Copper.Tin.Antimony.Arsenic.Lead.Silver.Iron.Bismuth,Nickel,Zinc.1King’s Co.Day Coll., No. 25,99.020.22NilNil0.190.260.04Nil2Antrim,1903, 235, No. 9,97.310.310.140.18NilNilNilNil3Galway,W. 241, No. 19,98.060.22NilNil0.58Nil0.17Nil4Cork,R. 459, No. 7,98.300.300.270.37NilNilNilNil5W. 248, No. 28,97.240.18Nil1.54Nil0.25NilNilFig. 11.—Halberds from North Germany and Sweden after Montelius.The manner in which the halberd blades were attached to their shafts is explained by the bronze halberds with bronzeshafts—the blade and upper part of the shaft often in one piece—from North Germany and from Sweden. These halberds are referred to an early stage of the Bronze Age; but they are of bronze, and, in casting and other features, show a considerable advance on a primitive type; the large imitation rivets cast in the head of the shaft no doubt represent an earlier form in which the shaft was of wood and the rivets real. Ten bronze halberd blades were found together near Stendal in Prussian Saxony, but without handles, four of which are figured by Montelius in “Die Chronologie der ältesten Bronzezeit,” figs. 115-118. An analysis of one of the blades gave 15 per cent. of tin and of a rivet 4·5 per cent. of tin. From the straight mark across the blades, and some bronze tubular pieces for the handles, there seems no doubt that they were intended for straight woodenhandles, and thus represent the earlier type. The blades are about 12¼ inches in length. It is important to note that the rivets are of two kinds: some are large and stout like the usual Irish form; and some have metal washers, like the solitary example found in Ireland (fig.7), and which has caused some authorities to consider the Irish halberd blades somewhat later than we should care to place them. In general appearance these halberd blades from Stendal are closer to the Irish halberds than any of the others which have been found on the Continent, but do not include the curved or scythe-shaped form common to Ireland. Copper halberds, with remains of transverse wooden shafts, have been found by the brothers Siret on the south-east of Spain. In this case they go back to the very beginning of the bronze age in this district. The form of the blades is, however, in most casesT-shaped, and different from the Irish examples (fig.12). Halberds attached to their shafts are also shown on the prehistoric rock-markings in the “Italian Maritime Alps,” published by Mr. C. Bicknell. The actual blades, however, that can be classified with any certainty as halberds are very rare in the North and Middle Italian districts, though some of the copper and early bronze triangular dagger forms may have been occasionally mounted as halberds. It is possible, however, that the decoration of certain halberds found in Germany may have been influenced by that of the Italian dagger.Fig. 12.—Halberts from South-east Spain.The halberd blade can be distinguished from the broad dagger by the shape of the handle, which is curved or indented in the case of the dagger, but straight across in the case of the halberd. There is, however, another point. The hindmost rivets, both in the case of the blades with four rivets and those with three only, are shorter than those in front of them. The shortness of the end-rivets and slope of the heads imply that the handle was rounded off behind the blade, as would be the case with a transverse shaft. So there appears no room to doubt the manner in which the long scythe-shaped blades were mounted on handles, though some uncertainty was formerly expressed on the subject. The Irish halberd-blades were evidently mounted at right angles to the shaft in the same way as most of the Continental blades, as can be seen from the straight-across marks of the handle, which can be traced on several examples.Fig. 13.—Rock Markings, Maritime Alps.From the analyses of copper halberds, it will be seen that the tin varies from ·18 to ·31 per cent. We may therefore conclude that the copper halberds are simply coarse or unrefined copper from similar ores to the copper celts; and that the copper implements found in Ireland may contain up to about ·5 per cent. of tin. An increasing percentage of tin was not found in any of the copper celts, or, contrary to expectation, in the copper halberds; but, judging from the widespreaduse of copper implements in Ireland, from which it may be inferred that copper remained in use for a considerable time, it seems probable that bronze was introduced as an alloy of a known percentage of tin. As relatively few analyses of Irish bronze implements have been made, it is not possible at present to come to any fixed conclusions on the subject of the introduction of bronze into Ireland.Fig. 14.—Stone Pick from the Bann.Fig. 15.—Deer Horn Pick.Also, in the case of the halberds, the great rarity of any specimens of bronze blades which can be classified as halberds indicates that the form of implement practically ceased to be used when bronze came into use in Ireland. As the copper celts show a gradual transition from stone to metal forms, it seems reasonable to 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 prevalenceof 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 archæology 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 theSpanish examples; and Herr Hubert Schmidt, who has worked out in much detail a scheme of chronology for this period, based upon the Egyptian dating of Professor Eduard Meyer, places the finds from El Argar at from 2500 to 2360b.c.[11]Allowing, therefore, some margin on the later side, we should probably be fairly safe in placing the period when the halberds were in use in Ireland at the end of the third and beginning of the second millenniumb.c.We must remember that the whole of the Irish Bronze Age has to be fitted in after the copper period; and if we are to allow sufficient room for the several periods and their approximate correspondence with the periods of the Continental chronology, it is not easy to see how this dating can be much reduced. It may be noted that Montelius in his recent scheme of Bronze Age chronology for the British Islands, treats the halberds as bronze, and places them in his second period (first period of the true Bronze Age) dated from the beginning of the second millennium to the seventeenth centuryb.c.[12]CHAPTER IIIFirst and Later Periods of the Bronze AgeEven during the copper period an evolution can be traced in the celt. The cutting-edge has been expanded; and the thickest part of the celt has been moved up from just above the cutting-edge to the centre. Until, however, we get into the Bronze Age, there has been no trace of a stop-ridge. When we get into the true Bronze Age, we find a complete and probably fairly rapid evolution of type from the flat celt to the final socketed form. Analyses of Irish celts on a large scale have not been made; but such analyses as have been done do not indicate an experimental stage of small additions of tin, but rather show that thebronze from the first contained a fairly large proportion of tin. Where the tin came from is at present uncertain. The illustrations will make the evolution of the celt clear. The first step was the broadening of the cutting-edge, and moving the thickest part up to the centre of the blade; the next step was hammering the sides to make flanges to grip the handle more securely; a stop-ridge was then added to prevent the handle slipping down over the blade; and the latter forms are reached by increasing the flanges and broadening the stop-ridge; in its last forms the wings are increased at the expense of the stop-ridge; and the final socketed form is reached by leaving out the centre division between the wings. Figure20may be noticed, as it is very similar to certain Continental forms.Fig. 16.—Ornamented Bronze Celts.Plate I.Irish bronze celts in the order of their development.p.24.Some of the earlier flat bronze celts may have been hafted like the stone celts, by merely fixing the smaller end into a stick with a thick head; but this method must soon have been abandoned, as after a certain number of blows had beendelivered, the axe-head would be forced back into the shaft. A more practical method was to place the head in a handle having a forked head, and the origin of the stop-ridge was to prevent the two sides coming down too low on to the blade. The side flanges and palstave-form developed naturally from this. The manner of hafting the socketed celts is well shown by a handled socketed celt found at Edenderry, King’s Co., and formerly in the Murray collection. This object is now in the Ethnological and Archæological Museum at Cambridge; and it is to be regretted that so rare and important a find should have left the country.Fig. 17.—Ornamented Bronze Celts.Some of the flat bronze celts are very finely decorated with incised chevrons, triangles, cross-hatchings, and other Bronze-Age linear ornament. One example has a kind of herring-bone pattern, somewhat resembling the well-known leaf-marking at New Grange. Some examples show a kind of cable-pattern on the side flanges; and the size of a few specimens is remarkable. A flat celt, with a remarkable ornamentation fromthe Greenwell collection found near Connor, County Antrim, is figured by Sir John Evans,op. cit., p. 64. It has a border of chevrons along the edge of the side; and this is carried across the celt in the centre and at the commencement of the cutting-edge. This border is joined by a similar centre band of ornament.Several of the Irish palstaves have a shield-shaped ornament below the stop-ridge. The socketed celts are, as a rule, unornamented; but there are a few which have been found in Ireland which are ornamented with ribs ending in pellets.Fig. 18.—Ornamented Bronze Celts.The question is often asked as to whether the bronze celts were used as weapons or tools; and the probability is that they were used as either as occasion demanded. The celts do not show any marked difference of type which would enable us to differentiate a weapon from a tool, as is possible in the later iron axes of the Norman and Danish period when we can distinguish a heavy axe and a lighter keen blade. The Bayeux tapestry shows the two types in use, the heavy type being used to fell trees and the lighter for fighting.There is one palstave, with double loops, in the NationalCollection; and another was found in Ireland at Ballincollig, County Cork, and is in the Evans collection. These double-looped palstaves are of much interest, as the type is characteristic of the Iberian peninsula. A few have been found in the west of France, and some in the south-west of England, but on the route which one would expect to have been followed if they are due to intercourse with Spain. These probably belong to the Middle Bronze Age, though they have not as yet been found associated with objects which would give much information as to their date.Fig. 19.—Winged Celt.Fig. 20.—Winged Celt.Fig. 21.—Palstave with Double-loops.Anvil and HammersAmong objects that may undoubtedly be classed as tools are the small bronze anvil (fig.22), and the bronze socketed hammers (fig.23).Fig. 22.—Bronze Anvil.The anvil appears to be the only specimen which has been found in the British Islands, though examples are not uncommon in France. It resembles the small anvils used by jewellers, and it is interesting to note that, as M. Déchelette points out, these small bronze anvils correspond to those mentioned by Homer, which were also portable and used by goldsmiths.[13]Socketed bronze hammers resembling the Irish examples are fairly common in England and on the Continent. One well-known Irish specimen was found in the Douris hoard and is figured in Evans’s “Bronze Implements,” p. 179. Of the specimens illustrated, the largest was found at Abbeyshrule, Co. Longford, the exact locality of the others, further than that they were found in Ireland, is not known.Fig. 23.—Bronze Hammers.Spear-HeadsEven as early as the Copper Period small weak knife-daggers were in use, and these continued into the Bronze Age, becoming the parent of the spear-head as well as of the rapier and sword. The spear-head was evolved by decreasing the width of the base of the dagger-blade, and adding a narrow tang with a peg-hole to fix into the shaft. The addition of a ferule was the next step; and the omission of the tang, and amalgamation of the ferule with the blade, gave rise to the socketed spear-head.Fig. 24.Fig. 25.The Irish spear-heads may be divided into two well-defined groups, looped and riveted; and it will be found that the separation of the types extends farther than the mode of attachment. The form of the blade of each class is quite distinct. Taking the looped spear-heads first, we can follow the development of the spear-head from the dagger-blade. The adaptation is shown in fig.24(the centre spear-head), which is, in fact, a dagger-blade placed on a socket. The socket does not enter the blade, but is stopped at the shoulders. TheV-shaped base of the blade is derived from the dagger, and disappears as the true character of the spear form is developed. A feature of special interest is the survival of therivet-heads of the dagger in the form of ornamental bosses at the base of the blade. The rivet-holes appear to have been drilled, and not formed in casting. No examples of this form of spear-head have been found in England; and but one is recorded from the Isle of Man and two from Scotland. In the last example (in fig.24), the imitative rivets are reduced to a single boss, and completely disappear in the next stage (fig.25).Fig. 26.Fig. 27.In the subsequent figures we see the blade developed at the expense of the socket; and the transition to the fully developed spear-head begins. The derivation of this form of spear-head from the so-called Arreton Down type of tangedblade is now admitted. Though tanged spear-heads of the Arreton Down type are fairly represented in Irish finds, no socket has been so far recovered with any of them; but an early form of nondescript tanged blade with a socket was found at Lough Ruadh bog near Tullamore, King’s County, in 1910, and shows the socket was known in Ireland.Fig. 28.—Leaf-shaped Spear-heads.Fig. 29.Another very early type of spear-head, nearly all the known examples of which were found in Ireland, was derived by mounting the rapier on a socket (fig.27). There are six of these spear-heads in the collection of the Royal IrishAcademy, and one in the collection of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. One of these spear-heads, found at Taplow on the Thames, has gold studs at the base of the bladewhich, no doubt, represent the rivets. The derivation of the spear-head by gradually rounding off the corners of the blade can be easily followed.Fig. 30.—Leaf-shaped spear-heads found together at the Ford, Belturbet, Co. Cavan.Fig. 31.Fig. 32.We will now turn to the spear-heads with rivet-holes in the sockets, but without loops or openings in the blades (figs.28and30). These spear-heads are almost invariably leaf-shaped and devoid of ribs. The pins or rivets used to attach this class to the shaft were probably of wood, horn, or bone. Two examples formerly in Mr. Day’s collection have rivets of bronze,and others with bronze rivets have been found in England. The leaf-shaped spear-head is associated by form with the leaf-shaped sword; the looped type with the older type of weapons, the dagger and rapier forms. The records of the finds are very incomplete; but the association of leaf-shaped spears and swords to the exclusion of the looped form is sufficiently marked to be noted as an additional piece of evidence.Fig. 33.—Ornamental Spear-headswith openings in the blade.Fig. 34.—Portion of Spear-headwith studs at the base of the wings.Fig. 35.There are in the Academy’s collection a number of spear-heads with rivet-holes in the sockets and ornamental side-apertures (figs.33and34). These spear-heads are very highly decorated, and form an attractive class. They may be derived from the spear-heads in which the loops are joined to the base of the blade (fig.31), and in which, by a process of evolution, the loop has been incorporated as part of the wing, or they may also have been influenced by the early type of tanged spear-heads from the Greek islands, in which the openings in the blade werefunctional, being used for binding the head into a split shaft. These ornamental spear-heads belong, as a type, to the BritishIslands, where the socketed spear-head itself appears to have been evolved. Several of these spear-heads have, as well as the wings, small holes in the blades, the purpose of which is not clear. They are very finely cast; and even in Ireland, where Bronze-Age casting reached its highest point, these are amongst its best products.Fig. 36.—Spear-heads withornamental openings in theblades.Fig. 37.—Spear-head foundat Tempo, Co. Fermanagh.Fig. 38.—Half of mould for casting a socketed spear-head, Killymeddy, Co. Antrim.Another very rare type of spear-head, in which the loops are formed by the extension of the small ribs on each side of the mid rib, must be mentioned. These spear-heads are very seldom met with. We only know of the existence of four, of which one is in the Greenwell collection, two in the collection of the Royal Irish Academy, and one in the Municipal Museum at Belfast. The Academy was fortunate enough to secure a very fine specimen in 1912. It was found with two leaf-shaped bronze swords at Tempo, County Fermanagh,[14]and measures 15½ inches long (fig.37). Judging from the associated swords, this spear-head may be dated about the ninth centuryb.c.MouldsFig. 39.—Half of mould for casting a spear-head and dagger, Killymeddy, Co. Antrim.The most important moulds for casting spear-heads found in Ireland are a series for casting early tanged spear-heads which were found about thirty years ago at Omagh, County Tyrone, and are now in the possession of Mr. M. J. Sullivan. These moulds are of the greatest importance in the history of thedevelopment of the bronze spear-head, as they show the evolution of the tanged blade to the socketed form, and also that the tanged and socketed forms were in contemporary use in Ireland. The form of the moulds for the socketed spear-heads shows them to be at the very commencement of this type; and it was probable that the tanged type was rapidly superseded by the improved socketed form.Fig. 40.—Mould for casting spear-head and knife,Killymeddy, Co. Antrim.These moulds are made of sandstone; and the illustrations will show them sufficiently. For a full description see the Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, vol. xxxvii, 1907, p. 181.Fig. 41.—Moulds for Primitive Spear-heads found in the County Tyrone.(Reproduced from the Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries.)Fig. 42.—Moulds for Primitive Spear-heads found in the County Tyrone.(Reproduced from the Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland.)Another very important find of moulds was made in 1910 at Killymeddy, near Ballymoney, County Antrim. This find included two complete moulds and a half mould for casting looped socketed spear-heads. Of the other moulds for casting spear-heads found in Ireland, nearly all are for the looped type; and the few that have been found for casting the leaf-shaped type are small and indeterminate in character. It is mostprobable that, with the introduction of the leaf-shaped spear-heads, moulds of clay or sand were introduced; and these have naturally perished. Fragments of a clay mould for casting a spear-head and a sword were found at Whitepark Bay, and portions of clay moulds for spear-heads have been found in Brittany, the Lake of Bienne, and other places. The discoveriesof moulds enforce the distinction of type between the looped and leaf-shaped spear-heads, and the moulds from Killymeddy (figs.38-40and43) may probably be placed at the end of the period when stone moulds were in use, and assigned to about 1500-1200b.c.Fig. 43.—Half of mould for casting spear-head and dagger, Killymeddy, Co. Antrim.Spear-ferulesFig. 44.—Bronze spear ferules.Fig. 45.—Bronze spearferule with La Tèneornament.From time to time objects of bronze have been found in Ireland of a curious shape, somewhat like the handle of a door; and their use was considered uncertain; it is, however, clear thatthey were the ferules of spears; and in some cases the remains of the wooden shafts have been found inside them. The finding, moreover, of one in the Lisnacroghera Crannog with the whole of the shaft, measuring 8 feet in length, attached to it, places the matter beyond dispute.[15]It also shows that these objects were in use down to the early Iron Age, as most of the objects of the Lisnacroghera find belong to the La Tène period.Other ferules assume a long and graceful shape, and one is decorated with La Tène motives (fig.45).CHAPTER IVIrish GoldIreland’s extreme richness in gold during the Bronze Age made her a kind of El Dorado of the western world. The gold was, no doubt, obtained from County Wicklow, where gold was worked down to the end of the eighteenth century, nuggets of 22, 18, 9, and 7 oz. being recorded. One exceptionally large nugget weighing 22 oz., found in 1795 at Croghan Kinshela, Co. Wicklow, was presented to King George III; and its discovery caused a rush to the workings. As well as Wicklow there are six other counties where gold has been found. The very large number of gold ornaments that have been found in Ireland is therefore not surprising. The ancient literature of Ireland contains many references to gold ornaments and payments of gold by weight. It is interesting to note that the tradition preserved in the Book of Leinster, ams.of the twelfth century, refers the first smelting of gold in Ireland to a district in which gold has been found in considerable quantities in modern times. The Leinstermen, it is stated, were called “Lagenians of the gold,” because it was in their country that gold was first discovered in Erin. It is further stated that gold was first smelted for Tighearnmas, one of the earliest of the Milesian kings, in the forests standing on the east side of the River Liffey, by Iuchadan, a native of that district.After the discovery of native gold in Ballinvally stream at Croghan in 1796, the Government undertook mining operations; and in three years collected 944 ounces worth, at the price of the day, £3,675. Since the workings were abandoned by the Government, the district has been worked at intervals by companies, and at other times by the peasants; the total outputsince 1795 is estimated at a value of £30,000. The knowledge of the Irish gold deposits must have been a very considerable factor in the foreign relations of the island in the Bronze Age.LunulæThe earliest of the Irish gold ornaments are the flat gold collars known as lunulæ. These have been found fairly evenly distributed over the country, and in astonishing numbers.Fig. 46.—Gold Lunula found at Trenta, Carrigans, Co. Donegal.The circumstances under which the lunulæ have been found have not often been recorded. The collection of the Royal Irish Academy in the National Museum, Dublin, contains no less than thirty-seven examples. Several of these have been found and recorded during the past three or four years. As a rule the lunulæ are engraved on one face only with finely cut or scored well-recognized Bronze Age ornament, consisting of bands of lines, cross-hatchings, chevrons, triangles, and lozenges.The centres of the lunulæ are plain, the exact reason of which is not quite apparent. The ornament is gathered to the end of the lunula and spaced out by bands. Two lunulæ found together at Padstow, Cornwall, are said to have been found with a bronze celt of early type. The find is preserved in the Truro Museum, and is of the utmost importance as an indication of the early Bronze-Age date of the lunulæ. It is, we believe, the only instance of lunulæ being found with associated objects.Fig. 47.—Gold Lunula found in Co. Galway.Figures46-49and51-53illustrate the various types of ornament; it will be noticed that some of the smaller examples are quite plain.One lunula was found in an oak case at Newtown, Crossdoney,Co. Cavan. The case has greatly shrunk since it was found, as when first discovered it measured 10 inches by 8 inches (fig.50).Fig. 48.—Gold Lunula, locality not recorded.The two expanded pieces at the ends are always turned at right angles to the plane of the lunula, and serve to clasp the back of the neck, and may have been secured by a tie. It need not, however, be pointed out that they are quite out of place in a head-ornament; indeed, the geometrical shape of a lunula is contrary to such a theory, and quite different from recognized diadems or head-ornaments.Fig. 49.—Gold Lunula found at Killarney.One example found at Volognes has a chain and sort of buckle attached at the ends. It has since been melted down, but a drawing of it has been preserved (fig.51). The chain seems to have been ancient—at least it is stated to have been on it, as shown, when found; but, however ancient it may be, it is evident that it was more recently attached than the original make of the ornament. It is, however, of interest as indicating at some time a chain-tie to secure the ends of the ornament.The accompanying list of finds shows how numerous the lunulæ are in Ireland and how rarely they have been found outside this island. The map shows their distribution (fig.54).
Copper.Tin.Antimony.Arsenic.Lead.Silver.Iron.Bismuth,Nickel,Zinc.1King’s Co.Day Coll., No. 25,99.020.22NilNil0.190.260.04Nil2Antrim,1903, 235, No. 9,97.310.310.140.18NilNilNilNil3Galway,W. 241, No. 19,98.060.22NilNil0.58Nil0.17Nil4Cork,R. 459, No. 7,98.300.300.270.37NilNilNilNil5W. 248, No. 28,97.240.18Nil1.54Nil0.25NilNil
Fig. 11.—Halberds from North Germany and Sweden after Montelius.
The manner in which the halberd blades were attached to their shafts is explained by the bronze halberds with bronzeshafts—the blade and upper part of the shaft often in one piece—from North Germany and from Sweden. These halberds are referred to an early stage of the Bronze Age; but they are of bronze, and, in casting and other features, show a considerable advance on a primitive type; the large imitation rivets cast in the head of the shaft no doubt represent an earlier form in which the shaft was of wood and the rivets real. Ten bronze halberd blades were found together near Stendal in Prussian Saxony, but without handles, four of which are figured by Montelius in “Die Chronologie der ältesten Bronzezeit,” figs. 115-118. An analysis of one of the blades gave 15 per cent. of tin and of a rivet 4·5 per cent. of tin. From the straight mark across the blades, and some bronze tubular pieces for the handles, there seems no doubt that they were intended for straight woodenhandles, and thus represent the earlier type. The blades are about 12¼ inches in length. It is important to note that the rivets are of two kinds: some are large and stout like the usual Irish form; and some have metal washers, like the solitary example found in Ireland (fig.7), and which has caused some authorities to consider the Irish halberd blades somewhat later than we should care to place them. In general appearance these halberd blades from Stendal are closer to the Irish halberds than any of the others which have been found on the Continent, but do not include the curved or scythe-shaped form common to Ireland. Copper halberds, with remains of transverse wooden shafts, have been found by the brothers Siret on the south-east of Spain. In this case they go back to the very beginning of the bronze age in this district. The form of the blades is, however, in most casesT-shaped, and different from the Irish examples (fig.12). Halberds attached to their shafts are also shown on the prehistoric rock-markings in the “Italian Maritime Alps,” published by Mr. C. Bicknell. The actual blades, however, that can be classified with any certainty as halberds are very rare in the North and Middle Italian districts, though some of the copper and early bronze triangular dagger forms may have been occasionally mounted as halberds. It is possible, however, that the decoration of certain halberds found in Germany may have been influenced by that of the Italian dagger.
Fig. 12.—Halberts from South-east Spain.
The halberd blade can be distinguished from the broad dagger by the shape of the handle, which is curved or indented in the case of the dagger, but straight across in the case of the halberd. There is, however, another point. The hindmost rivets, both in the case of the blades with four rivets and those with three only, are shorter than those in front of them. The shortness of the end-rivets and slope of the heads imply that the handle was rounded off behind the blade, as would be the case with a transverse shaft. So there appears no room to doubt the manner in which the long scythe-shaped blades were mounted on handles, though some uncertainty was formerly expressed on the subject. The Irish halberd-blades were evidently mounted at right angles to the shaft in the same way as most of the Continental blades, as can be seen from the straight-across marks of the handle, which can be traced on several examples.
Fig. 13.—Rock Markings, Maritime Alps.
From the analyses of copper halberds, it will be seen that the tin varies from ·18 to ·31 per cent. We may therefore conclude that the copper halberds are simply coarse or unrefined copper from similar ores to the copper celts; and that the copper implements found in Ireland may contain up to about ·5 per cent. of tin. An increasing percentage of tin was not found in any of the copper celts, or, contrary to expectation, in the copper halberds; but, judging from the widespreaduse of copper implements in Ireland, from which it may be inferred that copper remained in use for a considerable time, it seems probable that bronze was introduced as an alloy of a known percentage of tin. As relatively few analyses of Irish bronze implements have been made, it is not possible at present to come to any fixed conclusions on the subject of the introduction of bronze into Ireland.
Fig. 14.—Stone Pick from the Bann.Fig. 15.—Deer Horn Pick.
Also, in the case of the halberds, the great rarity of any specimens of bronze blades which can be classified as halberds indicates that the form of implement practically ceased to be used when bronze came into use in Ireland. As the copper celts show a gradual transition from stone to metal forms, it seems reasonable to 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 prevalenceof 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 archæology 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 theSpanish examples; and Herr Hubert Schmidt, who has worked out in much detail a scheme of chronology for this period, based upon the Egyptian dating of Professor Eduard Meyer, places the finds from El Argar at from 2500 to 2360b.c.[11]Allowing, therefore, some margin on the later side, we should probably be fairly safe in placing the period when the halberds were in use in Ireland at the end of the third and beginning of the second millenniumb.c.We must remember that the whole of the Irish Bronze Age has to be fitted in after the copper period; and if we are to allow sufficient room for the several periods and their approximate correspondence with the periods of the Continental chronology, it is not easy to see how this dating can be much reduced. It may be noted that Montelius in his recent scheme of Bronze Age chronology for the British Islands, treats the halberds as bronze, and places them in his second period (first period of the true Bronze Age) dated from the beginning of the second millennium to the seventeenth centuryb.c.[12]
First and Later Periods of the Bronze Age
Even during the copper period an evolution can be traced in the celt. The cutting-edge has been expanded; and the thickest part of the celt has been moved up from just above the cutting-edge to the centre. Until, however, we get into the Bronze Age, there has been no trace of a stop-ridge. When we get into the true Bronze Age, we find a complete and probably fairly rapid evolution of type from the flat celt to the final socketed form. Analyses of Irish celts on a large scale have not been made; but such analyses as have been done do not indicate an experimental stage of small additions of tin, but rather show that thebronze from the first contained a fairly large proportion of tin. Where the tin came from is at present uncertain. The illustrations will make the evolution of the celt clear. The first step was the broadening of the cutting-edge, and moving the thickest part up to the centre of the blade; the next step was hammering the sides to make flanges to grip the handle more securely; a stop-ridge was then added to prevent the handle slipping down over the blade; and the latter forms are reached by increasing the flanges and broadening the stop-ridge; in its last forms the wings are increased at the expense of the stop-ridge; and the final socketed form is reached by leaving out the centre division between the wings. Figure20may be noticed, as it is very similar to certain Continental forms.
Fig. 16.—Ornamented Bronze Celts.
Plate I.
Irish bronze celts in the order of their development.p.24.
Some of the earlier flat bronze celts may have been hafted like the stone celts, by merely fixing the smaller end into a stick with a thick head; but this method must soon have been abandoned, as after a certain number of blows had beendelivered, the axe-head would be forced back into the shaft. A more practical method was to place the head in a handle having a forked head, and the origin of the stop-ridge was to prevent the two sides coming down too low on to the blade. The side flanges and palstave-form developed naturally from this. The manner of hafting the socketed celts is well shown by a handled socketed celt found at Edenderry, King’s Co., and formerly in the Murray collection. This object is now in the Ethnological and Archæological Museum at Cambridge; and it is to be regretted that so rare and important a find should have left the country.
Fig. 17.—Ornamented Bronze Celts.
Some of the flat bronze celts are very finely decorated with incised chevrons, triangles, cross-hatchings, and other Bronze-Age linear ornament. One example has a kind of herring-bone pattern, somewhat resembling the well-known leaf-marking at New Grange. Some examples show a kind of cable-pattern on the side flanges; and the size of a few specimens is remarkable. A flat celt, with a remarkable ornamentation fromthe Greenwell collection found near Connor, County Antrim, is figured by Sir John Evans,op. cit., p. 64. It has a border of chevrons along the edge of the side; and this is carried across the celt in the centre and at the commencement of the cutting-edge. This border is joined by a similar centre band of ornament.
Several of the Irish palstaves have a shield-shaped ornament below the stop-ridge. The socketed celts are, as a rule, unornamented; but there are a few which have been found in Ireland which are ornamented with ribs ending in pellets.
Fig. 18.—Ornamented Bronze Celts.
The question is often asked as to whether the bronze celts were used as weapons or tools; and the probability is that they were used as either as occasion demanded. The celts do not show any marked difference of type which would enable us to differentiate a weapon from a tool, as is possible in the later iron axes of the Norman and Danish period when we can distinguish a heavy axe and a lighter keen blade. The Bayeux tapestry shows the two types in use, the heavy type being used to fell trees and the lighter for fighting.
There is one palstave, with double loops, in the NationalCollection; and another was found in Ireland at Ballincollig, County Cork, and is in the Evans collection. These double-looped palstaves are of much interest, as the type is characteristic of the Iberian peninsula. A few have been found in the west of France, and some in the south-west of England, but on the route which one would expect to have been followed if they are due to intercourse with Spain. These probably belong to the Middle Bronze Age, though they have not as yet been found associated with objects which would give much information as to their date.
Fig. 19.—Winged Celt.Fig. 20.—Winged Celt.Fig. 21.—Palstave with Double-loops.
Anvil and Hammers
Among objects that may undoubtedly be classed as tools are the small bronze anvil (fig.22), and the bronze socketed hammers (fig.23).
Fig. 22.—Bronze Anvil.
The anvil appears to be the only specimen which has been found in the British Islands, though examples are not uncommon in France. It resembles the small anvils used by jewellers, and it is interesting to note that, as M. Déchelette points out, these small bronze anvils correspond to those mentioned by Homer, which were also portable and used by goldsmiths.[13]Socketed bronze hammers resembling the Irish examples are fairly common in England and on the Continent. One well-known Irish specimen was found in the Douris hoard and is figured in Evans’s “Bronze Implements,” p. 179. Of the specimens illustrated, the largest was found at Abbeyshrule, Co. Longford, the exact locality of the others, further than that they were found in Ireland, is not known.
Fig. 23.—Bronze Hammers.
Spear-Heads
Even as early as the Copper Period small weak knife-daggers were in use, and these continued into the Bronze Age, becoming the parent of the spear-head as well as of the rapier and sword. The spear-head was evolved by decreasing the width of the base of the dagger-blade, and adding a narrow tang with a peg-hole to fix into the shaft. The addition of a ferule was the next step; and the omission of the tang, and amalgamation of the ferule with the blade, gave rise to the socketed spear-head.
Fig. 24.
Fig. 25.
The Irish spear-heads may be divided into two well-defined groups, looped and riveted; and it will be found that the separation of the types extends farther than the mode of attachment. The form of the blade of each class is quite distinct. Taking the looped spear-heads first, we can follow the development of the spear-head from the dagger-blade. The adaptation is shown in fig.24(the centre spear-head), which is, in fact, a dagger-blade placed on a socket. The socket does not enter the blade, but is stopped at the shoulders. TheV-shaped base of the blade is derived from the dagger, and disappears as the true character of the spear form is developed. A feature of special interest is the survival of therivet-heads of the dagger in the form of ornamental bosses at the base of the blade. The rivet-holes appear to have been drilled, and not formed in casting. No examples of this form of spear-head have been found in England; and but one is recorded from the Isle of Man and two from Scotland. In the last example (in fig.24), the imitative rivets are reduced to a single boss, and completely disappear in the next stage (fig.25).
Fig. 26.Fig. 27.
In the subsequent figures we see the blade developed at the expense of the socket; and the transition to the fully developed spear-head begins. The derivation of this form of spear-head from the so-called Arreton Down type of tangedblade is now admitted. Though tanged spear-heads of the Arreton Down type are fairly represented in Irish finds, no socket has been so far recovered with any of them; but an early form of nondescript tanged blade with a socket was found at Lough Ruadh bog near Tullamore, King’s County, in 1910, and shows the socket was known in Ireland.
Fig. 28.—Leaf-shaped Spear-heads.
Fig. 29.
Another very early type of spear-head, nearly all the known examples of which were found in Ireland, was derived by mounting the rapier on a socket (fig.27). There are six of these spear-heads in the collection of the Royal IrishAcademy, and one in the collection of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. One of these spear-heads, found at Taplow on the Thames, has gold studs at the base of the bladewhich, no doubt, represent the rivets. The derivation of the spear-head by gradually rounding off the corners of the blade can be easily followed.
Fig. 30.—Leaf-shaped spear-heads found together at the Ford, Belturbet, Co. Cavan.
Fig. 31.Fig. 32.
We will now turn to the spear-heads with rivet-holes in the sockets, but without loops or openings in the blades (figs.28and30). These spear-heads are almost invariably leaf-shaped and devoid of ribs. The pins or rivets used to attach this class to the shaft were probably of wood, horn, or bone. Two examples formerly in Mr. Day’s collection have rivets of bronze,and others with bronze rivets have been found in England. The leaf-shaped spear-head is associated by form with the leaf-shaped sword; the looped type with the older type of weapons, the dagger and rapier forms. The records of the finds are very incomplete; but the association of leaf-shaped spears and swords to the exclusion of the looped form is sufficiently marked to be noted as an additional piece of evidence.
Fig. 33.—Ornamental Spear-headswith openings in the blade.
Fig. 34.—Portion of Spear-headwith studs at the base of the wings.
Fig. 35.
There are in the Academy’s collection a number of spear-heads with rivet-holes in the sockets and ornamental side-apertures (figs.33and34). These spear-heads are very highly decorated, and form an attractive class. They may be derived from the spear-heads in which the loops are joined to the base of the blade (fig.31), and in which, by a process of evolution, the loop has been incorporated as part of the wing, or they may also have been influenced by the early type of tanged spear-heads from the Greek islands, in which the openings in the blade werefunctional, being used for binding the head into a split shaft. These ornamental spear-heads belong, as a type, to the BritishIslands, where the socketed spear-head itself appears to have been evolved. Several of these spear-heads have, as well as the wings, small holes in the blades, the purpose of which is not clear. They are very finely cast; and even in Ireland, where Bronze-Age casting reached its highest point, these are amongst its best products.
Fig. 36.—Spear-heads withornamental openings in theblades.
Fig. 37.—Spear-head foundat Tempo, Co. Fermanagh.
Fig. 38.—Half of mould for casting a socketed spear-head, Killymeddy, Co. Antrim.
Another very rare type of spear-head, in which the loops are formed by the extension of the small ribs on each side of the mid rib, must be mentioned. These spear-heads are very seldom met with. We only know of the existence of four, of which one is in the Greenwell collection, two in the collection of the Royal Irish Academy, and one in the Municipal Museum at Belfast. The Academy was fortunate enough to secure a very fine specimen in 1912. It was found with two leaf-shaped bronze swords at Tempo, County Fermanagh,[14]and measures 15½ inches long (fig.37). Judging from the associated swords, this spear-head may be dated about the ninth centuryb.c.
Moulds
Fig. 39.—Half of mould for casting a spear-head and dagger, Killymeddy, Co. Antrim.
The most important moulds for casting spear-heads found in Ireland are a series for casting early tanged spear-heads which were found about thirty years ago at Omagh, County Tyrone, and are now in the possession of Mr. M. J. Sullivan. These moulds are of the greatest importance in the history of thedevelopment of the bronze spear-head, as they show the evolution of the tanged blade to the socketed form, and also that the tanged and socketed forms were in contemporary use in Ireland. The form of the moulds for the socketed spear-heads shows them to be at the very commencement of this type; and it was probable that the tanged type was rapidly superseded by the improved socketed form.
Fig. 40.—Mould for casting spear-head and knife,Killymeddy, Co. Antrim.
These moulds are made of sandstone; and the illustrations will show them sufficiently. For a full description see the Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, vol. xxxvii, 1907, p. 181.
Fig. 41.—Moulds for Primitive Spear-heads found in the County Tyrone.(Reproduced from the Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries.)
Fig. 42.—Moulds for Primitive Spear-heads found in the County Tyrone.(Reproduced from the Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland.)
Another very important find of moulds was made in 1910 at Killymeddy, near Ballymoney, County Antrim. This find included two complete moulds and a half mould for casting looped socketed spear-heads. Of the other moulds for casting spear-heads found in Ireland, nearly all are for the looped type; and the few that have been found for casting the leaf-shaped type are small and indeterminate in character. It is mostprobable that, with the introduction of the leaf-shaped spear-heads, moulds of clay or sand were introduced; and these have naturally perished. Fragments of a clay mould for casting a spear-head and a sword were found at Whitepark Bay, and portions of clay moulds for spear-heads have been found in Brittany, the Lake of Bienne, and other places. The discoveriesof moulds enforce the distinction of type between the looped and leaf-shaped spear-heads, and the moulds from Killymeddy (figs.38-40and43) may probably be placed at the end of the period when stone moulds were in use, and assigned to about 1500-1200b.c.
Fig. 43.—Half of mould for casting spear-head and dagger, Killymeddy, Co. Antrim.
Spear-ferules
Fig. 44.—Bronze spear ferules.
Fig. 45.—Bronze spearferule with La Tèneornament.
From time to time objects of bronze have been found in Ireland of a curious shape, somewhat like the handle of a door; and their use was considered uncertain; it is, however, clear thatthey were the ferules of spears; and in some cases the remains of the wooden shafts have been found inside them. The finding, moreover, of one in the Lisnacroghera Crannog with the whole of the shaft, measuring 8 feet in length, attached to it, places the matter beyond dispute.[15]It also shows that these objects were in use down to the early Iron Age, as most of the objects of the Lisnacroghera find belong to the La Tène period.
Other ferules assume a long and graceful shape, and one is decorated with La Tène motives (fig.45).
Irish Gold
Ireland’s extreme richness in gold during the Bronze Age made her a kind of El Dorado of the western world. The gold was, no doubt, obtained from County Wicklow, where gold was worked down to the end of the eighteenth century, nuggets of 22, 18, 9, and 7 oz. being recorded. One exceptionally large nugget weighing 22 oz., found in 1795 at Croghan Kinshela, Co. Wicklow, was presented to King George III; and its discovery caused a rush to the workings. As well as Wicklow there are six other counties where gold has been found. The very large number of gold ornaments that have been found in Ireland is therefore not surprising. The ancient literature of Ireland contains many references to gold ornaments and payments of gold by weight. It is interesting to note that the tradition preserved in the Book of Leinster, ams.of the twelfth century, refers the first smelting of gold in Ireland to a district in which gold has been found in considerable quantities in modern times. The Leinstermen, it is stated, were called “Lagenians of the gold,” because it was in their country that gold was first discovered in Erin. It is further stated that gold was first smelted for Tighearnmas, one of the earliest of the Milesian kings, in the forests standing on the east side of the River Liffey, by Iuchadan, a native of that district.
After the discovery of native gold in Ballinvally stream at Croghan in 1796, the Government undertook mining operations; and in three years collected 944 ounces worth, at the price of the day, £3,675. Since the workings were abandoned by the Government, the district has been worked at intervals by companies, and at other times by the peasants; the total outputsince 1795 is estimated at a value of £30,000. The knowledge of the Irish gold deposits must have been a very considerable factor in the foreign relations of the island in the Bronze Age.
Lunulæ
The earliest of the Irish gold ornaments are the flat gold collars known as lunulæ. These have been found fairly evenly distributed over the country, and in astonishing numbers.
Fig. 46.—Gold Lunula found at Trenta, Carrigans, Co. Donegal.
The circumstances under which the lunulæ have been found have not often been recorded. The collection of the Royal Irish Academy in the National Museum, Dublin, contains no less than thirty-seven examples. Several of these have been found and recorded during the past three or four years. As a rule the lunulæ are engraved on one face only with finely cut or scored well-recognized Bronze Age ornament, consisting of bands of lines, cross-hatchings, chevrons, triangles, and lozenges.
The centres of the lunulæ are plain, the exact reason of which is not quite apparent. The ornament is gathered to the end of the lunula and spaced out by bands. Two lunulæ found together at Padstow, Cornwall, are said to have been found with a bronze celt of early type. The find is preserved in the Truro Museum, and is of the utmost importance as an indication of the early Bronze-Age date of the lunulæ. It is, we believe, the only instance of lunulæ being found with associated objects.
Fig. 47.—Gold Lunula found in Co. Galway.
Figures46-49and51-53illustrate the various types of ornament; it will be noticed that some of the smaller examples are quite plain.
One lunula was found in an oak case at Newtown, Crossdoney,Co. Cavan. The case has greatly shrunk since it was found, as when first discovered it measured 10 inches by 8 inches (fig.50).
Fig. 48.—Gold Lunula, locality not recorded.
The two expanded pieces at the ends are always turned at right angles to the plane of the lunula, and serve to clasp the back of the neck, and may have been secured by a tie. It need not, however, be pointed out that they are quite out of place in a head-ornament; indeed, the geometrical shape of a lunula is contrary to such a theory, and quite different from recognized diadems or head-ornaments.
Fig. 49.—Gold Lunula found at Killarney.
One example found at Volognes has a chain and sort of buckle attached at the ends. It has since been melted down, but a drawing of it has been preserved (fig.51). The chain seems to have been ancient—at least it is stated to have been on it, as shown, when found; but, however ancient it may be, it is evident that it was more recently attached than the original make of the ornament. It is, however, of interest as indicating at some time a chain-tie to secure the ends of the ornament.
The accompanying list of finds shows how numerous the lunulæ are in Ireland and how rarely they have been found outside this island. The map shows their distribution (fig.54).