The Bronze Age in Ireland

Dun Aengus Bronze Age Fort

The Bronze Age is the name given to the period of Prehistory that is sandwiched between the Stone Age and the Iron Age. The Bronze Age in Ireland is estimated to have begun about 4500 years ago and lasted until approximately 2700 years ago. We can assume that a new group of settlers landed in Ireland with the new technology of metal working and mining. (Ryan M, (ed.) Irish Archaeology Illustrated, p 65) “Beaker Folk” is a term given to this group, due to their distinctive pottery. Examples of Beaker pottery and evidence of copper working are found simultaneously at sites throughout Western Europe. (Ryan. M, p69). There was no large influx of Beaker settlers to Ireland, but small groups may have arrived on prospecting missions. (Mitchell. F, The Irish Landscape, p145-146) These prospectors would later settle, co-exist and finally assimilate with the existing Neolithic peoples and pass on the knowledge of metal working and mining. It is thought that the first instances of metal use in Ireland were the hammering of nuggets of copper and gold, found openly (Gold Mines River Co. Wicklow), into shape. 

The Neolithic settlers would have had to search for suitable outcrops of rock to fashion their stone tools indicating some knowledge of geology. So too the Beaker Folk had the arduous task of finding copper seams. Trawling through the countryside in search of that illusive bright green (Malachite) or bright blue (azurite) seams of copper. (Mitchell, F, p146) These prospectors found gold in Co. Wicklow and copper in Co. Cork. A monumental task considering vegetation covered the majority of the Irish landscape at the time. Mount Gabriel in Co. Cork was the biggest copper mine in the country and this seam was not significantly mined until around 3600 years ago, approximately 500 years after the arrival of the first prospectors. The knowledge of Geology that this culture possessed was vast, as the copper seams in Munster were grey (fahlerz). Smelting this ore resulted in a harder type of copper due to its richness in arsenic, antimony, and silver. (O`Kelly. M. J, Early Ireland 1989, p 152)

Extraction of the copper at Mount Gabriel was another example of the hard work and dedication of these people. When a seam was discovered on a rock face a fire would be set to heat and expand the rock. Then water would be doused on the surface quenching the fire and contracting the rock. This would cause the rock to crack and weaken structurally allowing the miners to hammer at it with stone. This action would break off chunks of the copper seam. The chunks were then hammered further to break the ore into small enough pieces for smelting. At Mount Gabriel there is evidence of a large mining enterprise however smelting seems to have taken place elsewhere.

Due to the copper ore being rich in arsenic, making it almost as hard a bronze after smelting, our requirement for tin was minimal. This was advantageous to the earlier metal workers, eliminating the need for trade missions to source tin. We know that Irish copper tools were being exported at this time. An Halberd was found in Norfolk in England and the copper came from Ireland. (Ryan. M, p75) We also exported gold products and we can also trace 81 of the 100+ gold Lunulae found in Western Europe back to Ireland. (Ryan. M, p83).

One use for the Halberd

Halberd`s are an interesting phenomenon  as we cannot find any use for them other than inflicting injury, be it to a person or an animal. We could hypothesise for years on their use but it is safe to say that they were weapons. Apart from short bladed daggers these seem to be the only weapons produced in the earlier Bronze Age. (Molloy. B, 2008 p2).

An impression of the Santorini Volcano eruption

The 16^th Century BC sees monumental change throughout civilisation in Europe. The Santorini Volcano erupted in what is considered to be the largest eruption in recorded history. The Tsunami that followed the collapse of the volcanoes core into the Mediterranean is estimated at being 200m in height. The Ash cloud rose 35km high and spread over a radius of 800 km. This eruption is thought to have eliminated the Minoan culture of Crete, and could even have been responsible for the plaques of Egypt that are recorded in the bible. Temperatures plummeted and crops failed all over Europe. (Holden. J, An Introduction to Physical Geography and the Environment, 2005, p 109-110) What a catastrophe to befell an entire continent steeped in superstitious beliefs, and the worship of many Gods? In my opinion this event was responsible for the first armies to be assembled.

It is in the 16^th Century BC that weapons started to be first produced. We find our earliest example of a shield at Kilmahamogue Co. Antrim from this time. Concurrently we find that daggers have been lengthened to items called “Dirks” and even longer “Rapiers”. We also see the Mines at Mount Gabriel begin excavating copper. The Tin mines in Cornwall are operating for about 500 years at this point, so it is relatively safe to assume that tin was being traded from Cornwall to make the even stronger bronze. 

Bronze Age shield found at Lough Gur, Co. Limerick

As the skill of the weapons manufacturers increased we find the rapier of 1600 BC elongating into a sword by about 1200 BC. This is due to developments in casting techniques, however, there is a valid argument that martial requirement drove the technology forwards, (Molloy. B, p5) as seen recently with the development of the transistor. The transistor was developed to replace the electronic valve to make radio communications more mobile, like the sword evolved to increase the distance between combatants. 

Irish Bronze Age Gold work

Around 1200 BC the goldsmiths of Ireland started to produce some fantastically ornate items of Jewellery. The highly elaborate “torc” which required large quantities of gold were twisted into shape to produce a necklace in a spiral form. A grand example of one of these “torcs” was discovered at Tipper Co. Kildare. (Ryan. M, p 83) The “torcs” and other ornaments of the person are highly elaborate compared to the earlier “Lunulae” which albeit impressive are not as highly crafted. It is interesting to note that the probable inspiration for the shape of the “torc” was from the Mediterranean. (Ryan. M, p 83) 

Lunula in Gold

Torc in Gold

As the Bronze Age progressed and as influences came and went, the craftsmanship of the Irish goldsmith increased dramatically. The gold work of this period in terms of quantity, quality and variety are unrivaled by any other culture in Europe. (Ryan. M, p 84)

The goldsmiths in Ireland during the Bronze Age were allowed to develop their craft so much so that their quality was without peer. This could only happen during a period of relative peace, generation passing knowledge to generation without interruption. The later Bronze Age saw the Mediterranean fall into many wars. Was Ireland the producer of arms for the Mediterranean conflicts? Was it copper from Mount Gabriel fused with tin traded by the Phoenicians at Cornwall that produced the sword that struck down Hector at Troy?

A Bronze Age Settlement

The mystery of Celtic Ireland

An example of an Iron Age aplhabet

One cannot be faulted by being confused about Ireland and its association with the Celts. Folklore, myth, and popular opinion could lead a person to believe that we in Ireland are descended from a fierce warrior tribe that invaded this Island. Scholars and academic disciplines, however, will each give separate accounts of who and what the Celts were. There are five main branches of academia that study the Celts and each one will give an explanation that can be contradicted by another. 

Take archaeology for example, a Celt is described as someone who lived during the Iron Age and used implements from either the Hallstatt or La Tène cultures. They were buried in accordance with the rituals associated with either of these cultures. The linguistic branch will tell you that a Celt is someone who speaks a particular language, be it Irish, Welsh, Scot`s Gaelic, Gaulish, or Celtic Iberian. For the scholars of the ancient world the Celts were simply barbarian tribes that attacked Greece during Alexander the Greats reign, or the ones who nearly destroyed the Roman Empire in 390BC and succeeding razing Rome to the ground. Geneticists will tell us that Celtic people are ones with a predisposition towards cystic fibrosis. Scholars of ancient Irish and Welsh literature will tell us that Celts are the people who inhabit the stories of Táin Bó Cúailgne or the “Battle-Raid of Cooley”. Singularly these academic approaches tell us nothing of the Celts in Ireland. 

What do we know about the Celts? We know the there are records of them in ancient Greek texts as early as the 5^th century BC. According to these texts, from southern France to Hungary was occupied by Celts, however this could be a general term like African or Asian is used to describe people from a vast area with many separate cultures. We also know that they invaded Northern Italy and even sacked Rome until eventually beaten out by the Romans in 225BC. We know that they battled with Alexander the Great in 335BC and sacked Delphi in 279BC. We know their culture from the finds that define the early Iron Age at Halstatt in Austria, and the later Iron Age at La Tène in Switzerland. The dominant image that remains today of the Celts is their Warrior image and their particular geometrical art work.

Is this fella a Celt?

How does this fit into Ireland and its Celtic identity? Irish is a Celtic Language as described by the academics, but how after a few hundred years did it become our tongue by the time of our records from the early Christian period? The language must have been in place a lot longer than a few hundred years otherwise it would be just some words we use, like a lot of languages today adopt modern English words like “computer” and “information”. When the Vikings invaded and assimilated we did not start speaking Danish/Norwegian, so in the same context the presence, or the influence, of Celts in Ireland must predate the 5^th century BC.

Archeological finds of a Celtic presence in Ireland are rare and very few Halstatt or La Tène artifacts have been found, yet in early Christian Ireland the Irish artwork has a distinctive “Celtic” quality. We cannot say that we were invaded and assumed by the Celts, yet we cannot say that hordes of Irish settled in Europe. There is no evidence. Can we really call ourselves Celtic because of a few Ogham stones and the artwork of the Book of Kells? We must look to modern times to understand how Celtic influence spread right across Northern Europe.

An Iron Age Neck Ornament

Consider the impact that modern fashion houses have on the world today. Consider also the impact of the United States on the world in terms of culture. We can look anywhere in the world today and see the homogenous streets, clothes, and language. The spread of American culture is channeled through the music industry, Hollywood and the vast amount of TV programme`s. In thousands of years times archaeologists will find fragments of an American Culture all over the world even though America has not invaded and taken control of the entire world. In my opinion this same model can be applied to the Celts and their influence throughout Europe. Their language, attitudes, and culture spread because it was fashionable and endearing to the various tribes they encountered through trade or battle.

Devoid of any evidence of a Celtic invasion of Ireland, we are still known as a Celtic nation with a Celtic language, as is Scotland, Wales, and Brittany. We share similar traditional music, dance, language and culture. So how did this come about?

When we look further back in time we find evidence of Beaker Folk in Ireland. We can`t find evidence of an invasion of these folk but we know they were in Ireland, trading and living. It is presumed that these folk brought with them the knowledge of metalworking in Copper and Bronze. Their knowledge spread and over time Irish people were working with Copper and Bronze. We also know through trade that Irish goods and copper was exported and artifacts of an Irish origin were found throughout Europe. Interestingly, Iron is produced as a waste product of smelting bronze. In my opinion the beginnings of an Iron Age ran concurrently with the Bronze Age. It would be folly to believe they threw away this wonderfully hard material, iron, there must have been some use for it. Similarly with the Celts there is no evidence of an invasion, but some of them must have come to Ireland to trade and share their knowledge. Their fashion, language and culture, infiltrated everywhere they went until at some point it seemed to the outsider that the whole of Northern Europe was occupied by the same tribe. Just as future archeologists could be forgiven for believing that the Americans had occupied the vast majority of the world today.

Please visit: http://www.irelandstory.com

In my opinion the only evidence we have in Ireland of a Celtic influence is through the structures of our society that is documented and continued through to the Norman invasions. We know that Celtic society in Europe consisted of tribes with noblemen and commoners. They measured wealth in cattle and gold. The kings of each tribe had a number of clients, autonomous commoners under the protection of the king each providing services for this protection. There was also intellectual elite such as Poets and Druids. They had well structured laws and each member of society had a value with compensation to be paid in the event of an inflicted injury. This is the same society that we had in Ireland that has been documented.

It is still a conundrum about the Celts in Ireland and how we developed our identity as a Celtic nation. We have seen the influences of the Roman Catholic Church throughout history and each monastery and convent throughout the world acted to the same laws and principles. We have seen the influence of American Culture throughout the world. In the same context it is reasonable to assume that the Celts influenced European society in a similar way.

The Hill of Tara

The Mesolithic in Ireland (The Hunter/Gatherer)

Mesolithic domestic scene

“Prehistory” is a general title given to a period of time before written records were kept or before writing was adopted. There are three large segments of time into which Prehistory is divided, The Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age. Each of these ages is further subdivided and with respect to the Stone Age those subdivisions are the Palaeolithic (old stone), the Mesolithic (middle stone), and the Neolithic (new stone). (Brindley, Irish Prehistory 1994: 5) We will concentrate on the Mesolithic period ca 9,000 to 5,500 years ago and the inhabitants of Ireland at this time.

The last Ice Age started receding about 20,000 years ago when Ireland was virtually completely covered in glaciers and ice sheets. At 15,000 years ago the southern part of Ireland was virtually free from ice, while Ulster still remained under ice. At this time the melting waters created a large fresh water lake which is now the Irish Sea and a significant land bridge connected South East Ireland to South West England. Then from 13,000 to 11,000 years ago (also known as the Woodgrange Interstadial) plants and animals arrived via the land bridge.

Many theories are put forward about Palaeolithic man arriving in Ireland at this time, during his colonial expansion throughout Europe. However, no evidence has ever been unearthed to prove any of these claims. There was a Palaeolithic hand axe found at Dún Aonghusa, in Co. Galway, but this is widely believed to have been rolled over from England in a glacier during the Nahanagan Stadial, which was the 1000 year cold snap that followed the Woodgrange Interstadial. Proof of any settlers in Ireland which has been excavated thus far is from the Mesolithic period from about 9,000 years ago. The argument of Palaeolithic man reaching Ireland is still open as during the Nahanagan Stadial all parts of Ireland south of the line from Waterford to Tralee were free from ice.

Mesolithic man in Ireland has been described by some archaeologists as having an easy life due to the abundance of food. This gives the impression that all he had to do was stretch out and gorge himself. It can be seen by their diet that Mesolithic man did not have it so easy. They needed to migrate frequently due to seasonal food supply and could not afford the security of large settlements. Metaphorically they were on the hard road.

The Mesolithic Highway photo from Margaret Elphinstone

Mesolithic man was the Hunter/Gatherer. Salmon and eel were trapped at their summer riverside settlements. With winter came the hunt for hare and boar. Spring and autumn saw the lakeside camps arrive to exploit the migrating water fowl. Settlements at the seaside provided limpets, periwinkles, oysters and mussels. They gathered waterlily seeds, wild fruit, and crab apple. They had a particular preference for hazelnuts as they can be stored for winter.

The Mesolithic tool kit

Mesolithic man had rudimentary technology, their tools, constructed of wood, bone, and stone. Their clothes were tailored from animal skins stitched with sinew by bone needles. They relied heavily on string; made from sinew or plant fibre; for manufacturing fishing nets, baskets and traps, for stitching clothes and binding items. As basic and as simple their technology was, their craftsmanship when it came to making blades and axes was exemplary. They made small blades and arrowheads from flint or chert collectively called microliths. These microliths were bound or glued to wooden handles to make knives and spears. They made axeheads from stone. From 6,500 years ago they fashioned larger pieces of flint to be used as axes or hand held cutting tools. These are commonly called Bann Flakes after a discovery in the river Bann. They used forks in trees with flakes attached to make two pronged and even three pronged spears for fishing.

Interpretation of a Mesolithic Hut

The Mesolithic hut was simple but very effective in providing shelter and heat. It was a circular structure about six metres in diameter consisting of wooden struts placed into the ground then bent inward and bound at the centre. A circular hearth was scrapped out of the ground in the centre of the hut for the provision of heat. The outer lining could have been made from reeds or animal hide. There are many conflicting views on what the outer lining was made from but we can assume that it lasted and provided shelter for a decent span of time possibly a generation.

A scan through text books and websites related to prehistory in Ireland and or archaeology in Ireland will tell you that Mesolithic man has left us no relic of his treatment of the dead. Human bone was found at some Mesolithic sites, but no clues as to the formalities or rituals of the Mesolithic funeral. Neolithic man on the other hand has provided us with a wide variety of monuments and tombs dotted all across the land. However, very recent excavations at The Hermitage in Castleconnell, Co. Limerick have unearthed an important and significant cremation and pit burial process. This find corresponds with finds in other areas for example Scandinavia.

A Mesolithic cutting tool

The Hermitage excavation was of an area approximately 4,400 square metres which was sub sectioned into 4 smaller areas. In the first area the archaeologists found a cremation pit circular in shape. In this pit they found a large stone axe which had been resting against a post. The archaeologists think it reasonable to suggest that this post would have projected up from the ground to act as a grave marker. They also found a shallow pit and an area that suggests cremation took place due to the heat reddened clay. It was a place of burning. In the second area to be excavated they found an adze, a stone axe, both flint and chert and the site of three sub circular huts. Quite a number of stake and post holes were also discovered. In the third site they found a “fulacht fiadh” and some roasting pits with heat fractured stone contained. They also found large quantities of flint and chert and a total of 13 stone axe heads. (http://www.aegisarchaeology.com/index.php/Hermitage-Castleconnell.html) Should this site be proven to be a cremation pit it tells us that Mesolithic man in Ireland possessed vast knowledge of the dynamics of fire, the properties of wood, and possibly a bellows system all required to create a temperature of upwards of 600^oC. The temperature required to reduce human bone to ash is in the region of 600^o-1200^oC.

Other Mesolithic settlements have been found at Mount Sandel in Co. Derry, Lough Boora in Co. Offaly, and Ferriter`s Cove in Co. Kerry. Mesolithic man nomadically traversed the Irish landscape until his successor’s embraced farming and settled permanently. Mesolithic man is a hard one to track down as the thousands of years that passed between us have eroded a lot of his legacy.