weapons. Research Neolithic
Stone Age is the name in anthropology for the period of human culture before the discovery and use of metal when man made his tools and weapons mainly of flint, but sometimes of other stones, and later of bone, horn and ivory or wood. Research Stone Age
Xanthidium is a genus of minute unicellular algae of the desmids having a rounded shape and armed with glochidiate or branched aculei. Several species occur in ditches, and others are found fossilised in flint and hornstone. Research Xanthidium
The Creek Indians (Muskogee) are an aboriginal North American people of the Muskogean family who originally lived on the Flint, Chattahoochee, Coosa and Alabama Rivers and in the peninsular of Florida. The Muskogee were called the Creeks by the British in allusion to their villages being located close to rivers and creeks. They were farmers planting maize, beans, millet, tobacco and sunflowers, hunters who hunted deer and bison in the west, and gatherers who collected and stored nuts and wild fruits. The Creek Indians lived in settlements comprising a main town surrounded by small villages. The main town contained a 'square' where public and religious gatherings were held. The houses were originally built of logs with mud or thatched roofs, later the styles of frontier home built by the Europeans were adopted.
During the 17th century attacks by Europeans had decimated many of the coastal dwelling Creek people, but it was not until the overthrow of the French that they came completely under English influence. During the American War of Independence the Creeks joined the British, assisting in an attack on Wayne's army in 1782. In 1790 they made a friendly treaty, but renewed hostilities in 1792. Another treaty was made in 1796 and in 1802 and 1805 they began to cedelands. Joining the English in the American War of 1812, they attacked Fort Mimms on August the 30th 1813 and massacred 400 people. The Creek Indians suffered repeated defeats, and were completely overthrown by General Jackson at Horseshoe Bend on March the 27th 1814. A peace treaty followed in which the Creeks surrendered large tracts of land. Early in the 19th century a part of the Creeks removed to Louisiana and later to Texas. A treaty was made on 1825 by William McIntosh, a mixed bloodCreek of a Scottish father and Creek mother ceding more lands which resulted in his murder for 'selling the graves of the ancestors' and the treaty was repudiated. The Creeknation then divided, one party favouring emigration, the other opposing it. In 1836 a part aided the US Government against the Seminole Indians, but the remainder attacked the frontier towns of Georgia and Alabama. General Scott killed large numbers of the Creek Indians and the survivors were removed to a reservation between the Arkansas and the Canadian. The American Civil War again divided the tribe, those supporting the Union being defeated by those supporting the Confederacy. In 1866 the Creeklands were further reduced with a large tract being ceded to the US Government. Research Creek Indians
Abbreviations
Research Celts
