Lamb Ay Macalister

On Some Antiquities Discovered upon Lambay
Author(s): R. A. S. Macalister
Source: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section C: Archaeology, Celtic Studies,
History, Linguistics, Literature, Vol. 38 (1928/1929), pp. 240-246
Published by: Royal Irish Academy
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[ 240 ]
IX.
ON SOME ANTIQUITIES DISCOVERED UPON LAMBAY.
By R. A. S. MACALISTER, Litt.D.
(Plates XXI-XXV.)
[Read 27 May. Published 6 September, 1929.]
In the course of some improvements made to the harbour on the western
side of Lambay, off the coast of Co. Dublin, in the year 1927, a series of
interments with associated grave-goods was discovered. The site was
described to me as between 7 and 20 yards south of the N.W. corner of
the harbour, and from the sea-wall which now lines the harbour inland for
about 7 yards. The sea-wall, built since the discoveries were made, now
covers up the site, making it impossible to see the stratification : but at a
little distance northward from the harbour there is an exposed section,
from which we can see that there are two beds involved?a bed of clay,
in the top of which the interments were made, and an overlying bed of sand,
about 5 ft. 6 ins. deep. This is a dirty shore sand; I was assured that
the hollows in the clay, in which the bodies were found, were filled with
clean silver sand, in which the bodies were deposited. They were in a
crouched position.
A previous discovery of skeletons had been made near the row of
cottages between the Castle and the sea, south of the boathouse.
The objects were all removed from their place by the workmen engaged
upon the harbour works, so that nothing can be done in the way of
presenting a plan of the cemetery?for such the site appears to have been
?with a distribution of the grave-goods among the several interments.
It is not possible to do more than give these few particulars as to the
nature of the discovery, and to subjoin a list of the objects found.
I must express my indebtedness to the Hon. Cecil Baring (now Lord
Revelstoke) for depositing these objects in the museum, so that they could
be studied at leisure, and for permitting me to visit the island and to see
the site for myself : and to his Agent, Mr. William Campbell, for guiding
me to the spot, and for the details about the discovery of the objects which
are set forth above.
The following is a list of the antiquities found :?
Stone.
1. A long slender adze-head of grit ; edge bevelled, section a flat oval,
tail brought to a turnscrew edge. The body is flattened on one side, so
that the implement is slightly concave in outline : this identifies the object
Macalister?On some Antiquities discovered upon Lambay. 241
as an adze- rather than a hatchet-head. Length, 10g ins.; length of

cutting edge, 2| ins. Plate XXI, fig. 1.
2. Hatchet-head of grit, edge bevelled, shape not quite regular. Length,
8J ins. ; length of edge, 3J ins. Plate XXI, fig. 2.
3. Similar hatchet-head, a flat oval in section. Length, 8| ins. ; length
of edge, 2| ins. Plate XXI, fig. 3.
Fig. 1.
4. Similar hatchet-head. Length, gj ins.; length of edge, 3 ins.

Plate XXII, fig. 1.
5. Adze-head, of a greenish-coloured grit, much chipped. Length,
7| ins.; breadth, uniformly 2| ins. along almost the whole length.
242 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy.
6. Adze-head, one side much flattened. The edge has been worn to
an oblique shape by use. Length, 8f ins. ; length of edge, 2| ins.
7. Fragment of a polished stone hatchet-head with pointed tail : the
tool must have been of a size unusual among Irish tools of this kind. The
length of the fragment, which seems to represent about one half the tool,
is 5| ins. (Fig. 1, no. 3.)
8. A considerable number of small flakes and chips of flint, irregular
in outline. Many of them are probably mere accidental flakes; some are
wastes, produced in forming implements. A few appear to be scrapers.
The most shapely are shown in Plate XXII, figs. 2-6.
9. Chipped flint lance-head, lozenge-shaped : the axial line is f inch
out of the centre. Length, 5f ins. ; breadth, 3 ins. Plate XXII, fig. 7.
10. A similar but smaller lance-head, 3J ins. long, 2 ins. across. The
tip is broken off. Plate XXII, fig. 8.
11. About half of a lance-head similar to 9, 3 ins. long, 2f ins. broad.
Plate XXII, fig. 9.
12. A flat slightly polished brown limestone ring, If ins. diameter.
Plate XXI, fig. 4.
13. A similar ring, not, however, flat in section, 1? ins. diameter, ? in.
thick. Plate XXI, fig. 5.
14. A similar ring in white limestone, 1? ins. in diameter. Plate XXI,
fig. 6.
15. A curved fragment of some limestone object, not identified. Length,
If ins. ; height, 1 in. ; thickness, f in. Plate XXII, fig. 10.
16. A sharpening-hone, showing marks of use, square in section, broken
in two, and imperfect at one end. The other has been chipped to a chisel
edge. Present length, 6? ins. (Fig. 1, no. 2.)
17. The butt end of a similar but larger hone, 4f ins. by 1| ins. by
1J ins.
Pottery.
18. Eight fragments of the rims of cooking-pots, with flat everted rims,
rather hard baked, bearing linear incised ornaments on the upper surfaces.
The fragments have a family resemblance, but they all belong to different
vessels. The ware is gritty, and throughout has small particles of some
sparkling material such as quartz. The ornamentation consists of combi
nations of dots and straight and curved lines. Plate XXIII, figs. 1-8.
The profile of the first of these sherds (Plate XXIII, fig. 1 a) will show
the type to which they all conform.
19. Fragment of the body of a bowl with two raised ribs upon it,
apparently part of the lower attachment of a loop handle. Plate XXIII,
?g. 9.
20. A number of small sherds, with no characteristic features. Speci
mens are shown in Plate XXIII, figs. 10-18.
Macalisteb?On some Antiquities discovered upon Lamhay. 243
Bronze.
21. The umbo of a shield. The outer portion seems to be in metal of
a different composition from the portion which was attached to the shield,
as the former has resisted the corrosion which has disintegrated the latter.
The latter part fits into the former as an egg into an egg-cup, and the
two are secured together with three rivets. The inner surface is covered
with a bright greenish blue patina, almost vitreous in appearance. The
diameter of the central knob of the umbo is 1 inch; the height of the
hemisphere 3 ins., about equally divided between the inner and the outer
portions. The diameter of the mouth of the outer portion is 3 ins., of
the inner portion 4 ins. The flat rim which surrounds the mouth is in
fragments : it was at least 3| ins. broad, and was secured to the shield
with rivets : one rivet hole remains. This object and the iron sword,
described below, were found in the same interment. Plate XXIII, fig. 19
and a, b, c, d.
22. Fragments of a circular object, apparently about lOf ins. in
diameter. There is ornamentation consisting of repouss? mouldings, which
form the characteristic curves of La T?ne ornaments, and discs or buttons
with simple radiating flower-petal devices. The object is broken into a
large number of small fragments, and it has been found impossible to fit
these together in a satisfactory way. It has been explained as an ornamental
mounting from a shield, but this is at best only a doubtful conjecture.
The principal decorated fragments are here illustrated. Plate XXIV,
fig. 1.
23. An armlet, just under 6 ins. in external diameter, with eight beads
of bronze, decorated with diagonal cuts, playing upon it. Between each
pair of beads is a flat disc of bronze. Plate XXIV, fig. 3.
24. Three mounts, respectively from the top, middle, and bottom of
a sword-scabbard ? the two latter decorated with La T?ne openwork
ornament. They measure respectively 2| ins. by i in. ; 2J ins. by 1J ins. ;
and 2| ins. by 1 in. Plate XXIV, fig. 5.
25. A plain ring, oval in section, 1| ins. in diameter. Plate XXII,
fig. 14.
26. A ring, ? in. in diameter, found surrounding the bone of the first
joint of a middle finger. Plate XXII, fig. 13.
27. A ring 1-^.ins. in diameter, which was not closed, like all the other
rings found on the site. One end of the rod broken away, the other intact.
Plate XXII, fig. 12.
28. A fibula of Roman provincial type, 3f ins. long. Plate XXIV,
fig. 8.
29. A fibula precisely similar in general appearance to no. 28, but
without the ornamental hatching in the head, and with the pin-point
not separated from the catch. Plate XXIV, fig. 9.
R.I.A. PROC; VOL. XXXIII, SECT. C. [23]
30. A fibula of similar type, but smaller (2f ins. long), decorated on
the back with an inlay of blue enamel in two cloisons, separated by a zig
zag septum. Plate XXIV, fig. 6.
31. A small and simple fibula of similar type, If ins. in length, the
back decorated with five longitudinal grooves.
32. A fibula of the Rhenish provincial military type, 2T9-g ins. long,
with a lozenge-shaped ornamental plate on the back. Plate XXIV, fig. 7.
Iron.
33. Fragments of a sword. The quill?n has a hole pierced through at
each end : it is 3| ins. long. Four pieces of the blade fitting together
make together a length of 1 ft. 3 ins. : two other pieces at the point make
a length of 6| ins. These fragments were sent to the Museum, and
drawings of them are shown herewith. In addition, Mr. Campbell showed
me nine smaller pieces, which were left on the island. Plate XXV, fig. 1.
34. A circular mirror, of the ordinary classical type, with handle
(broken off). Much corroded. No decoration. Diameter of the mirror,
6 ins. ; length of handle, 5? ins. Plate XXV, fig. 2.
35. A ring, g in. high, 2^- ins. in diameter, with a raised fillet running
round the outer surface along the edges and the middle. Iron bronzed
over. Plate XXIV, fig. 2.
Lignite.
36. A ring, just under 3 ins. in external diameter. The ring is not
in one plane, but slightly flexed, after the manner of a propeller-blade.
Plate XXIV, fig. 4.
Wood.
37. An indefinite fragment, 1? ins. by If ins., probably a fragment of
driftwood of no antiquity. Plate XXII, fig. 11.
Leather.
38. A few small shapeless fragments of thin leather, stained green on
the inner surface with bronze rust.
In addition to these objects which had been sent to the Museum,
Mr. Campbell showed me on the island three blocks of granite, measuring
respectively 14" X 16" X 14"; 15" X 14" X 10"; 17" X 19" X 10" (the
third dimension in each case being the height), with hollows in the upper
surface?semi-cylindrical in shape in the first two, hemispherical in the
third. These were evidently mortars in which grain or other materials
were ground by pounding. Two rounded stones, about 4 ins. in diameter,
were associated with the first two of these objects, and may have served as
pestles. A similar stone is shown in Fig. 1, no. 1.
Macalister?On some Antiquities discovered upon Lambay. 245
Reviewing this remarkable series of some forty objects, we see at once
that they fall into two series, am earlier and a later ; and further, that the
first series belongs to a settlement site, the second to an interment site.
The flint weapons and chips, and the stone hatchet and adze-heads,
are the remains of a Neolithic or Bronze Age settlement. But the types
are remarkably exotic. The adze-heads predominate in a way not frequent
in Ireland, and they are made of an unusual material; and the javelin
heads are definitely of an Iberian type, differing in both proportions and
treatments from the flat lozenge-shaped Irish javelin-heads which Bremer
has compared to the Iberian forms.
Moreover, the large quantity of flint, only partly or not at all worked,
is truly surprising. There is no certain supply of flint in Ireland outside
Antrim : elsewhere in the country artificers made shift with other stones,
or else, when they did get hold of fragments of flint, utilised them to the
very last chip. The Lambay people were as prodigal with their flint as
though they had a constant supply on the island. They must have
imported it in the unworked condition : and here we at once come across
a new and unexpected evidence of early trade. We should like to know
a great deal more about this remarkable Neolithic settlement on Lambay
Island.
The interment series is, if anything, yet more remarkable. We are
here in the presence of a community.of the end of the La T?ne period,
when European civilization in the north of the continent is becoming
Romanized; and this community has established relations with Romanized
provinces in a way totally unprecedented so far as our previous experience
of Irish Archaeology has gone. Whether the mirror and the fibulae have
been imported by commerce or captured in raids such as those ascribed
by tradition to the nearly contemporary Crimthann, whose name lingers
on in Dungriffan on Howth, we are not in a position to say. It is certain
that these objects are quite new to Irish archaeology. The open-work
scabbard mounts may be compared to a buckle found at the Roman Camp
of Newstead,1 and the fibulae nos. 28-31 are similar to others from the
same site.2 The brooch no. 32 belongs to a different centre: Almgren
figures a similar example from Galicia.3
That these fibulae, however they reached Ireland, were exotic to the
country, is proved, not only by the fact that nothing like them has ever
been found before (which might be a mere accident), but also that fibula
no. 29 is quite clearly a direct imitation of no. 28, made by an expert
workman, who did not, however, understand the mechanism of the object
which he was commissioned to reproduce. The two fibulae are identical
1 James Curie, A Eoman frontier post and its people. Plate lxxvi, fig. 2.
2 Ibid. Plate lxxxv, figs. 4 (which, however, has a visible spring) and 5 (which has
an incised zig-zag, corresponding to* the enamelled zig-zag in no. 31).
3 Oscar Almgren, Studien ?ber nprdeurop?ische Fibelformen (Mannus-Bibliothek,
no. 32). Plato xi, fig. 240.
in outward appearance, except that the copyist has not had the patience
or the skill to copy the minute hatching with which the original is
decorated. But the pin in the original is what is called " practicable "
in dramatic circles; it could have been put into or out of its catch as
required in the days when it was in use : whereas the pin in the copy is,
and always was, a fixture. Its metal is continuous with the metal of the
catch; and however its owner might have worn it, it certainly could not
have been worn as a brooch. It is evident that the proud possessor of
this Roman brooch gave it to a local man to copy, and that the latter
turned out a rather amusing prototype of the spurious parodies of the
Queen's Brooch, with their unworkable pins, which are sold to-day under
the commercial name of "Tara Brooches"!
It is only right to acknowledge that this observation, and the explanation
of it, are due to Dr. Mahr. I confess that in my first examination of the
find I completely overlooked the peculiarity of the pin in the imitation
brooch. This in itself is a testimony to the skill of its maker.
The second community of Lambay, therefore, is as strange and as
exceptional as the first. Both of them seem to open doors that give us
new vistas in Irish history.
The drawings here given are the work of Miss Eileen Barnes.
Piioc. R, I. Acad., Vol. XXXVIII, Sect. C. Plate XXI.
Macalistek?Antiquities discovered upon Lambay.
Proc. R. I. Acad., Vol. XXXVIII, Sect. C. Plate XXII.
Iva.
Macalister?Antiquities discovered upon Lambay.
Pi?oe. R.I. Ai'AD., Vol. XXXYni, Sect. C. Platk XXIII.
Macalisteh?Antiquities discovered lton Lambay,
Proc. R. I. Acad., Vol. XXXVIII, Sect. G. Plate XXIV.
Macalister?Antiquities discovered upon Lambay.
Proc. R. I. Aoad., Vol. XXXVIII, Sect. C. Plate XXV.
Macalister?Antiquities discovered upon Lambay,

Lamb Ay Macalister

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On Some Antiquities Discovered upon Lambay

ON SOME ANTIQUITIES DISCOVERED UPON LAMBAY.

as an adze- rather than a hatchet-head. Length, 10g ins.; length of

4. Similar hatchet-head. Length, gj ins.; length of edge, 3 ins.

Macalistek?Antiquities discovered upon Lambay.

Macalister?Antiquities discovered upon Lambay.

Macalisteh?Antiquities discovered lton Lambay,

Macalister?Antiquities discovered upon Lambay.

Macalister?Antiquities discovered upon Lambay,

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