TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY: SOME RADIOCARBON DATES FOR IRISH BRONZE ARTEFACTS

TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY: some radiocarbon dates

for Irish bronze artefacts

A.L. Brindley

Introduction

Opportunities to date Irish bronzes are limited by the scarcity of such objects in graves or in con-texts which supply datable samples of significance, ie directly associated samples of limited ownage. These latter are usually handles or shafts or parts thereof preserved in socketed objects or,very rarely, cores of animal or vegetable origin. It is likely that, despite advances in radiocarbondating techniques such as AMS dating and cremation dating, close absolute dating of the bronzeswill remain a scarce commodity because of problems inherent to the sample material. In a recentarticle, Urbon (1991) pointed out that wood from spearheads examined in the WürttembergischesLandesmuseum in Stuttgart did not show concentric ring patterns but tangential ones, indicatingthat the shafts had been prepared by splitting a large stem and working the resulting segments intothe required rounded form. According to him this is because the long, very straight shoots orbranches which are necessary for spear shafts do not occur in natural growth and that in any event,such growth includes sapwood which dries out, resulting in shrinkage and warpage. This growthalso lacks the necessary toughness and elasticity which mature wood has. Mature stem wood wasused for spear shafts from the Bronze Age to the medieval period (ibid, 1991: pp. 127-131). Thisconclusion has implications for the dating of wood from socketed implements and as an extension,the dating of metal industries which may appear to be older than they are in reality. The possibilityof dating mature wood with a significant own age is considerable. When this is added to the possi-bility that what may be being dated is a second or later hafting, the relevance of a calibrated date toa particular object must be examined carefully.

The radiocarbon dates below reflect both of the limitations referred to although, at the sametime, they also reflect the developments in radiocarbon which have occurred in the last twentyyears......twenty years which have coincided with two decades sandwiched between an early andhilarious meeting with Jay forever engraved in my memory, when he marched confidently into abroom cupboard in the office of Jan Albert Bakker in the IPP, Amsterdam while waving an enthu-siastic goodbye to an appalled Ann Lynch and myself and the near daily event of informing me at3.00 o’clock with his happy and eternal optimism, that Tomorrow is Another Day. Long may it beso for you, Jay!

In the course of these last twenty years, two advances in the technique of radiocarbon dating haveimproved the possibilities of dating bronze artefacts, especially in Ireland. The first of these hasbeen the development of AMS dating. Very small samples of wood or bone (or leather) meant thattwo sources of samples could be exploited for the first time, small core and socket samples andsamples of rarely preserved and/or exhibition objects such as handles, boxes and leather contain-ers. But dates achieved by AMS dating are not without their problems; the age of wood used forhafts, and the re-use of objects has already been mentioned. Another factor in the continuing scar-city of suitable samples is that many of the rare well preserved objects with wood or leather havebeen conserved and cannot provide contaminant-free samples. It is clear that assembling AMSdates for bronze artefacts is a project which will demand not only time but also vigilance in the pur-suit of appropriate dating material.

The other recent advance in radiocarbon dating has been the recognition that carbonate in boneapatite in burnt/cremated bone is a highly suitable dating material (Lanting & Brindley, 1998: pp.1-7). Bronzes are rare in Irish graves and most of those graves contain cremated burials:Carrickanab, Moylough, Tremoge, Grange, Longstone, Topped Mountain (also a poorly pre-served inhumation) but they also include the only bronze type to occur consistently in graves, the

razors of the Middle Bronze Age. Bone apatite from cremations is difficult to contaminate, has alimited own age and is associated with a specific moment in an artefact’s life. A further advantageof these contexts is that they often include other grave goods which are useful in confirming thedate and providing an element of cross-dating.

Catalogue of dated bronze artefacts from Ireland

Daggers

Corkey, Co. Antrim (fig. 1)Bronze dagger with a flat, triangular blade and shallow rounded butt with two rivets. Type Corkey,(Harbison, 1969 cat. no. 16). The dagger was found in a cist together with a tripartite bowl and aninhumation burial. Bone collagen from the inhumation was dated by AMS: 3680±50 BP,GrA-5409. At two sigma the calibrated dates are as follows:

2199 cal BC.....2155 cal BC2151 cal BC.....1937 cal BC1933 cal BC.....1921 cal BCThis range fits comfortably within a large series of bowl dates with a calibrated date of shortly

before 2000 cal BC as most probable, based on the type of decoration on the accompanying bowl.

Keenoge, Co. Meath, burial 3See below under razors

Topped Mountain, Co. Fermanagh (fig. 1)Triangular, flat blade with two narrow grooves parallel to the blade and a butt with evidence forthree rivets. A strip of gold belonging to the pommel mount was also found. Harbison assigns thisdagger to the eponymous type (Harbison, 1969: cat. no. 43) and Gerloff considers it related to her

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Fig. 1 l-r. Daggers from Corkey and Topped Mountain (after Harbison, 1969); reconstruction of original appear-ance of dagger from Grange with burnt dagger (after ÓRíordáin & Waddell, 1993). Scale 1:2.

Armorico-British type (Gerloff, 1975). The dagger was found in a cist which contained a tripartitevase and the remains of two individuals - a poorly preserved inhumation with head at the south endof the cist and at the north end, protected by two flagstones, a cremation burial. The dagger andpommel binding were found close to the skull of the inhumation; the pot was found near to the mid-point of the east wall of the grave. The cist, which appears to have been close to the edge of a largehilltop cairn, was excavated in 1898. Five dates are available from this burial. The first sample pro-cessed was an AMS sample of collagen dated at Oxford: 3220±70 BP, OxA-2663. This dateappeared to be too young for either the accompanying tripartite vase or the dagger. Subsequently, asecond collagen sample was dated at Groningen which produced a date of 3460±50 BP,GrA-13605. Although this date was somewhat older, it still seemed to be too young for either thevessel or the dagger. A possible explanation considered was that the dagger and tripartite vase hadbeen associated with the cremation burial and that a significant gap of 100 to 200 years existed be-tween the burials of the inhumation and the cremation. Finally, with the development of boneapatite dating, an opportunity arose to date the cremation. One sample of apatite from the crema-tion was dated and as part of a test programme apatite from unburnt bone from the inhumation wasalso dated. The results are as follows: the cremation, 3570±40 BP, GrA-14761; the inhumation,3490±27 BP, which is an average of three results, 3480±50 BP, GrA-14635, 3520±40 BP,GrA-13333 and 3460±50 BP, GrA-13605. It now appears that the poorly preserved bones of theinhumation could have been treated at some stage, probably with fish or bone glue; this would con-taminate the collagen samples. Additional testing has shown that apatite from unburnt bone canyield unreliable results (Lanting & Brindley 1998). The conclusion must be that the inhumationcannot be dated reliably at the moment. The cremated bone was not affected and the date on thismaterial of 3570±40 BP can be taken as correct. The calibrated range at 2 sigma is

2029 cal BC.....1993 cal BC1983 cal BC.....1861 cal BC1843 cal BC.....1809 cal BC1801 cal BC.....1773 cal BCThis range is almost identical to the one for the Grange burial. Differences in the form and deco-

ration of the accompanying pottery suggest that the Topped burial should fall earlier in the rangethan the Grange burial. But it should be borne in mind that the association of cremation and theother objects in the grave is not proven.

Grange, Co. Roscommon, grave 10 (fig. 1)Folded up and heat damaged flat, triangular-shaped blade with two narrow grooves parallel to theblade, shallow butt with five of six rivets remaining. Part of a bone pommel also survives.Harbison assigns this dagger to his Type Topped Mountain (Harbison, 1969: cat. no. 41). Gerloffrelates it to her Armorico-British type (Gerloff, 1975). The dagger accompanied a cremation of ayoung adult male covered by an inverted vase urn in a pit inserted into a burial mound (ÓRíordáin,1997). There are two dates for the burial, one on bone apatite from the cremation: 3560±40 BP,GrA-13392, which supersedes a date of 3480±35 BP (GrN-9709) on charcoal found amongst thecremated bones. The calibrated range for GRA-13392 at 2 sigma is:

2023 cal BC.....1995 cal BC1981 cal BC.....1857 cal BC1845 cal BC.....1771 cal BCA date in the range 1800-1750 cal BC is consistent with the dating of the vase urn within the

larger series of vase urn dates. A date of around 1800 cal BC would explain why the charcoal datewould be younger than the cremation date, despite the own-age which the charcoal would havehad.

Tomorrow is another day: some radiocarbon dates... 147

Awl

Tremoge, Co. Tyrone (fig. 2)Bronze awl (length 4.6 cm, with a round-sectioned pointed end of 3 cm anda rectangular-sectioned tang narrowing to its end) found with part of anburnt clay object thought to be a loom weight and an inverted tripartitevase which covered the cremation of an adult female in a short cist (Foley,1985: pp. 51-61). A sample of bone apatite was dated: 3485±35 BP,GrA-14064; this replaces a date on charcoal from the cremation of3570±45 BP, GrN-11446. The 2 sigma calibrated ranges for both dates areas follows:

3485±35 BP, GrA-14064 (bone apatite)1883 cal BC.....1737 cal BC1711 cal BC.....1693 cal BC

3570±45 BP, GrN-11446 (charcoal)2031 cal BC.....1989 cal BC1985 cal BC.....1857 cal BC1845 cal BC.....1771 cal BC1755 cal BC.....1751 cal BC.Although there is some overlap between the two series of ranges, it is more likely that the bone

apatite date is younger than the charcoal date and that in this case this difference is due to the use ofwood of a certain age for the cremation pyre. A date of circa 1800-1750 cal BC fits with the typeand decoration of the accompanying pot. Awls occur occasionally in Irish graves of this period, egCarrickanab, Co. Down, Annaghkeen, Co. Galway, and Drung, cist B, Co. Donegal, none of whichhave been dated. The Carrickanab awl has a round sectioned tang and is associated with a bowl.The Annaghkeen awl with its comparatively short, tapering rectangular sectioned tang is moresimilar to the Tremoge specimen. Amongst its associations are a dagger with straight sided blade,medial thickening and an apparently shallow butt with two remaining of three rivets and two ves-sels, both atypical although the small miniature vase has a tripartite profile which is similar to theTopped Mountain vessel. The Drung awl is 8.2 cm long, with a square cross section for 3.2 cm be-fore changing gradually to a round section (Rynne, 1963: p 174).

Halberds

Moylough, Co. Sligo (fig. 3)Fire damaged, almost symmetrical blade with midrib and shallow rounded hafting plate with atleast three rivets, found with a cremation in a short rectangular cist with ornamented capstone

(cup-and-ring). Type Breaghwy(Harbison, 1969: cat. no. 303). Asample of apatite from the crema-tion was dated: 3610±40 BP,GrA-14775. The 2 sigma calibra-tion ranges are:

2127 cal BC.....2095 cal BC2091 cal BC.....2083 cal BC2039 cal BC.....1879 cal BC1839 cal BC.....1829 cal BC

A halberd of Breaghwy type occurs in the Killaha East, Co. Kerry hoard where it is associatedwith axes of Killaha type, an ingot and a tanged riveted dagger. A date of circa 1950 cal BC for theMoylough cremation and halberd would satisfy the associations of the Killaha East halberd. Aprevious attempt by the radiocarbon laboratory in Dublin to date the halberd from Carn, Co. Mayo(type Carn, Harbison, 1969: cat. no. 146) using wood from the handle produced a date of

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Fig. 2. Awl, Tremoge (af-ter Foley, 1985). Scale1:2

Fig. 3. Burnt halberd, Moylough (after Morris, 1929). Scale 1:2

3000±140 BP (D-50). This date appears to be affected by humic contamination. No wood of thehandle seems to have survived the dating procedure.

Razors

Gortrighy, Co. Antrim (fig. 4:3)A poorly preserved but apparently unburnt razor (Kavanagh, 1991: cat. no. 4) found with crema-tion protected by an inverted cordoned urn in a simple pit. A date on bone apatite from thecremation produced a date of 3410±40 BP, GrA-14813. The 2 sigma calibrated ranges are:

1877 cal BC.....1841 cal BC1825 cal BC.....1821 cal BC1813 cal BC.....1797 cal Bc1777 cal BC.....1615 cal BC1611 cal BC.....1605 cal BCThe type of cordoned urn suggests a probable date of circa 1650 cal BC.

Kilcroagh, Co. Antrim, burial 1 (fig. 4:6)Fragment of a razor found with a faience bead, second bead and a bone object with cremations cov-ered by an inverted cordoned urn (Williams, 1991-1992). Charcoal from amongst the crematedbones (male, 25-30 years, female, 20-25 years) was dated by AMS: 3310±40 BP, GrA-14815. The2 sigma calibrated range is:

1687 cal BC.....1515 cal BCA date of circa 1600 cal BC is suggested by the form and decoration of the cordoned urn.

Kilcroagh, Co. Antrim, burial 2 (fig. 4:5)Razor found with segmented faience bead andcremations protected by inverted cordoned urn inpit (Williams, 1991-1992). Two dates are avail-able. Bone apatite from the cremations (female,c. 30 years, juvenile, 15 years) was dated byAMS: 3460±40 BP, GrA-14816 supersedes adate on charcoal (Quercus) from amongst the cre-mated bones of 3510±35 BP, GrN-15378. The 2sigma calibrated ranges for the bone apatite dateare:

1881 cal BC.....1839 cal BC1831 cal BC.....1687 cal BCA date at the very end of the two sigma range

seems most likely for the accompanying,sparsely decorated pot. However, the date stillappears to be on the early side. Two other burialsfrom the same cemetery of four graves have simi-lar style cordoned urns and dates of 3310 & 3440BP, both of which could have been buried in thedecades on either side of 1600 cal BC

Pollacorragune, Co. Galway (fig. 4:1)Unburnt, well-preserved razor (Kavanagh, 1991cat. no. 13) with perforated tang with rivet andflat blade with decorated panel of hatched andempty lozenges, found with cremated bones cov-ered by an inverted cordoned urn, in a pit at the


Fig. 4. Razors. 1 Pollacorragune, 2 Newcastle, 3Gortrighy, 4 Cush, 5 Kilcroagh burial 2, with faience, 6Kilcroagh burial 1, fragment only, with faience andbone. 1,3-4 after Jockenhövel, 1980; 2 afterJockenhövel, 1980 with additions after Kavanagh,1991; 5-6 after Williams, 1991-1992. Scale 1:2

centre of the mound. Bone apatite from the cremation has been dated: 3280±40 BP, GrA-14818.The 2 sigma calibrated ranges are:

1683 cal BC.....1669 cal BC1659 cal BC.....1649 cal BC1637 cal BC.....1491 cal BC1479 cal BC.....1451 cal BCThe ornament and type of cordoned urn suggests a calibrated date of circa 1500 cal BC.

Cush, Co. Limerick (fig. 4:4)Fragment of a burnt razor (Kavanagh, 1991: cat. no. 15) and a flint fabricator or strike-a-light (alsoburnt) found with a cremation covered by an inverted cordoned urn in a simple pit. Charcoal withthe cremation provided a date of 3430±100 BP, GrN-10633. The 2 sigma calibrated ranges are:

2015 cal BC.....1995 cal BC1980 cal BC.....1515 cal BCThe form and decoration of the cordoned urn suggest a date of circa 1600 cal BC or slightly ear-

lier for the accompanying vessel

Carrig, Co. WicklowRazor (Kavanagh, 1991 cat. no. 37, otherwise unpublished) found with cremated bones and a cor-doned urn in a small cemetery. A sample of burnt material on the cordoned urn has been AMSdated, 3150±70 BP, OxA-2659. The 2 sigma calibrated ranges are:

1601 cal BC.....1563 cal BC1531 cal BC.....1259 cal BC1235 cal BC.....1215 cal BCThe accompanying urn has a distinctive form of decoration specific to about one third of the

known cordoned urns. This is the only example of this style dated thus far. A date between 1600and 1500 is considered more likely than one in the later stages of the range.

Newcastle, Co. Wicklow (fig. 4:2)Burnt large razor with broad perforated tang and decorated panels found with cremated bones in acist. (Kavanagh, 1991: cat. no. 39) Bone apatite dated: 3280±40 BP, GrA-14776. This result isidentical to the Pollacorragune date. Although the burial lacks pottery, the razor is fairly similar inshape and decoration to the Pollacorragune specimen and a similar date of circa 1500 cal BC maybe considered.

Anomalous dates for razors

Keenoge, Co. Meath, grave 3Poorly preserved blade with single rivet hole (Kavanagh, 1991: cat. No. 24), found in an appar-ently disturbed grave pit with two bowls, three pieces of flint (a thumb-scraper, a bifacially workedfragment and a flake), some chips of stone, a crouched inhumation and a cremation. The grave waspart of a cemetery excavated sporadically during a seven year period (1929-36) and recently pub-lished (Mount, 1997). It had a paved base and may originally have been a rectangular cist as twopossible side stones were noted nearby. Within the grave was a crouched inhumation of a femalewith a bowl behind the skull and second bowl against the back. Under and in the vicinity of theskull was a cremation deposit and in this area the razor was found (Mount, 1997: p. 9-10, fig. 7).

Bone collagen from the inhumation burial was dated conventionally: 3685±45 BP, GrN-12272.This date is consistent with other radiocarbon dates for bowls. The sample was dated in the beliefthat it was a contemporary association with both the two bowls and the razor (sometimes inter-preted as a knife, see Harbison, 1969: cat. no. 102). But the recent publication of the cemetery byMount refers for the first time to the presence of a cremation burial and the discovery of the razor

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probably with it. Mount interpreted the burials in the grave as an inhumation with a bowl and a cre-mation with a bowl and razor, arguing that razors were almost exclusively associated withcremation burials (although not the Tara burial) and suggesting that association with the nearbybowl would support an early date for the development of razors in Ireland. In my opinion, the twobowls are associated with the inhumation on the grounds firstly of the similarities in the ornamen-tation of the two vessels and secondly because finds of more than one bowl with a single individualare not unknown, and that this primary burial can be dated to circa 1950 cal BC; a later burial con-sisting of the cremation and razor may have caused some disturbance to the inhumation burial,with a period of circa 300-400 years elapsing between the two events.

Longstone Cullen, Co. TipperaryTanged razor with oval blade (Kavanagh, 1991: cat. no. 26) and jet ‘spacer bead’ found with cre-mated bones and two vases in a cist. A small quantity of charcoal was also found. This has beendated: 2290±180 BP, GrN-11444. The charcoal is probably intrusive.

Harristown, Co. WaterfordRazor (Kavanagh, 1991 cat. no. 29) with faience quoit-shaped bead and bone pin found with cre-mated bones of a mature adult male protected by an inverted cordoned urn. Kavanagh describes therazor as being a re-worked straight sided dagger blade with central and side ribs (figure 24a). Thereare two dates from the burial, one on charcoal found in the cremation (3860±60 BP, GrN-11032)and one on bone apatite (3760±40 BP, GrA-14756). The dates confirm each other but are tooyoung for the grave goods. The most probable explanation is that at some time during curation, thecremation was incorrectly labled as coming from this grave.

Ornament

Altanagh, Co. Tyrone (fig. 5)Small boss of sheet bronze with two opposedperforations close to edge found with twelveclay beads (barrel and bun shaped), a stone ob-ject of unknown purpose and the cremation ofa mature female covered by an inverted smallcordoned urn in a pit (Williams, 1986). Char-coal packed around the cordoned urn produceda date of 3360±30, GrN-11449. The 2 sigmacalibrated ranges are:


The type and ornament of the accompanyingcordoned urn suggests a date of circa 1550 cal

BC or somewhat younger. The boss and the large number of clay beads are without parallel (al-though a cordoned urn burial from Scotland contained twelve beads of faience, Shepherd pers.comm.)

Spearheads

Lanesborough, Co. Longford (fig. 6)Leaf-shaped basal-looped spearhead with socket of round section and decoration on the socket ofconcentric lines and obliquely hatched triangles and with dots on the blade (NMI1935:538,Brindley, 1994: pl. 13). Length: circa 38 cm. Found in the river Shannon. Wood (Fraxinus, id. R.


Fig. 5. Bronze mount, with clay beads, Altanagh (afterWilliams, 1986). Scale unknown

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Fig. 6 l-m-r. Spearheads: Lanesborough, Cloghore, Faughalstown. l: drawnafter a photograph in Brindley, 1994; m: drawn after a photograph in Journalof the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society 7, 1901: p. 122; r: author’sdrawing. Scale 1:2


Fig. 7. Spearheads, Menlough. E269:13; E269:14;E269:15. Redrawn after Murtagh, 1998. Scale 1:2

Neef) from the socket was dated conventionally: 3150±40 BP, GrN-12347. The 2 sigma calibratedranges are:

1517 cal BC.....1373 cal BC1337 cal BC.....1319 cal BC

Cloghore, Co. Donegal (fig. 6)Spearhead with protected openings in the blade (NMI 1964:78). Found in the river Erne. Length:32.4 cm, wood (Ilex, Salix) from the socket was dated conventionally: 3095±40 BP, GrN-11439.The 2 sigma calibrated range is:

1435 cal BC.....1261 cal BC

Menlough, Co. Galway (fig.7)One of three spearheads found together in the river Corrib. All dated. This spearhead (E269:13)has a triangular-shaped blade with round socket and loops at the base of the blade. Length 48.7 cm.Wood (Fraxinus, id, R. Neef) from the socket was dated conventionally: 3015±35 BP,GrN-16879. The 2 sigma calibrated ranges are:

1381 cal BC.....1335 cal BC1321 cal BC.....1209 cal BC1203 cal BC.....1189 cal BC1179 cal BC.....1155 cal BC1143 cal BC.....1129 cal BC

Menlough, Co. Galway (fig. 7)See above. This spearhead (E269:14) has a very slightly curving triangular-shaped blade withround socket and loops at the base of the blade. Length 50 cm. Wood (Alnus, id, R. Neef) fromsocket was dated conventionally: 2930±35 BP, GrN-16881. The 2 sigma calibrated ranges are:

1259 cal BC.....1235 cal BC1215 cal BC.....1013 cal BC

Menlough, Co. Galway (fig. 7)See above. This spearhead (E269:15) has a long, straight-sided, flat-based blade,round socket and small loops at the base of the blade. Length 52 cm. Wood(Fraxinus, id. R. Neef) from socket was dated conventionally: 2990±35 BP,GrN-16880. The 2 sigma calibrated ranges are:

1373 cal BC.....1355 cal BC1353 cal BC.....1339 cal BC1319 cal BC.....1125 cal BC

Faughalstown, Co. Westmeath (fig. 6)Leaf-shaped blade with two pairs of pegholes on short socket of circularcross-section (1992:7). Found in lake. Length: 48.4 cm. Wood from socket ofspearhead dated by AMS: 2780±40 BP, GrA-1618. The 2 sigma calibrated rangeis:

1001 cal BC.....833 cal BC

Moynagh Lough, Co. Meath (fig. 8)Leaf-shaped spearhead with pegholes in the socket (1983:1). Found during exca-vation of a multiperiod lakeside settlement (Bradley 1991: p. 12, fig. 3). Length:11.8 cm. The same stratum also produced, a bronze disc, lignite and amber beadsas well as charcoal which was dated. Sherds of coarse, flat-based pottery were

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Fig. 8. Spear-head, MoynaghLough (redrawnafter Bradley,1991).

found nearby. The charcoal was dated conventionally: 2650±80 BP, GrN-12359. The 2 sigma cali-brated ranges for the charcoal are:


Socketed axe

Ardonan, Co. Cavan (fig. 9)Socketed axe of Eogan’s Type 9B (NMI1959:703; Eogan, 2000 cat. no.457, plate 27). The axe was found on the shore of Inishmuck Lough.Wood (Alnus, id. R. Neef) from socket dated conventionally: 2720±50BP, GrN-11440. The 2 sigma calibrated ranges are:

973 cal BC.....955 cal BC941 cal BC.....801 cal BCAccording to Eogan (ibid p. 81), this type can be related to axes of Type

Gillespie in northern Britain and axes of the early Ewart Park industry.

Anomalous socket axe dateA miniature bag-shaped axe (Eogan, 2000: cat. no. 1357, type 11D)

from Kilsmullan, Co. Fermanagh was found before excavation of a smallstone structure with charcoal and burnt bone interpreted as a furnace de-spite the absence of positive evidence in the form of clay mould fragmentor bronze splashes (Williams, 1984: p. 8). Although the excavator inter-preted the date as indicating a late use for this type of axe, nounambiguous association between the charcoal dated structure (2120±45BP, UB-2173) and the axe can be demonstrated.

Swords

Integral samples for radiocarbon dates for swords of any type will remain scarce for obvious rea-sons. However, several dates for swords of Eogan Class IV, are worthy of consideration here.

Leigh, Co. TipperaryA Class IV sword (NMI1990.25) found amongst the repair phase timbers of a trackway (Leigh A)in Littleton Bog, Co. Tipperary (Brindley & Lanting, 1998: p. 65). Part of this trackway had previ-ously been excavated by Rynne in 1960 who collected a sample of peat from the level of thetrackway surface for radiocarbon dating. After the chance discovery of the sword in 1990, a smallexcavation took place and samples of wood were collected for dendrodating.The radiocarbon date on peat at the level of the road surface of the repair phase: 2720±90 BP(OxA-2449). Age ranges at 2 sigma, after calibration:

1187 cal BC....1181 cal BC1151 cal BC....1145 cal BC1129 cal BC....761 cal BC681 cal BC....669 cal BC611 cal BC....595 cal BCThe peat can only have formed after the road was built and is therefore younger than this date.

The dendrodate ranges are: 976-935 BC for the first phase and 912-871 for the repair phase. Theyoungest dates for both phases are probably closest to the actual construction and repair dates.There is a good correlation between the dendrodate and the calibrated 14C date, allowing for about


Fig. 9. Socketed axe fromArdonan (after Eogan,2000). Scale 1:2

one century for use after the repair phase and the growth of athin peat layer. The sword should be dated to the 9th centuryBC, which is somewhat older than this type of sword is usuallydated.

Other dates for Class IV swords

Knocknalappa, Co. ClareExcavations carried out in 1942 by Raftery at a lake edgepalisaded settlement yielded an assemblage which included anEogan Class IV sword, socketed gouge and coarse, flat-basedpottery (Raftery, 1942). A sample of burnt matter on thispottery has been dated, 2795±35 BP, GrN-196922. The cali-brated ranges are:

1007 cal BC....891 cal BC881 cal BC.... 835 cal BC

Island MacHugh, Co. Derry (fig. 10)In 1985, a third Eogan Class IV sword was found on the erod-ing edge of Island MacHugh, Co. Tyrone during a period oflow water (Simpson, 1986: pp. 103-104). A sample of woodfrom a wooden structure was investigated at this time specifi-cally to provide dating material for later Bronze Age materialfrom an earlier excavation on the island which had producedLBA finds including a socketed axe and coarse pottery. Thesample is 2770±80 BP (HAR-6821). The 2 sigma calibratedrange is:

1127 cal BC....801 cal BC. There is no demonstrable associ-ation between the sword and the palisade.

Discussion

Two programmes aimed specifically at dating bronzes havebeen carried out in recent years, one on bronzes from southernBritain (Needham et al., 1997) and one on bronzes from Bel-gium (Verlaeckt, 1996), both of which include some usefulcomparative material for the Irish dates, chiefly the spearheadseries.

DaggersThree daggers have so far been dated. The earliest is theCorkey dagger whose closest parallels lie in Gerloff’s TypeMasterton (Gerloff, 1975: pp. 58-63). The dating of sheath re-mains from Collessie, Fife yielded a date of 3690±80 BP for aflat bronze dagger of Type Butterwick. The two daggers fromTopped Mountain and Grange have their closest counterpartsin Gerloff’s Armorico-British A dagger series (Gerloff, 1975).The bracket of 1800-1750 cal BC has been suggested here onthe basis of the decoration of the accompanying pottery.Gerloff’s indicates that Wessex 1 probably started 1900/1800cal BC (Gerloff, 1993: pp 74-86 and esp. Abb 10; nb, only oneof the Topped Mountain dates was available at the time ofGerloff’s publication).

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Fig. 10. Sword, Island MacHugh (after Simp-son, 1986).

RazorsSeven razors have been dated (excluding the anomalously dated examples). Razors form the singlemost frequently occurring metal type in Bronze Age burials in Ireland but apart from their graveassociations with cordoned urns, faience beads and bone pins, they also provide useful links withsocket-looped kite-shaped spearheads, sickles, dirks and rapiers via common moulds. Cordonedurns have been examined within the context of a larger study of the chronology and typology ofearly Bronze Age pottery recently, and a long series of radiocarbon dates has been compiled. Chro-nology and typology suggest that cordoned urns can be considered in three broad groups: thosewith ‘full’ ornament and similarities to the collared urns series; those with ornamental schemes in-corporating empty spaces; and those with simple linear or sparse ornament. Broadly speaking,these groups of cordoned urns emerged around 1700 cal BC with ‘full’ ornament; by circa 1650cal BC empty spaces were playing an important role in the decorative bands and finally by circa1500 cal BC, decoration had become simple linear and sparse in character. Razors occur exclu-sively with cordoned urns with decoration of the latter two forms. It is likely that the burials withrazors all took place between 1600-1500 cal BC or possibly slightly later.

Apart from the mis-dated Harristown burial (cordoned urn, razor and quoit-shaped faiencebead) and the Carrig burial (cordoned urn, razor and star-shaped faience bead), segmented faiencebeads also occur with dated razors and urns in the Kilcroagh 1 and 2 graves. The only availabledate for faience without either of these common associations, is from a burial with a small Vase oftripartite type from Ballyduff, Co. Wexford which clearly precedes the razor/cordoned urn series(3550±50 BP, GrA-14604). Faience beads in general are a characteristic association of theAldebourne series of burials of southern England which ran parallel with the Arreton industry(Gerloff, 1975/1993). The socket-looped kite-shaped spearheads represented by the nine mouldsfrom Lough Ramor, Co. Cavan, Killymaddy and Ballymena, Co. Antrim, and Toorglass, Co.Mayo are generally viewed as a distinctly Irish type with counterparts in the same Arreton indus-try. Both Burgess and Gerloff’s Groups 1 and 2 weapons are represented on moulds with razors.They identified the Inchnacree moulds (1981, p. 116) as being for three Group 1 rapiers and oneGroup 1 dirk, ie metal types also with a background in the Arreton industry and the Killymaddymoulds as being for a Group 2 dirk with a trapezoidal butt and a Group 2 rapier, this time with rela-tions to Acton Park metalwork. They concluded that the development of the Group 1 weapons tookplace mainly in Ireland and the Group 2 weapons developed mainly initially in England, possiblystarting slightly later.

Although the precise stages of development (if indeed precise stages occurred) are unclear, ra-diocarbon dates for razors and the associations of razors, point to circa 1600 cal BC as the timewhen razors were first deposited in graves together with later types of cordoned urns and occasion-ally faience beads against a backdrop of Inch Island/Arreton metal working traditions, and thatthey continued to be deposited in graves during the ensuring development of theKillymaddy/Acton Park metal working industry, possibly for a short time.

SpearheadsTwo characteristics of spearheads make them probably the most easily datable group of thebronzes; their often long sockets which hold ample wood for identification and dating and the fre-quency with which they are found in locations favourable to the preservation of that wood. This isreflected in the comparatively large number of dates already available for spearheads as a wholenot only admittedly ad hoc series of dates but also in the two programmes aimed specifically at dat-ing bronzes referred to above. Irish spearheads have not yet been published in catalogue formalthough Ramsey has provided a useful summary of his unpublished work on MBA Irish metal-work (Ramsey, 1995: pp. 49-62). This provides some background to the spearhead dates.According to figures in Ramsey’s account, there are approximately 800 Middle Bronze Age spear-heads alone known from Ireland (600+ side-looped (p. 52), circa 150 basal-looped spearheads (p.53) and circa 40 protected looped spearheads (p. 54)). There is clearly a body of material availablefor absolute dating, of which the existing dates form only a tantalising morsel.


Five of the seven spearheads dated represent Eogan’s Bishopsland Phase. The earliest,Lanesborough, is a slender leaf-shaped, basal-looped spearhead with loops running smoothly intothe the line of the blade and decoration on the socket. Needham et al included several samples ofthis general type in the dating of Taunton metalwork (illus. 16, DoB 31, 32 (the latter numbered 6in the figure), with dates for socket wood of 3055±50 BP (OxA-6177) and 3110±50 BP(OxA-5949) respectively. Amongst the Belgian spearheads, the Schellebelle basal-looped spear-head is particularly relevant with a date for socket wood of 3150±55 BP (UtC-3741, Verlaeckt,1996 cat. no. 134,).

The broad bladed spearhead with protected loops in the blade from Cloghore (3095±40 BP,GrN-11439) is one of an estimated forty spearheads of this type discovered in Ireland (Ramsey,1995, pp. 53-54). It is a native form apparently derived from leaf-shaped spearheads with loops onthe socket of Larchfield type (Ramsey, 1995: fig. 23.7 for the eponymous Larchfield spearhead,and fig. 23.8 for a spearhead with protected loops from the river Bann). The radiocarbon date sug-gests an early stage in the Middle Bronze Age for at least the development of this type.

Protected looped spearheads are not especially common in Britain. Ramsey mentions only twofrom Southern Britain, ten from northern England, and three from Scotland. Burgess (1968) in-cluded them as part of the Wallington industry and suggested a latish date for the type as a whole,but the Cloghore date supports Needham’s re-alignment of Wallington with late Penard metalwork(Needham, 1990: pp. 253-70). From southern Britain, there are two generally relevant artefacts:representing Penard metalwork is a spearhead from the Thames/Hammersmith (Needham, 1997:DOB 37, fig, 17.4) 3025±55 BP (OxA-5954), with a broad but unperforated blade and pegs on thesocket, regarded by Needham as essentially of the same type while representing Wilburton metal-work is a spearhead with openings in the blade from the Thames/Hampton Court (Needham et al.,1997: DOB 38, fig. 19.1) which has been dated to 2900±45 BP, OxA-5955.

The three spearheads from the river Corrib with straight-sided/triangular blade and basal loopshave their chief external relation with the Penard industry of southern England. Needham et al in-cluded two examples of the type (Thames Mortlake (DoB 35) and Meadow Lane (DoB 26) illus17, 2965±45 BP (OxA-5952) and 3045±55 BP (OxA-5147) respectively). Loops do not generallyoccur on spearheads of continental types, although they do occur on spearheads of the Rosnoën in-dustry. Spearheads with triangular, basal-looped blades form a small but distinct group on thecontinent. Schauer (1973; 1974) uses the term Typ Enfield for the longer version of this type exam-ples of which were probably imported from Britain and Typ Kergoustance for the shorter versionwhich was probably made in Britanny. A Type Enfield spearhead with a length of almost 50 cm,found near Greffern, Ldkr. Rastett, may have been deposited in an old branch of the Rhine togetherwith a bronze sword of Swiss-east France type, datable to Bronze D (circa 1325-1200 BC).Spearheads with basal loops of other types are also known from the continental mainland. The ear-liest find is probably that of Liesbüttel, Kr. Rendsburg-Eckenförde, which was found with aVollgrifschwert and a Scandinavian flint dagger of type VI (Kersten, 1935: Taf. XIX:1-3). Thiscombination can be dated to the transition of Period I to Period II, around 1475 BC. The Liesbüttelspearhead has a leaf-shaped blade with protected loops in the lower part of the blade (cf. Ja-cob-Friesen, 1967:Taf. 109:3). A related type of spearhead, badly damaged on the cremation pyrebut still recognisable, was found in a cremation urn at Wiesloch, Kr. Heidelberg (grave 1), togetherwith a burnt bronze sword of Rixheim-type which can also be dated to Bronze D (1325-1200 BC).

Two pegged spearheads of Eogan’s Dowris phase have been dated, one on socket wood and oneby associated charcoal. The earlier of the two, the Faughalstown spearhead (2780±40 BP,GrA-1618, socket wood) has a slender leaf-shaped blade, a socket of circular section with twopairs of pegholes. The slender form, socket of circular section and pegholes occur on the spear-heads dated and illustrated by Needham et al (1997, fig. 21) for an earlier stage (Blackmoor) ofEwart Park metalwork. The Moynagh Lough spearhead (2650±80 BP, GrN-12359, associatedcharcoal) adds little to spearhead dating, by dint of the simplicity of its form.

158 A.L. BRINDLEY

Swords of Eogan’s Class IV and socketed axe of Eogan Class 9BThe date for the Leigh sword is particularly interesting because of the dendrodate which provides afairly specific absolute date 912-871 BC rather than a calibrated range. Swords a of this class andthe socketed axe of Class 9B have their counterparts in Ewart Park metalwork and the two dates fitin with the date range provided by the British Museum dating programme.

Acknowledgements

Permission to use drawings of the Menlough spearheads was granted by the Department of Ar-chaeology, National University of Galway. My thanks to Dr. W. O’Brien (Galway), HannieSteegstra and Jan Smit for help with the illustrations.

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The author,

A.L. Brindley, MAPoststraat 6, 9712 ER GRONINGEN

160 A.L. BRINDLEY

TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY: SOME RADIOCARBON DATES FOR IRISH BRONZE ARTEFACTS

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