The Ancient Bronze Implements, Weapons, and Ornaments, of Great Britain and Ireland.Evans, John
History
The Ancient Bronze Implements, Weapons, and Ornaments, of Great Britain and Ireland.
Evans, John
Bronze age -- Great Britain; Bronze age -- Ireland; Great Britain -- Antiquities
In the Antiquarian Museum at Edinburgh are some spear-heads of this
character, with the openings on the blade rather longer in proportion.
One was found in the bottom of a cairn at Highfield, Urray, near
Dingwall, Ross-shire.[1291] Others were found in Roxburghshire and
Stirlingshire.
Some of the spear-heads of this type which have been found in Ireland
are highly ornamented. A very fine specimen given by Wilde (Fig. 374)
has several mouldings with a kind of cable pattern upon them. Others
have circular perforations in addition to the lunate openings; and in
one instance the socket is decorated with bands and vertical lines
(Wilde, Fig. 372).
A small lance-head from Jelabugy, Russia,[1292] with comparatively
large crescent-shaped openings in the blade, has been figured by
Worsaae.
The cut for Fig. 421 is kindly lent me by the Society of Antiquaries
of Scotland. The original, 19 inches long, was found with a
bronze sword at Denhead, Cupar-Angus, Forfarshire,[1293] and has
unfortunately been somewhat broken.
[Illustration: Fig. 421.—Denhead. ¼]
[Illustration: Fig. 422.—Speen. ½]
As will be seen, there are ten circular holes, besides two long
crescents. The socket is said by Professor Daniel Wilson to contain
a thin rod or core of iron, which was inserted in the mould to
strengthen this unusually large weapon; but what seemed to Dr. Wilson
to be an iron rod is really a piece of wood that has been recently
inserted when the spear-head was mended.
In the last class into which these weapons are here divided, are placed
those which are barbed at the base of the blade, or in very rare
instances are square at that part.
A good typical example (10-7/12 inches) is shown in Fig. 422, from an
original found at Speen, Berks.[1294] It is very heavy, weighing 11¾
ozs. troy, or more than ¾ lb. avoirdupois. Another of the same size,
but lighter (8 ozs.), was found in the Severn, near Worcester.[1295]
Another (10¾ inches), found in the Plaistow Marshes, Essex, and now in
the British Museum, has a rivet of bronze 2⅜ inches in length still
in the rivet-hole. Curiously enough this long rivet appears to be a
speciality of this class of weapons. Some of this type, together with
some fragments twisted and adhering together as if partially molten,
were found in the Thames at Kingston,[1296] and in one of them was the
bronze rivet. These are now in the British Museum. Some broken barbed
spear-heads of larger size (about 14 inches), also with the rivets
still in position, were found with bronze ferrules at a spot called
“Bloody Pool,” South Brent, Devon.[1297]
Another (7 inches), found at Pendoylan, near Cardiff,
Glamorganshire,[1298] has an oval socket pierced on one side for a
rivet, which, however, is wanting.
Canon Greenwell, F.R.S., possesses an example much like that from
Speen (10⅞ inches) found in Yorkshire, near the river Humber.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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